Scaffolds and Interventions/December Teaching and Learning Newsletter

Today's blog looks at comparisons between scaffolds and interventions with additional resources and information from December's edition of the Teaching and Learning Newsletter. 

As teams are engaging in pre-unit planning to provide access to core instructional for ALL students, there have been some discussions around the use of scaffolds and interventions.  Below is a table that compares the two. 

Scaffolds	Interventions
Proactive Anticipation of challenges Designed prior to the unit	Reactive In response to student performance Designed as part of daily lesson planning
A component of Tier 1/core instruction that make grade-level learning accessible to all students.	Targeted, Tier 2 supports provided in addition to core instruction  when data indicates more support and practice is needed.
If it can be planned before instruction using knowledge of students’ needs, it’s a scaffold.	If it’s added after data shows a learning gap, it’s an intervention.

So why is this important?? Can't some instructional strategies be used as scaffolds AND interventions?

Yes, that is true.  The difference comes not with the strategy itself, but with the intention of how it is used. When collaborative teams intentionally plan for scaffolds in Tier 1 instruction, fewer students require intervention later.

For a graphic on scaffolds and interventions as well as a resource with multiple ideas for scaffolds, check out the December edition of the Teaching and Learning Newsletter. 

Scaffolding and Interventions

College and Career Opportunities

Writing to Learn

Science for All

K-6 Mathematics: Sample Schedules