When our kids were learning to ride a bicycle, my husband and I decided they didn’t have time to waste on cute little bikes with training wheels. Our goal for them was to win the Tour de France; therefore, it was imperative they started training as soon as possible.  In fact, we didn’t just want them to win the Tour de France; we wanted them to win the NEXT Tour de France.  So we balanced their little bodies on their bikes, gave them a little push, and told them to race around the track as fast as they could.  Every time they fell, we helped them up, brushed them off, and set them off again, encouraging them to go faster this time.

Sound a little ridiculous and over the top?  Of course!  This isn’t a very efficient way to train a child to ride a bike. We certainly wouldn’t expect a child to win a world-renowned, champion-level race that spans over several days and crosses over an entire country.  I hope it goes without saying we have better parenting skills than this.

Let’s say the Tour de France of education is the State assessment given at the end of the year to measure academic growth and achievement.  For English Language Learners to be able to learn new material despite the fact that they cannot understand English, they must have training wheels of sorts – scaffolds – to help them get where they need to go successfully until they can do so on their own.

Too often, however, we as educators feel so much pressure about “the test” we are tempted to leave the training wheels off so to speak and skip the scaffolds that are necessary to help lay a firm educational foundation. This may seem like a viable way to “catch up”, however, without the necessary accommodations at such a crucial time, ELLs struggle and may even fall further and further behind.

We’ve all heard the same arguments against providing scaffolds for ELLs in the classroom.

“He can’t have help on the test so he’s going to have to get used to doing it on his own now.”

“Everyone should be on a level playing field.  I’m not giving anyone preferential treatment.  It’s not fair.”  

“I need to know what she can really do on her own.  Accommodations will just taint the results.”  

Scaffolds are indicated because of the student’s language proficiency score.  When they are not used, the results are just another reflection of the student’s language level.  They in no way indicate what the student does or does not know.  I have seen this fact repeated countless times over my career.

Scaffolds are, in fact, assigned to students according to their specific needs and designed to diminish the deficits students experience due to their English language proficiency. They allow them to not only learn new information but demonstrate their knowledge.   Like a child learning how to ride a bicycle, students don’t need scaffolds forever.  As they become more and more proficient with the English language, eventually they won’t need them.  Withholding them, however, when they need them the most will prolong their ultimate success.

The specific accommodations for each ELL can be found on his or her IELP.  Further information on scaffolds can be found in the resources section of this blog.  A good resource to use when deciding which one is appropriate for your student are the CAN DO Indicators published by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of the WIDA Consortium.