Daniel A Wagner
Director, National Center on Adult Literacy
Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Director, International Literacy Institute
Co-Chair, Penn Global Development Initiative (GDI)
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
National Center on Adult Literacy / International Literacy Institute
3700 Walnut Street
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216
3700 Walnut Street
Graduate School of Education
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216
Office: 215-898-9803 or 2100
Fax: 215-573-2115
Fax: 215-573-2115
Email:
wagner@literacy.upenn.edu
wagner@literacy.upenn.edu
Education:
BS (Operations Research Engineering)
Cornell University, 1968.
MA (Experimental Psychology)
University of Michigan, 1971.
PhD (Developmental Psychology)
University of Michigan, 1976.
Permanent linkBS (Operations Research Engineering)
Cornell University, 1968.
MA (Experimental Psychology)
University of Michigan, 1971.
PhD (Developmental Psychology)
University of Michigan, 1976.
Description of Research Expertise
Areas of Expertise
International education and development
Literacy, learning, and cognition in children, youth, and adults
Language acquisition and multi-lingualism
Educational technologies
Educational psychology
Professional Biography
Dr. Dan Wagner is the UNESCO Chair in Learning and Literacy, and Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He is Director of the International Literacy Institute, co-founded by UNESCO and the University of Pennsylvania (www.literacy.org), and Director of Penn’s International Educational Development Program (IEDP) in graduate study. After an undergraduate degree in Engineering at Cornell University, and voluntary service in the Peace Corps (Morocco), he received his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Michigan, was a two-year postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Fellow (twice) at the International Institute of Education Planning in Paris, a Visiting Professor at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), and a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Paris.
Dr. Wagner has extensive experience in national and international educational issues, and has served as an advisor to UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank, USAID, DFID, and others on international development issues. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Anthropological Association, and the American Educational Research Association. His most recent multi-year projects have been in India, South Africa, and Morocco. He recently served as Chair of the Brookings Global Research Task Force on Learning. In addition to more than 140 professional publications, Dr. Wagner has written/edited over 20 books.
Research Interests and Current Projects
Dr. Wagner’s research interests include literacy across the lifespan (children, youth, adults), comparative studies of basic education and literacy, education in developing countries, and appropriate uses of educational technologies. His current international projects have been in India, South Africa, and Morocco. Most recently, he has completed a major review in the area of learning indicators for use in understanding the quality of education in the developing world.
Selected Publications
Wagner, D.A.: Smaller, Quicker, Cheaper: Improving Learning Assessments in Developing Countries. UNESCO-IIEP and FTI/World Bank, in press. 2011.Wagner, D.A.: Quality of education, comparability, and assessment choice in developing countries. COMPARE: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 40(6): 741-760, 2010.
Wagner, D. A. : New technologies for adult literacy and international development. Cambridge Handbook of Literacy. D. Olson & N. Torrance (eds.). London: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Wagner, D. A. : Pro-poor approaches to using technology for human development: Monitoring and evaluation perspectives. Perspectives on Human Development, Family and Culture. Küntay, et al. (eds.). London: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Wagner, D. A.: Global perspectives on the science of literacy and education. Handbook of Cross-Cultural Developmental Science. M. Bornstein (eds.). NJ: Erlbaum, 2008.
Wagner, D. A. : Literacy: Monitoring and evaluation for practice and policy. International Review of Education(54), 651-672, 2008.
Wagner, D. A.: Alphabetisation et le lettrisme aujourd’hui. Dictionnaire de l’education. A. van Zanten (eds.). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2008.
Wagner, D. A., & Sweet, R. (Eds.): ICT and Learning: Supporting Out-of-School Youth and Adults. Paris: OECD/NCAL, 2006.
Wagner, D. A. & Kozma, R.: New technologies for literacy and adult education: A global perspective. Paris: UNESCO, 2005 Notes: In English, French and Arabic.
Wagner, D. A. (Ed.): Monitoring and Evaluation of ICT in Education Projects: A Handbook for Developing Countries. Washington, D.C.: World Bank/InfoDev, 2005.
OECD/NCAL (Wagner et al., principal eds.): Learning to Bridge the Digital Divide. Paris: OECD, 2000.
Wagner, D. A., Venezky, R. L., & Street, B. V. (Eds.): Literacy: An International Handbook. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.