The WIDA Can Do Descriptors: Key Uses Edition

The WIDA Can Do Descriptors are a foundational tool for educators working with multilingual learners. Specifically, the "Key Uses Edition" serves as a framework to help teachers understand, plan for, and assess the ways in which students engage with language in academic settings. By focusing on what students "can do" rather than what they cannot, this tool promotes an asset-based approach to education.

What are the Key Uses?

The Key Uses Edition organizes language development around four primary functional purposes. These uses represent how language is utilized in the classroom to achieve academic tasks. The four Key Uses are:

• Recount: To tell about events or experiences. This involves sharing personal stories, summarizing historical events, or documenting scientific observations.
• Explain: To clarify the "why" or "how" of concepts. This is common in science and social studies, where students must articulate the mechanisms behind natural phenomena or societal processes.
• Argue: To persuade others or justify a position. Students learn to use evidence and reasoning to support their claims, which is a critical skill in literary analysis and persuasive writing.
• Discuss: To interact with others to build knowledge. This involves reciprocal communication, where students share ideas, ask questions, and refine their understanding through dialogue.

Connecting Proficiency Levels to Key Uses

The Can Do Descriptors are organized by the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) proficiency levels. For each Key Use, the descriptors outline how a student might perform at different stages of language acquisition:

• Entering and Emerging: Students at these levels often rely on visual support, short phrases, and keywords to express ideas. They may use non-verbal cues or simple sentence frames.
• Developing: At this stage, students can produce more complex sentences and begin to organize their thoughts with greater independence.
• Expanding and Bridging: Students demonstrate greater control over academic language, nuances, and technical vocabulary. They can write and speak with increased coherence and sophistication.

The Asset-Based Philosophy

The core philosophy behind the Key Uses Edition is the recognition of student agency. Traditional assessment models often focus on the gaps in a student's linguistic profile. In contrast, the Can Do Descriptors shift the focus to the student's current capabilities. This allows educators to:

• Differentiate Instruction: By knowing what a student can do at their current level, teachers can provide the necessary scaffoldssuch as graphic organizers, sentence starters, or visual aidsto help them reach the next level of proficiency.
• Improve Assessment: Teachers can use the descriptors to design rubrics that honor the student's current proficiency while setting clear expectations for growth.
• Empower Students: When students understand their own "can do" statements, they gain confidence and take ownership of their learning journey.

Practical Applications in the Classroom

Educators can integrate the Key Uses into their daily planning in several ways. For example, during a lesson on the water cycle, a teacher might plan for different Key Uses. Students could "Recount" the steps of the cycle, "Explain" how evaporation occurs, or "Discuss" why water conservation is important. By mapping these activities to the Can Do Descriptors, the teacher ensures that all learners, regardless of their proficiency level, have access to the content through appropriately designed language tasks.

Ultimately, the WIDA Can Do Descriptors: Key Uses Edition provides a common language for educators, families, and administrators. It fosters a collaborative environment where the focus remains steadfastly on the academic and linguistic success of every multilingual learner.