Ruth Culham, Ed.D., is the President of The Culham Writing Company and the former Assessment Program Unit Manager at Portland's Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. She conducts workshops, organizes national and worldwide institutions, and writes extensively on writing evaluation and instruction as a pioneering researcher of the 6+1 TRAIT model. Ruth was Montana's English Teacher of the Year before joining NWREL, a highlight of her 19-year teaching career. She is the author of 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Handbook, Grades 3–8, as well as a number of additional trait-related teacher resources.