Program Founders
Lead Author
Diane Trister Dodge is the lead author of The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool. She has been a preschool and kindergarten teacher; served as the education coordinator for Head Start and child care programs in Mississippi and Washington, D.C.; and directed national projects in education and human services. Diane served on the Governing Board of NAEYC (1990–1994) and the Center for the Child Care Workforce (1995–2002), and was a member of the D.C. Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Early Childhood Development (1984–2009). In 2004, she received the Bank Street College Alumni Association Recognition Award for outstanding accomplishments in the field of education. In 2010, Diane was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame for her lifetime contributions to education.
Co-Author
Laura J. Colker, EdD, is an early childhood education author and trainer. She has co-authored The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool, The Creative Curriculum for Family Child Care, and The Creative Curriculum Developmental Continuum assessment systems. In addition to writing curricula, she has designed training materials, assessment programs, and instructional videos for teachers, supervisory staff, and families. Currently she serves as a contributing editor on NAEYC’s journal for preschool teachers, Teaching Young Children. Dr. Colker has taught courses on child development issues throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Co-Author
Cate Heroman, MEd, is vice president of curriculum and assessment at Teaching Strategies, LLC. and has worked in the field of education for over 35 years. She has been a preschool and kindergarten teacher as well as an administrator at the Louisiana Department of Education, providing leadership, training, technical assistance, and support in the areas of early childhood and elementary education. She is a co-author of many Teaching Strategies resources, including the Teaching Strategies GOLD® assessment system; The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool; The Creative Curriculum Developmental Continuum Assessment Toolkit for Ages 3–5; Helping Children Rebound: Strategies for Preschool Teachers After the 2005 Hurricanes; Building Your Baby’s Brain; Literacy: The Creative Curriculum Approach, and numerous others.