Borasi named Warner School dean

Borasi

affaella Borasi, a pioneer in new methods for mathematics instruction, has been selected as the new dean of the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

Currently the Frederica Warner Chair in Education, Borasi has been acting dean of the Warner School since July 2000.

A widely published author and a respected leader in the field of mathematics education and school reform, she joined the faculty in 1985.

"During this year, Raffaella Borasi has shown an excellent ability to handle the position of dean," said Provost Charles Phelps. "After a national search with very fine candidates, we felt that Professor Borasi offered the strongest qualifications with an exceptional combination of leadership, familiarity with the Warner School, and scholarship in her field."

Borasi succeeds Philip Wexler, who is now on leave doing research at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel, as the school's sixth dean.

"I am deeply honored to be selected to lead the Warner School, and I remain truly impressed with the breadth and depth of our faculty, as well as the diversity, talent and passion of our students," Borasi said. "My goal is to work collaboratively with area schools and educational organizations to harness the many assets of the Warner School to the benefit of the Rochester community and the field of education. With community partners, we will ensure that educational practice is informed by quality research, and that research is based in the realities of the educating professions."

Borasi's research focuses on the concept of teaching through inquiry, with a specialization in mathematics. The approach stresses problem solving, students' ownership in the learning process, and the development of communities of learners trying to "make sense" of problems and concepts.

Her research has been supported by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation and the New York State Department of Education. Most recently, she has been working on an NSF-funded project to facilitate mathematics reform in middle schools in the Rochester-area school districts of Brighton, Hilton, Honeoye Falls, and Spencerport.

The author of the 1996 book, Reconceiving Mathematics Instruction: A Focus on Error, Borasi also has co-authored Reading Counts: Expanding the Role of Reading in Mathematics Classrooms.

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