Executive Vice President

Diana W. Rigden is a former high school English teacher and adjunct college instructor and holds a Ph.D. in literature from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in literature from the University of Tennessee.

Prior to joining the TEAC staff in 2006, Diana Rigden was a senior associate at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) where she directed the Mid-Atlantic Regional Teacher Project (MARTP), a six-state collaboration to improve teacher quality and supply, and co-directed the Standards-based Teacher Education Project (STEP) a multi-state effort to assist colleges and universities in graduating new teachers with the content knowledge and skills necessary for school children to reach P-12 standards. Rigden conducted a research project on the alignment of teacher licensure tests with scientifically-based reading research for the Reading First Teacher Education Network of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2006) and executed a feasibility study for the Arts and Sciences/Teacher Education Collaboration (ASTEC) for the Carnegie Corporation of New York (2005). From 1995-2004, Rigden served as vice president and director of the Higher Education and Teacher Education Programs at the Council for Basic Education and analyzed corporate and foundation-sponsored education reform initiatives. Earlier, she was vice president of Precollege Programs for the Council for Aid to Education in New York where she advised corporate grant-makers on their support of teacher education and K-12 education. Rigden is the author of a bibliography and reference guide on two modern American poets and co-author of a college textbook for English composition.

As Executive Vice President, Rigden works collaboratively with the President and Vice President on all initiatives before TEAC and represents TEAC in public forums and professional meetings. She serves as lead auditor on TEAC audits and attends TEAC Accreditation Panel and Accreditation Committee meetings. Rigden will also provides staff support to TEAC’s Executive Committee.