CAROL ANN TOMLINSON

Carol Ann Tomlinson is William Clay Parrish, Jr. Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education where she is also Co-Director of the University’s Institutes on Academic Diversity. Prior to joining the faculty at UVa, she was a public school teacher for 21 years. During that time, she taught students in high school, preschool, and middle school and also administered programs for struggling and advanced learners. She was Virginia’s Teacher of the Year in 1974.

Carol is author of over 300 books, book chapters, articles, and other educational materials including: How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms (3rd Ed.), The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (2nd Edition), Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom, (with Jay McTighe) Differentiating Instruction and Understanding by Design, (with Kay Brimijoin and Lane Narvaez) The Differentiated School, (with Marcia Imbeau) Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom, (with David Sousa) Differentiation and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-Friendly Classroom, (with Tonya Moon) Assessment in a Differentiated Classroom: A Guide for Student Success, and (with Mike Murphy) Leading for Differentiation: Growing Teachers who Grow Kids. Her books on differentiation are available in 14 languages. She writes a monthly column called “One to Grow on” for Educational Leadership.

Carol was named Outstanding Professor at Curry in 2004 and received an All-University Teaching Award in 2008. In 2018, she was ranked #10 nationally in the Education Week Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings for all “University-based academics who are contributing most substantially to public debates about schools and schooling,” and as the #3 voice in the nation in Educational Psychology. She works throughout the United States and internationally with educators who seek to create classrooms that are more effective with academically diverse student populations.

Keynote: Inclusion and Why it Matters: A Steep Hill and Why it Matters to Keep Climbing
To say that the challenge of creating meaningfully inclusive classrooms is challenging is an understatement. While the idea is appealing on an abstract level, at least to some, its realities tax many teachers, and concern many parents. Why is inclusion such a reach? Why should teachers and leaders at all levels invest their very best efforts in creating and nurturing inclusive learning communities that work well for everyone in them? We’ll consider those questions in this keynote.