Understanding Differentiated Instruction by Carol Tomlinson

Understanding Differentiated Instruction by Carol Tomlinson

Differentiated instruction is not a strategy but an approach to education--one that's built on honoring the differences in the students we teach and helping each of them realize their potential. In this six-page laminated guide from renowned expert and best-selling author Carol Ann Tomlinson, teachers will find

• An overview of differentiated instruction's key terms, philosophy, principles, and practices.
• Critical pointers for effective, proactive lesson planning that will improve students' access to content, enhance their ability to make sense of it, and ensure they're able to accurately show what they know.
• Insight into the role that formative assessment plays in differentiated instruction.
• Tips for establishing the classroom routines that make differentiation work.
• A collection of strategies for differentiating in response to readiness, interest, and learning profile.

Featuring FAQs and specific recommendations for getting started and getting better, this is a perfect introductory resource for teachers interested in understanding how to better reach and teach all the students in their classrooms.

Carol Ann Tomlinson is William Clay Parrish, Jr. Professor, Chair of Educational Leadership, Foundations and Policy, and Co-director of the Institutes on Academic Diversity at the Curry School of Education, University of Virginia. Her university career follows a 20-year career as a public school teacher and a leader of district programs for both struggling and advanced learners. She and her colleagues developed a model for what we now call differentiated instruction in their work with heterogeneous 7th grade classrooms. Tomlinson was Virginia's Teacher of the Year in 1974 and won an All-University Teaching Award in 1994. The author of more than 300 publications, she works throughout the United States and internationally with educators who want to create classrooms that are more responsive to a broad range of learners.

Marcia B. Imbeau is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where she teaches graduate courses in two programs. She is actively involved in university and public school partnerships, working as a university liaison and teaching courses in curriculum development, differentiation, classroom management, and action research. Imbeau is a regular presenter at ASCD's annual conference and has worked with a variety of school districts implementation efforts as a member of the ASCD's Differentiated Instruction Cadre. She is co-author (with Tomlinson) of Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom along with several book chapters on the differentiated instruction and classroom management.