# Diane Trister Dodge

> Diane Trister Dodge is an early childhood educator, author, and entrepreneur who founded Teaching Strategies and created The Creative Curriculum. What began as a homemade filmstrip and a self-published guide run out of her basement in 1978 grew, over 24 years, into the largest early childhood education publisher in the United States, with materials now reaching more than 15 million children, including roughly 90 percent of Head Start programs. She built her work around a single conviction - that children learn in the context of relationships - and after retiring in 2012 she and her husband Lowell channeled the proceeds into scholarships and programs for children in poverty.

- **Role:** Founder of Teaching Strategies; President of the Dodge Family Fund
- **Organizations:** Teaching Strategies, Inc., Dodge Family Fund, Head Start, Bank Street College of Education, 92nd Street Y Nursery School
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Master's degree, Early Childhood General Education, Bank Street College of Education
- **Known for:** Founded Teaching Strategies and built it into the largest early childhood education publisher in the United States., Created The Creative Curriculum, whose materials reach more than 15 million children, including roughly 90 percent of Head Start programs., Lead author of The Creative Curriculum series across preschool and infant/toddler editions.

## Career timeline

- **1960s** — Began teaching at the 92nd Street Y Nursery School in New York while taking evening classes at Bank Street College.
- **1966** — Went to Mississippi to work with the newly launched Head Start program serving 900 children; assigned to create the education program and train the teachers as Education Coordinator.
- **1970** — Graduated from Bank Street College of Education and moved to Washington, D.C., continuing Head Start and child care work.
- **1978** — Self-published the filmstrip 'Room Arrangement as a Teaching Strategy' and the first edition of The Creative Curriculum; named her venture Teaching Strategies and began working full-time from her basement.
- **1988** — Formalized The Creative Curriculum model, grounded in the theories of Piaget, Erikson, Maslow and Vygotsky.
- **1992** — Third edition of The Creative Curriculum defined developmentally appropriate practice, organized classrooms into interest areas, and introduced a child development checklist.
- **2010** — Inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievements in Educational Publishing.
- **2012** — Retired from Teaching Strategies after leading the company for 24 years.
- **2022** — With husband Lowell Dodge, pledged the Diane Trister Dodge Early Childhood Education Scholarship at Bank Street.

## Achievements

- Founded Teaching Strategies and built it into the largest early childhood education publisher in the United States.
- Created The Creative Curriculum, whose materials reach more than 15 million children, including roughly 90 percent of Head Start programs.
- Lead author of The Creative Curriculum series across preschool and infant/toddler editions.
- Inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame (2010).
- Established the Diane Trister Dodge Early Childhood Education Scholarship at Bank Street College (2022) with husband Lowell Dodge.
- Developed authentic assessment tools, family booklets and distance-learning resources for early childhood teachers.

## Latest updates

- **2022** — Diane and Lowell Dodge pledged the Diane Trister Dodge Early Childhood Education Scholarship at Bank Street College to fund graduate students planning to work in high-need neighborhoods.
- **2019-11** — Featured in an Early Learning Nation Studio conversation, 'To Become the Best Teacher Possible,' recorded at the NAEYC annual conference.

## Links

- Website: https://teachingstrategies.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-dodge-a372a96/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUOrN2OXoSo

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/diane-trister-dodge
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-30