The WIDA Framework for Equitable Instruction of Multilingual Children and Youth in Content-Area Classrooms

WCER Working Paper No. 2022-1

Daniella Molle, Jennifer Wilfrid, Rita MacDonald, Ruslana Westerlund, and Amanda Spalter

daniella.molle@wisc.edu

January 2022, 68 pp.

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the purpose and content of the WIDA Framework for Equitable Instruction (FEI). The FEI is an instruction-focused resource designed to promote the equitable engagement in disciplinary learning and language development of multilingual learners. It complements the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework in that it offers guidance on how educators can design learning environments that promote language growth in the context of disciplinary learning. The paper details the approach to language instruction reflected in the FEI and describes its four key principles. The paper also discusses the different components of the FEI: cross-disciplinary teacher actions that promote equitable learning and language practices, as well as discipline-specific teacher actions, student actions, language functions, and language trajectories. The paper concludes with guidance on how educators can use the FEI to strengthen their instructional practices for multilingual learners. The appendices offer discipline-specific illustrations of the framework’s components and a glossary.

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keywords: multilingual learners, content areas, instructional practices, language development, equity