Hilary Dack
Hilary Dack, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Cato College of Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is a leading researcher on Dr. Carol Tomlinson’s model of differentiated instruction, having published longitudinal studies of teachers’ implementation of differentiation in high-impact journals. Her scholarship has received numerous awards, including recognition from the American Educational Research Association, and she has advised legislators on education policy.
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Dr. Dack has led professional learning sessions on differentiation for thousands of K-12 educators in national and international contexts and teaches university courses about the topic. She holds expertise in:
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Developing rigorous and engaging differentiated tasks for all learners.
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Designing effective and equitable readiness-based differentiation.
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Maximizing differentiation’s impact through the application of science of learning principles.
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Supporting pre-service and early career teachers in implementing differentiation.
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She trained with Dr. Tomlinson at the University of Virginia, where they published and taught together. Her scholarship is informed by her prior experience teaching middle school math, science, social studies, language arts, and English as a second language.
Keynote Address
Leveraging the Science of Learning to Maximize Differentiation’s Impact
When implemented effectively, readiness-based differentiation can strengthen student learning outcomes. But many teachers find this form of differentiation challenging to implement in ways that benefit every learner. Recent science of learning research from the field of cognitive psychology offers insights into structuring tasks that respond to varied proficiencies in ways that maximize their impact on learning.
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This keynote will present key science of learning principles and illustrate their innovative application to readiness-based differentiation. Through classroom examples, we will explore how to:
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Strategically build or dismantle varied forms of scaffolding to manage cognitive load.
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Maintain appropriate rigor across all differentiated tasks, and eliminate hidden distractors that draw student attention away from targeted content.
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Ensure differentiated tasks that are hands-on are also minds-on by promoting effortful thinking.
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This session will address advanced, nuanced issues in the use of readiness-based differentiation and target concrete strategies to improve learning outcomes and enhance engagement.