Elaine Macmann Willoughby studied at the Middlebury College and the Teachers College at Columbia University; she also taught at the Teacher's College at Columbia University, which is not just the largest, but also the oldest graduate school for education in the USA..
She received a B.S. of Education from Wheelock College, graduating in 1949 as vice-president of her class. In the summer of 1951 she also attended the University of Rhode Island, and in the summer of 1953 attended the Breadloaf School of English at Middlebury College. She received her MA and PhD in Education from the Teachers College, Columbia University, from 1954 to 1957. After graduating from Columbia she pursued teaching opportunities at the college level where she taught Language Arts, Children's Literature, and Child Development at Bowling Green State University, Kent State University, the University of New Hampshire, Oberlin College, and Baldwin-Wallace College. Teachers College is the oldest and largest graduate school of education in the United States. 
