Today's classrooms are more diverse than ever. In fact, research shows that there will be a steady increase in Hispanic, Asian Americans, and African American students in the coming years. Therefore, differentiated instruction may be the panacea that educators are searching for. This paper commences with an introduction and then segways into a review of the literature that will elaborate on the following areas: the major principles of differentiated instruction, the essentials necessary for differentiating, ways to implement, the clichés, barriers, and myths surrounding the practice, and the research studies and theories supporting differentiation. The last section explains the results of a survey administered to middle school teachers to determine their level of knowledge in providing differentiated instruction in the classroom.