Hornberger, Kafai Named AERA Fellows

February 24, 2010 - Penn GSE Professors Nancy Hornberger and Yasmin Kafai have been inducted as 2010 Fellows of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Dr. Hornberger is internationally known for her work in bilingualism and biliteracy, ethnography and language policy, and indigenous language revitalization. A three-time recipient of the Fulbright Senior Specialist Award, she researches, lectures, teaches, and consults on multilingual education policy and practice in the United States, the Andes (Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador), Brazil, China, Singapore, South Africa, and other parts of the world. Dr. Hornberger has published extensively, including the recent book Can Schools Save Indigenous Languages? Policy and Practice on Four Continents and Continua of Bilitteracy: An Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research, and Practice in Multilingual Settings.

As one of the nation’s most prominent experts on technologies and learning theories, Dr. Kafai researches children’s learning as designers of games, simulations, and virtual worlds. She has published widely on the topic, most recently in The Computer Clubhouse: Constructionism and Creativity in Youth Communities and in Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming. Dr. Kafai serves on the team recruited by Department of Education to develop a national educational technology plan; their report is scheduled for release in March 2010.

They join eight other members of Penn GSE's faculty in the Fellows program: Dean Andy Porter and Professors Robert Boruch, John Fantuzzo, Vivian Gadsden, Richard Ingersoll, Rebecca Maynard, Stanton Wortham and Wharton Professor Eric Bradlow, who has a secondary appointment at GSE.

AERA is the leading international professional organization, with the primary goal of advancing educational research and its practical application. The AERA Fellows program was established in 2007 to honor education researchers with substantial research accomplishments; nominations are advanced by colleagues in the field.

Media contact: Jill DiSanto-Haines at 215-898-4820 or jdisanto@upenn.edu