The Creative Curriculum® System Authors

Diane Trister Dodge, founder and president of Teaching Strategies, Inc., is the author of numerous books, articles, and training materials for early childhood educators. Her extensive experience in the field has taught her the value of curriculum and training materials that articulate a clear philosophy and practical approach to meaningful learning.

Diane 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. She is the lead author of The Creative Curriculum^® and is a well-known speaker. Diane served on the Governing Board of NAEYC (1990-1994) and the Center for the Child Care Workforce (1995-2002), and she is now on several boards of directors, including Dumbarton Concerts--Inner City/Inner Child. She also serves on the D.C. Mayor's Advisory Committee on Early Childhood Development and the advisory board of Bright Horizons Family Solutions. In October 2004, she received the Bank Street College Alumni Association Recognition Award for her contributions to the field of education.

Kai-leé Berke, M.A., is a senior product development associate at Teaching Strategies, Inc. 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.

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, Director of Preschool & Kindergarten Initiatives at Teaching Strategies, Inc., has worked in the field of education for over 30 years. 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, Volume 2: Literacy; Study Starters; The Creative Curriculum^® Implementation Checklist; and Helping Children Rebound: Strategies for Preschool Teachers after the 2005 Hurricanes (pdf). Cate currently serves as a member of NAEYC's Consulting Editor Panel.

Sherrie Rudick is Director of Special Projects at Teaching Strategies, Inc. in Washington, D.C. She has more than 25 years' experience with early childhood and Head Start programs. During that time, she has been a teacher, child development center director, licensing specialist, trainer, reviewer, materials developer, and consultant. As a trainer, she has developed and conducted both individual training sessions and training conferences on the local, regional and national levels. Sherrie has developed materials that have been distributed national by the Department of the Army and the Head Start Bureau. At the American Institutes for Research, she helped develop the Head Start Bureau's PRISM process, and was one of the lead trainers for the project.  She was project director for training on Head Start's Moving Ahead curriculum. She is co-author of Putting the Pro in Protégé, a Guide to Mentoring in Head Start. At Teaching Strategies, she co-authored The Creative Curriculum^® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos and A Trainer's Guide to The Creative Curriculum^® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos. She is project lead for Teaching Strategies' eCDA program.