SUMMER INSTITUTE ON ACADEMIC DIVERSITY

The Institutes on Academic Diversity are committed to providing educators with high quality, research-based support in differentiating instruction. We offer two annual professional development events for teachers, administrators, and graduate students.

The Institutes take place on the University of Virginia grounds in Charlottesville, VA, and are a stone's throw from Thomas Jefferson’s beloved Monticello and a short drive to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sessions end by 3:45 each day, allowing participants to soak up the cool, little city that is Charlottesville or zip out to one of the many wineries in the area. Jefferson's love of architecture is evident on the beautiful University grounds where his famous Rotunda anchors the "Academical Village."

Our Summer Institute on Academic Diversity (SIAD) provides a unique, intimate conference experience. Attendance at each of our Institutes is limited to ensure more personalized learning.

Already attending? More information HERE

General Institute Schedule


MONDAY, JULY 11, 2016
8:00-8:30 am Introduction

Carol Tomlinson welcomes all participants, new and returning

8:30-11:45 am Supportive and Challenging Environment

“Most difficult of all a teacher’s jobs ... and likely most important in terms of student success, is creating a classroom environment that issues a daily invitation to each learner who inhabits it, offering acceptance, affirmation, challenge, and support.” (Carol Tomlinson, 2015)

Carol opens the week by introducing the elements of classroom environment that must be in place for differentiaon to succeed. In the morning, she will work with participants who have never attended our Institute before or who feel less fluent with differentiation. Participants who feel more experienced with differentiation will spend the morning in collaborative work sessions sharing experiences and developing work plans for the week.
12:30-2:00 pm Supportive and Challenging Environment

In the afternoon Carol will swap groups and spend targeted time with the more experienced group. The group who spent the morning with Carol will work in a collaborative session and a session on getting started with classroom community and management in the differentiated classroom.

2:15-3:45 pm Building a Classroom Community for Managing Differentiated Instruction

Participants will break into elementary and secondary sessions that set explore ways to organize their classrooms around the principles of differentiation.

TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2016
8:00-11:45 am Challenging and Meaningful Curriculum

“Curriculum can become a long, dry march through a desert of mandated information, or a compelling exploration of possibilities. It is quite possible to create curriculum that ignites a passion for learning in students while simultaneously commending learning as a highly satisfying human capacity.” (Carol Tomlinson, 2015)

In this morning session Carol guides participants through the crucial role high quality curriculum plays in a differentiated classroom.
12:30-3:45 pm High Quality Curriculum: Analysis

Participants will work in their content areas to analyze and examine how to develop a differentiated unit study that emphasizes students' understanding and encourages engagement and transfer.


WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2016
8:00-11:45 am Assessment to Inform Instruction

“A teacher who is genuinely concerned about student growth and who invests significant time in creating compelling classroom environment and compelling curriculum wants to know where each student is at any given time in a progression of learning.” (Carol Tomlinson, 2015)

In the morning session Carol Tomlinson unpacks the key role of formative assessment in responsive instruction.
12:30-1:30 pm Assessment to Inform Instruction: Modeling

Participants will break-out into content-area sessions and explore the crucial role of assessment in a differentiated classroom. They will explore different types of assessment (pre, formative, and common formative) and analyze and student responses that emerge from classroom-level assessments.


THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2016
8:00-11:45 am Responsive Instruction in Action

“At its core, differentiation is an instructional model. Instruction that is responsive to individual as well as whole class needs is interdependent with the other classroom elements. It should be guided by formative assessment and rooted in quality curriculum.” (Carol Tomlinson, 2015)

In this morning session Carol will break-down the whys and hows of differentiated instruction.
12:30-1:30 pm Responsive Instruction in Action

Differentiation experts in elementary, secondary and administration will model high-leverage strategies in specific content areas. Participants will analyze classrooms for the evidence that administrators should and will look for in a successful differentiated classroom.



FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016
8:00-11:45 am Leading and Managing the Differentiated Classroom

“If curriculum and instruction are the heart and limbs of sound teaching, then classroom management is the central nervous system. Without the heart, there is no life, but without the nervous system, there is no function.” (Carol Tomlinson, 2014)

In this final morning session Carol will share how to lead a differentiated classroom and bring closure to the week.

Featured Presenters

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

Carol’s work has been translated into 12 languages and includes over 200 books, book chapters, articles, and other educational materials. Her most recent publications are an updated edition of The Differentiated Classroom and Assessment and Success in the Differentiated Classroom, co-authored with Tonya Moon.

Dr. Kristina Doubet is an Associate Professor of Middle and Secondary Education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. With over ten years of experience teaching middle and high school English, she now prepares future middle and high school teachers for careers in the classroom. She is the co-author with Jessica Hockett of a book on differentiation in the secondary classroom to be released by ASCD in Spring of 2015.

Dr. Tonya R. Moon is a Professor in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Her specializations are in the areas of educational measurement, research, and evaluation and she works with state departments across the country on issues associated with educational assessments. She also works as a consultant with school districts and schools on using better assessment techniques for improving instruction and student learning. She is the co-author with Carol Tomlinson on Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom (2014.)

Dr. Jessica A. Hockett is an education consultant based in the Chicago area and specializing in differentiated instruction, Common Core State Standards (ELA), and curriculum design. She has worked with teachers and leaders in nearly 70 school districts on initiatives related to instructional improvement through differentiation, standards-aligned curriculum development using Understanding by Design, and program evaluation.

Dr. Marcia B. Imbeau is a Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The new Common Core Standards are an embedded feature of her work regarding differentiation, curriculum development and classroom management. Among her publications are Managing a Differentiated Classroom: K-8, Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom which she co-authored with Carol Tomlinson.

Registration Information


SIAD rates EARLY BIRD AFTER 5/15
INDIVIDUALS $805 $825
GROUP (5+) $785 $805

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