Mara Krechevsky

Mara Krechevsky is a senior researcher at Project Zero. Her current projects include Pedagogy of Play, a collaboration with the Lego Foundation and the International School of Billund, Denmark, to develop a pedagogy of play from preschool to middle school; Educating for American Democracy, a cross-ideological initiative to strengthen K-12 civics and history education in the US; and Good Starts, a qualitative research project exploring how young children conceptualize “I, we, and they” across cultures. Mara also directed 21st Century Excellence, a collaboration with a Brazilian school network to create a framework for excellence in K-12 teaching and learning, and co-directed Cultivating Civic and Creative Capacities, a collaboration with the Columbus, OH, Museum of Art.

Mara has been conducting educational research for almost 40 years, including directing Making Learning Visible, an investigation into documenting and assessing individual and group learning from preschool to high school, based on collaborative research with educators from Reggio Emilia, Italy. She has worked with hundreds of teachers and administrators in the U.S. and abroad on creating powerful learning environments for children and adults. Mara also directed Project Spectrum, a ten-year research project implementing multiple intelligences theory in early childhood, Making Learning and Thinking Visible in Italian Secondary Schools, a cross-cultural collaboration to adapt PZ frameworks for Italian secondary schools, and co-directed Children Are Citizens and Inspiring Agents of Change. Other projects include Creando Comunidades de Indagacion (a collaboration to develop a culture of inquiry-driven teaching and learning in K-12 schools in Peru), PZ Connect Outreach (a collaboration with Independent Schools of Victoria, Australia), Globalizing the Classroom, Educating for Global Competence, Multiple Intelligences Schools, ATLAS Communities, ATLAS Seminar, and Practical Intelligence for School.

Mara has authored or co-authored numerous books and articles, including Visible Learners: Promoting Reggio-Inspired Approaches in All Schools (Jossey-Bass, 2013); Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners (Reggio Children, 2001; translated into seven languages); the three-volume series, Project Zero Frameworks for Early Childhood Education (Teachers College Press, 1998; translated into six languages); and Project Zero Limericks from 1987-2024. Mara is the unanointed limericist at Project Zero.