Dr.Elena Bodrova

Dr. Elena Bodrova is currently the Director for Research and Development at Tools of the Mind and a Research Fellow at the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. In collaboration with Dr. Deborah Leong, she developed the Tools of the Mind program based on Vygotskian and post-Vygotskian theories of learning and Luria’s theories of brain development. Dr. Bodrova’s work on applying Lev Vygotsky’s theory to education began in Russia where she worked in the Institute for Preschool Education, and continued in the US where she worked as a Visiting Professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver and later as a Principal Researcher at Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. Dr. Bodrova is the coauthor with Dr. Leong of multiple articles and book chapters on early literacy, assessment, play, and self-regulation. Dr. Bodrova holds a Ph.D. in Child Development and Educational Psychology from Russian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences and an M.A. in Child Development and Educational psychology from Moscow State University, Russia.