Lucy Calkins

Lucy Calkins is an American educator, author, and long-time professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she has served as the Robinson Professor of Children’s Literature and co-director of the Literacy Specialist Program. She is the founding director of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, established in 1981, a widely influential initiative that has provided professional development and curriculum support in reading and writing to schools across the United States and beyond. Calkins completed a B.A. at Williams College, an M.A. and reading certification at the University of Hartford, and a Ph.D. in English education at New York University. Early in her career she taught in elementary, middle, and high schools and worked with Donald Graves on one of the first major national studies of children as writers.

Calkins is best known for her role in developing the Units of Study curriculum and for her extensive authorship on literacy instruction, including foundational texts such as The Art of Teaching Writing and Pathways to the Common Core. Her professional books include Leading Well: Building Schoolwide Excellence in Reading and Writing (with Mary Ehrenworth and Laurie Pessah), which draws on decades of work with school leaders, and Writing Pathways: Performance Assessments and Learning Progressions, Grades K–8.[14