March 23, 2010

AMHERST, Mass. —Renowned educator and University of Virginia (UVA) education professor Carol Ann Tomlinson will discuss “Teaching Today’s Students: A Case for Differentiated Instruction” on Wednesday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the Babbott of Amherst College’s Octagon. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Amherst’s Office of the President.

Carol Ann Tomlinson

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Tomlinson’s career as an educator includes 21 years as a public school teacher, 12 of which were spent as a program administrator of special services for struggling and advanced learners. Her work in the schools earned her Virginia’s Teacher of the Year award in 1974. More recently, she has been a faculty member at UVA’s Curry School of Education, where she is currently the William Clay Parrish Jr. Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership, Foundations and Policy. She is also co-director of UVA’s Institutes on Academic Diversity. She was named Outstanding Professor at the Curry School of Education in 2004 and received an All University Teaching Award in 2008. Special interests throughout her career have included curriculum and instruction for struggling and advanced learners, effective instruction in heterogeneous settings and encouraging creative and critical thinking.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Tomlinson is a reviewer for eight journals and is author of more than 200 articles, chapters, books and other professional development materials. She has authored several books, including How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of all Learners and a professional inquiry kit on differentiation. Recently, she co-authored a book with Jay McTighe titled Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design: Connecting Content and Kids and with Kay Brimijoin and Lane Narvaez co-authored The Differentiated School: Making Revolutionary Change for Teaching and Learning. She is also co-author of The Parallel Curriculum Model: A Design to Develop High Potential and Challenge High-Ability Learners. She works throughout the United States and abroad with teachers whose goal is to develop more responsive heterogeneous classrooms.

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