Instructional Scaffolds in Mathematics Instruction for English Learners with Learning Disabilities: An Exploratory Case Study

The purpose of this case study was to determine which types of instructional scaffolds are most effective in developing the mathematical reasoning of fifth-grade English learners (ELs) who have learning disabilities (LD). The four types of scaffolding examined were visual, linguistic, kinesthetic, and interactive within the context of small-group instruction. The results showed that kinesthetic and linguistic scaffolds were the most beneficial for helping ELs with LD to cultivate multiplicative reasoning with both concrete and abstract units, while also helping to increase the sophistication of their mathematical content-language usage.