Laurie Pessah

Laurie Pessah is a literacy and leadership consultant who has long been associated with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University, where she has served as Director of School Partnerships with responsibility for staffing the Project’s work with hundreds of schools in New York and across the United States. In this role, she has focused on supporting school leaders and teachers in implementing research-based practices in reading and writing instruction and in building schoolwide literacy initiatives.

Pessah is a co-author of Leading Well: Building Schoolwide Excellence in Reading and Writing with Lucy Calkins and Mary Ehrenworth, a professional text published by Heinemann that guides principals and school leadership teams in developing coherent, high-quality literacy programs. She has also co-authored A Principal’s Guide to Leadership in the Teaching of Writing and Small Group Work in Phonics, Grades K–1 with Lucy Calkins, contributing to widely used professional resources for educators focused on writing instruction and early literacy.