The Creative Curriculum System Authors

Diane Trister Dodge, M.S., is the founder and president of Teaching Strategies, Inc. 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. Ms. Dodge is the lead author of The Creative Curriculum^® and is a well-known speaker. She 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). For the 2002-2003 academic year, Diane was the Barbara E. (Mound) Hansen Early Childhood Lecturer at Iowa State University. In October 2004, she received the Bank Street College Alumni Association Recognition Award for outstanding accomplishments in the field of education.

Kai-lee Berke, M.A., is the director of curriculum and assessment at Teaching Strategies. She has taught and cared for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners in public, private, and Department of Defense programs. Before joining Teaching Strategies she was the program administrator for a multi-site preschool organization. In addition to her local and national work as an early childhood trainer and consultant, she has served as an adjunct faculty member at Honolulu Community College and Pacific Oaks College. She co-authored The Creative Curriculum^® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos and A Trainer's Guide to The Creative Curriculum^® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos.

Toni Bickart, vice president of Teaching Strategies, is the co-author of Preschool for Parents, What Every Parent Needs to Know about 1st, 2nd & 3rd Grades, Building the Primary Classroom, and Reading Right from the Start, as well as a contributing author of The Creative Curriculum^® for Preschool and Mathematics: The Creative Curriculum^® Approach. She has been with the company for over 15 years working as an author, staff development specialist, editor-in-chief, and manager. Toni is now responsible for product development and production. In addition to her own classroom teaching experience, she has worked as a teacher mentor in the D.C. Public Schools and has presented workshops for teachers and parents around the country. In addition to her educational background, Toni holds a master's degree in social work from Columbia University.

Laura J. Colker is the author of numerous articles and books on early childhood education. At Teaching Strategies, she has co-authored The Creative Curriculum^® for Infants & Toddlers, The Creative Curriculum^® for Preschool and The Creative Curriculum^® Developmental Continuum Assessment Toolkit for Ages 3-5. She has designed curriculum, training materials, and videos for teachers and supervisory staff, and story books, videos, software, and videodiscs for children. Dr. Colker conducts training and teaches courses on child development issues throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Cate Heroman, Vice President of Curriculum and Assessment at Teaching Strategies, Inc., has worked in the field of education for over 35 years. Cate's career passion is about helping teachers support children in becoming successful learners and socially competent. She was a preschool and kindergarten teacher in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Louisiana. For 10 years, Cate served 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 The Creative Curriculum^® for Preschool; The Creative Curriculum^® Developmental Continuum Assessment Toolkit for Ages 3-5; Connecting Content, Teaching and Learning; Building Your Baby's Brain; Literacy: The Creative Curriculum^® Approach; A Trainer's Guide to The Creative Curriculum^® for Preschool, vol. 2: Literacy; Study Starters; The Creative Curriculum^® Implementation Checklist; and Helping Children Rebound: Strategies for Preschool Teachers after the 2005 Hurricanes. Cate led the development of The Coach's Guide to Implementing The Creative Curriculum^® for Preschool: A Step-by-Step Resource for Individualizing Professional Development. She is the lead author of Teaching Strategies GOLD^TM assessment system for children birth through kindergarten. Cate is a past member of NAEYC's Consulting Editor Panel.