Promoting Multilingual Students’ Disciplinary and Language Learning Through the WIDA Framework for Equitable Instruction

Abstract

This article explores the development of a guidance document titled the “Framework for Equitable Instruction” (Framework), which aims to support multilingual students’ content-area learning and language development. The Framework was developed by WIDA, a national consortium of states, as part of its system of language standards, assessments, and professional learning. The article discusses the Framework using a protocol originally created for the alignment of content-area and language standards. The protocol highlights the rigorous theoretical foundations of the Framework, the research-based rationale behind its conceptualization of language trajectories, and the tight linkages between the Framework, content-area standards, and classroom instruction. The systematic exploration of the Framework’s features in this article can inform the future design of language standards and related documents and serve as a foundation for the constructive critique of existing ones.