Diana Leddy

Diana Leddy has been an elementary school teacher for 27 years. She holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Boston College in Elementary and Special Education and earned a Master's degree in Education by Design from Antioch New England University in 1999. She currently team teaches in an innovative multiage cluster of third, fourth and fifth graders at the Newton School in South Strafford, Vermont, where she has worked since 1983.

For over a decade, Diana has been a strong advocate for statewide literacy. She was part of the team that developed Vermont’s grade expectations in writing. She also helped to choose the state primary writing benchmarks and to lead Vermont’s first primary writing network meetings. Diana is the creator of “The Painted Essay” and other useful tools for teachers. As a consultant to schools and school districts throughout New England, Diana has shared methods and materials for teaching writing through workshops, conference presentations and demonstration lessons. She has been a graduate instructor, as well as a college supervisor for student teachers, and has served as a content area specialist on the development team of the New Standards Reference Exam in English and Language Arts.

Diana is a strong believer in the power of collaboration. In addition to coauthoring Writing for Understanding, Diana is a founding member of The Vermont Writing Collaborative and is committed to the mission of supporting teachers as they work to help all students become effective writers.

In 2009, Diana was honored with a resolution adopted by the Vermont State Legislature in recognition of two decades of distinguished work in education.