Scaffolding Language for Learning in Mathematics for English Learners Receiving Intensive Intervention

Abstract

Eliciting student thinking during mathematics instruction allows teachers to choose tasks with high cognitive demand while also engaging students to use productive struggle to solve mathematical problems, thus increasing their conceptual understanding. Often, students who require intensive intervention in mathematics, in particular, students who are English learners, are not able to participate in discourse opportunities within core instruction in mathematics because they lack the confidence or the necessary skills. This includes students with mathematics difficulties as well as students with identified mathematics disabilities. Discourse provides multiple opportunities to practice using and listening to content-specific language, which is critical to developing academic language and accessing higher-level mathematics. This article summarizes the research supporting discourse in mathematics interventions as well as appropriate scaffolds to support discourse within intensive intervention for English learners, ultimately improving student understanding and performance.Eliciting student thinking during mathematics instruction allows teachers to choose tasks with high cognitive demand while also engaging students to use productive struggle to solve mathematical problems, thus increasing their conceptual understanding. Often, students who require intensive intervention in mathematics, in particular, students who are English learners (ELs), are not able to participate in discourse opportunities within core instruction in mathematics because they lack the necessary confidence, language, or mathematics skills (Griffin et al., 2013). This includes students with mathematics difficulties as well as students with identified mathematics disabilities (MD).Discourse provides multiple opportunities to practice using and listening to content-specific language, which is critical to developing academic language and accessing higher-level mathematics. This practitioner article will provide research on the importance of including and supporting discourse practices in mathematics interventions as well as appropriate scaffolds to increase discourse within intensive intervention, ultimately improving ELs' understanding and performance in mathematics.Vignette: Ms. Jenson provides intensive intervention in mathematics to five second graders. They are learning double-digit addition and subtraction without regrouping. Two of the students in her intervention group are ELs. She noticed that they were very quiet in the small group, compli-Requests for reprints should be sent to Donna M. Sacco, American Institutes for Research. Electronic inquiries should be sent to