Diane Kelly-Riley

Diane Kelly-Riley is a Professor of English and Vice Provost for Faculty at the University of Idaho. She holds affiliations with the English Department within the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences (CLAS), and leads the Company Town Legacy Project, a public humanities initiative examining corporate impacts on rural Idaho communities. Her work bridges writing assessment, validity theory, digital humanities, and educational equity.

Education: Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (Washington State University, 2006), M.A. in English Literature (WSU, 1995), B.A. in English (Luther College).

Research focuses on writing assessment methodologies, validity frameworks, and the intersection of race/gender with assessment practices. She pioneered the ‘Think Little’ model for localized assessment and contributes to journals like Journal of Writing Assessment. Her edited volumes address writing program administration and fairness in educational outcomes.

Publications highlight empirical studies on writing analytics, validity, and public humanities projects like the Company Town Legacy. Recent work critiques Common Core standards and explores reducing remediation through rhetorical analysis.

Awards include the Pine Tree Award (2019), WPA Honorable Mention (2016), and a CLASS Faculty Research Fellowship (2017). She collaborates on statewide initiatives like First-Year Writing Across Idaho and co-leads the Journal of Writing Assessment.

Her advising focuses on graduate writing pedagogy and program administration, with grants supporting digital humanities and critical thinking projects. The Company Town Legacy Project uses archival and multimedia methods to document Idaho’s Potlatch town history.