Betty Jane Wagner is internationally recognized as an authority on the educational drama and on writing instruction. Her best-known books are Dorothy Heathcote: Drama as a Learning Medium, considered a classic in the field; Student-Centered Language Arts, K-12 co-authored with the late James Moffett; Building Moral Communities through Educational Drama; Educational Drama and Language Arts: What Research Shows; and Situations: a Case Book of Virtual Realities for the English Teacher, co-authored with Mark Larson. She has written several curriculums, such as Interaction, a comprehensive reading and language arts program, with James Moffett; Books at Play, and Language Roundup.
Wagner earned her master’s degree from Yale University and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is Professor Emerita at both National-Louis University and Roosevelt University. She was a founder and director for 25 years of the Chicago Area Writing Project.