Author, Educator Will Speak on Differentiated Instruction

Carol Ann Tomlinson, the William Clay Parrish Jr. Professor at the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education, will speak on the Knox College campus at 7 p.m. February 9 in Kresge Recital Hall, Ford Center for the Fine Arts. Her lecture is titled, "Teaching Today's Students: A Case for Differentiated Instruction."

Sponsored by the Knox College Department of Educational Studies, the event is one of a number of special lectures and events this year in honor of the college's 175th anniversary.

Tomlinson's work focuses on creating classrooms that respond to students' various learning needs and provide access to excellence for the broadest possible range of students.

She has written more than 200 articles and books, including How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms and The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. Her publications have been translated into 13 languages.

In addition to serving as a faculty member at the Curry School of Education, Tomlinson is the school's Chair of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy. She also is co-director of the University of Virginia's Institutes on Academic Diversity. She recently was named 27th among the most influential university-based scholars in the 2012 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings, published by Education Week. The rankings name the top 110 university-based scholars contributing to the public debate about education.

Tomlinson has been an educator for more than 40 years. She has special interests in curriculum and instruction for struggling and advanced learners, effective instruction in heterogeneous settings, and encouraging creative and critical thinking in the classroom.

For more information about her appearance at Knox, contact the Department of Educational Studies, (309)341-7510.