Joy Kreeft Peyton is a Senior Fellow at CAL, where she served as Vice President for 16 years. She has over 30 years of experience working with CAL in the field of languages, linguistics, and culture in education. Her work includes publishing on issues of language in education, particularly the education of heritage language speakers and uses of reflective writing to promote students’ language development and teachers’ instructional practice; providing professional development for teachers on ways to promote the language and academic development of language learners in K-12 and adult education programs; and developing curricula and materials for speakers of different mother tongues in Ethiopia, Nepal, and The Gambia.

She was a founding member of the Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages, a forerunner to CAL’s current heritage language work and to the Coalition of Community-Based Heritage Language Schools, and is co-editor of Heritage Languages in America: Preserving a National Resource (with Donald Ranard and Scott McGinnis) and Handbook of Heritage, Community, and Native American Languages in the United States: Research, Educational Practice, and Policy (with Terrence Wiley, Donna Christian, Sarah Moore, and Na Liu). 

She has experience working with small and large multicultural teams and managing a variety of multi-site projects with diverse stakeholders. Having traveled and worked in Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the United States with language learners from diverse backgrounds (including deaf students for seven years at Gallaudet University), Dr. Peyton is familiar with the knowledge, guidance, and support that educators need to implement effective literacy programs and develop instructional materials, in students’ native languages and in English. She also has significant experience as a writer and speaker, with numerous publications and presentations at national conferences.