The Challenges of Gradual Release: How Exemplary Middle School Sheltered English Teachers Scaffold Reading Instruction

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Instructional Approaches for Adolescent and Adult Emergent Bilinguals

Abstract

This comparative case study examines how three exemplary sheltered English teachers of middle school emergent bilinguals (EBs) selected and used instructional scaffolds during challenging reading instruction (Gibbons, 2009). Data include transcripts of 30 reading lessons and 9 teacher interviews. Qualitative analysis leads to three findings: 1) teachers selected scaffolds that they viewed as appropriate for students with moderate levels of English proficiency, while still maintaining the linguistic and cognitive rigor of the task; 2) teachers selected scaffolds that they thought would not stigmatize their pre-adolescent students, many of whom were identified as struggling readers; 3) teachers found it challenging to withdraw scaffolds over time in linguistically and academically heterogeneous classrooms. Findings suggest critical implications for practice, teacher education, and coaching.

Author

• Erika Moore Johnson, Stanford University