ASCD Faculty Bio

Carol Ann Tomlinson

Tomlinson’s career as an educator includes 21 years as a public school teacher, with 12 years as a program administrator of special services for struggling and advanced learners. She was Virginia’s Teacher of the Year in 1974. More recently, she has been a faculty member at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, where she is currently William Clay Parrish Jr. Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy. At U.Va., she is also codirector of the university's Institutes on Academic Diversity. Tomlinson 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 learners and advanced learners, effective instruction in heterogeneous settings, and encouraging creative and critical thinking in the classroom.

Tomlinson is the author of more than 200 articles, book chapters, books, and other professional development materials. She has served as consultant for and appeared in 12 videos for ASCD, and her ASCD books have been translated into 12 languages. Among her books are How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms; The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners; and Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom: Strategies and Tools for Responsive Teaching. She is also a coauthor (with Jay McTighe) of Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design: Connecting Content and Kids and (with Kristina Doubet) of Smart in the Middle Grades. Her most recent book (coauthored with Kay Brimijoin and Lane Narvaez) is The Differentiated School: Making Revolutionary Changes in Teaching and Learning. Tomlinson works with teachers across the United States and internationally on developing classrooms that are responsive to students with varied learning needs.