Ruth Culham

Ruth Culham is an educator, author, and writing-assessment specialist best known for her pioneering work with the 6+1 Traits of Writing model. She is the president of The Culham Writing Company and formerly served as Unit Manager for the Assessment Program at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (now Education Northwest) in Portland, Oregon. Culham spent 19 years as a classroom teacher and was honored as Montana’s English/Language Arts Teacher of the Year during her teaching career. She holds an Ed.D. and has become a recognized expert in the field of writing assessment and instruction, conducting workshops and institutes nationally and internationally.

Culham is the author of numerous professional resources on teaching writing, including Teach Writing Well: How to Assess Writing, Invigorate Instruction, and Rethink Revision, Writing Thief, 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide: Grades 3 and Up, 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades, and Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for Middle School. She has also created trait-based classroom resources such as The Trait Crate series and work focused on modes of writing for the primary grades.