Beyond One-Size-Fits-All: Carol Tomlinson

C3 Connecting, Coaches, Cognition

Carol Ann Tomlinson is William Clay Parrish, Jr. Professor Emeritus at the University of

Virginia’s Curry School of Education and Human Development. 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 administered district programs for struggling and

advanced learners. She was Virginia’s Teacher of the Year in 1974.

Carol was named Outstanding Professor at Curry in 2004 and received an All-University

Teaching Award in 2008. In 2023, she was #16 on in the Education Week Edu-Scholar Public

Presence Rankings of all university-based academics who are contributing most substantially to

public debates about schools and schooling. In that same list, she was ranked as the #4 most

influential voice in Curriculum & Instruction.

Carol is author of over 300 books, book chapters, articles, and other educational materials

including: (from ASCD) How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms

(3rd Ed.), The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners (2nd Edition),

and (with David Sousa) Differentiation and the Brain: How Neuroscience Supports the Learner-

Friendly Classroom. Her most recent books are: So Each May Soar: The Principles and

Practices of Learner-Centered Classrooms (ASCD, 2021) and Everybody’s Classroom:

Differentiating for the Shared and Unique Needs of Diverse Learners (Teachers College Press,

2022). Her books on differentiation are available in 15 languages. Carol works throughout the

United States and internationally with educators who seek to create classrooms that are more

equitable and effective for academically diverse students.

-Never intended to be a teacher, but ended up a middle school educator. Traveled and commuted with a friend who became her learning partner. She had a diverse range of needs within her classroom of 40.

-If we taught the whole class we were doomed, we needed to try something new.

-We wanted our students as our partners. They told us how to help them more, what they liked, what they disliked, and what we could tweak to make learning better. She remained in that school for 21 years.

-Differentiation -is a teaching model and it has to do with everything we do within a classroom and within schools.It can give us guidance to be better in every aspect of how we teach.

-Resistance is human. Our job is not to wallow in it but to circumvent it. Our job is to make this classroom better for whoever walks through the door that day.

-Coaching should not be a revolving door schedule. There is more opportunity when coaches deeply understand differentiation first and let go of their, “yes, buts…”

-Help a teacher move forward confidently and competently-Teaching is complex. A good leader needs to be a little ahead of the game.

-Aspire to get better in all elements of teaching- one element at a time.

-Voice and choice are important in their learning, they have things they can teach us. Use time and space and materials flexibility. We can reach out to connect children's experience, their experience and their knowledge.

-Show us that you know this, understand this and then can you show this, and can make a choice in how you show me. Make your choice in how you can show what you know.

-There are many ways to be able to reach out to kids. Putting students at the center of their learning and teaching. What about these students? It is helping them to take charge from there. Scaffolding is so vital to so many learners.

-Grace, the bottom line is grace, everyone in education needs to give themselves and each other grace every single day.

Connect with Carol:

Twitter-@cat3y

LinkedIn-Carol Ann Tomlinson

ASCD - Carol Ann Tomlinson

So Each May Soar: The Principles and Practices of Student Centered Instruction or Everybody’s Classroom