👋 Hello {{first name | mate!}}
In this edition of ⚗️DistillED, we’re diving into one of Rosenshine’s most practical yet sometimes misapplied principles — Principle 8: Provide Scaffolds for Difficult Tasks.
This principle focuses on support and independence. It’s about helping students reach a level of performance they couldn’t achieve on their own — and then knowing when to step back.
What is Scaffolding?
Scaffolding refers to the temporary supports teachers provide to help students master complex skills or concepts.
First introduced by Wood, Bruner, and Ross (1976), scaffolding describes the process by which an expert helps a novice solve a problem or perform a task that they could not complete independently. It involves responsive guidance — adjusting the level and type of support in real time as competence develops, then withdrawing it once the learner can stand alone.
These supports might take many forms — worked examples, modelling, visual cues, sentence starters, checklists, prompts, or partially completed tasks — but the defining feature is that they are temporary. As Tom Sherrington puts it “Scaffolding is the means to an end…but the building should stand alone.”
In other words, scaffolds exist to lift students to a higher level of performance without doing the thinking for them. When the supports come down, students should still be standing — confident, fluent, and independent. Rosenshine explains this himself:
“A scaffold is a temporary support that is used to assist a learner. These scaffolds are gradually withdrawn as learners become more competent, although students may continue to rely on scaffolds when they encounter particularly difficult problems. Providing scaffolds is a form of guided practice.”
Essentially, providing scaffolds for difficult tasks means:
The Bridge – Offering temporary supports that help students reach beyond what they can do alone.
The Structure – Breaking learning into manageable steps through modelling, examples, and cues.
The Transition – Gradually removing supports as students gain fluency and independence.
The Equaliser – Raising access without lowering challenge, enabling all learners to tackle ambitious tasks.
Misinterpretation: Scaffolding ≠ Differentiation
As Carl Hendrick cautions, scaffolding is often misunderstood as a softer form of differentiation — a permanent lowering of expectations disguised as support. True scaffolding is temporary, adaptive, and ambitious; differentiation that reduces challenge can trap students in cycles of underachievement. When teachers simplify content or narrow the curriculum to “make it easier,” struggling learners actually lose access to the very knowledge they need to catch up.
Scaffold upwards, don’t differentiate downwards
Hendrick calls this the “lethal mutation” of scaffolding, warning that it leads to the Matthew Effect — where students who start behind fall further behind because they are taught less, not more. Scaffolding should lift students upward, not protect them from challenge.
So why does effective scaffolding matter? Let’s unpack what the research tells us about why temporary, adaptive support drives lasting learning.
Why is Providing Scaffolds Important?
Cognitive science gives us a clear rationale. Learning involves processing new information in working memory, which is limited. Scaffolds reduce cognitive load by helping students focus on the most essential elements of a task rather than juggling every component at once.
Rosenshine drew on research from Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 1988) and Cognitive Apprenticeship models (Collins et al., 1989), showing that students learn best when teachers model expert thinking, guide practice, and gradually transfer responsibility.
“The process of helping students solve difficult problems by modeling and providing scaffolds has been called ‘cognitive apprenticeship.’ Students learn strategies and content during this apprenticeship that enable them to become competent readers, writers, and problem solvers. They are aided by a master who models, coaches, provides supports, and scaffolds them as they become independent.”
Without scaffolding, students often experience overload and make systematic errors that turn into misconceptions. With scaffolding, we can bridge the gap from concrete to abstract — in other words, moving from tangible experiences or examples toward deeper conceptual understanding.
So, how do we ensure achieving a high success rate is not left to chance, but purposefully designed into every lesson to balance challenge, accuracy, and progress?
Let’s explore.
How Do I Scaffold for Difficult Tasks?
Scaffolding does not involve lowering the bar — it’s about raising access. Adaptive teaching research supports this. As educator Alex Quigley notes, scaffolding is a key part of responsive instruction — one of the four “S’s” (Scaffold, Scale, Structure, Style) that allow teachers to adapt support without lowering expectations. In other words, scaffolds raise access, not reduce challenge.
Here’s a concise breakdown of Alex Quigley’s 4 S’s approach from his Adaptive Teaching: Scaffolds, Scale, Structure and Style post.
Scaffold → Provide temporary supports (e.g. prompts, models, sentence starters) to help all students access the same challenging task.
Scale → Adjust the size or complexity of the task (e.g. shorter response, fewer examples) without changing the core objective.
Structure → Vary how guided or open a task is (e.g. step-by-step sequence vs. open-ended project) to match learners’ needs.
Style → Offer different modes or media for expression (e.g. oral, visual, written) so students can demonstrate understanding in varied ways.
Scaffolding Formats
Vary the way you design and release scaffolds to keep all learners moving toward independence. See Tom Sherrington’s Rosenshine Masterclass: Sequencing Concepts and Modelling for more on designing scaffolds that build fluency without reducing challenge.
Here are some practical ways to scaffold effectively in your lessons:
Model to Independent: Begin with fully modelled examples, then shift to joint practice and gradual release as students gain fluency.
Small-Step Support: Introduce one element of the task at a time — model it, practise it, and secure understanding before adding complexity.
Temporary Tools: Use sentence starters, frames, or checklists early on, then fade them as confidence grows.
Think-Alouds and Worked Examples: Demonstrate expert thinking and problem-solving processes before expecting students to replicate them.
Adaptive Adjustment: Respond to live feedback — add support when errors increase, and withdraw it as accuracy stabilises.
Cumulative Connection: Link each scaffolded task to previous learning so students can see the bigger picture and transfer understanding.
Fading for Mastery: Plan the removal of supports deliberately so students can demonstrate full independence by the end of the sequence.
In true ⚗️DistillED fashion, here’s a six-step approach to scaffolding designed to help you structure learning, manage cognitive load, and guide every student from supported to independent performance…
Step | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
1. Diagnose for Success
| Sequence learning so that explicit teaching bridges what students can do now and the deeper understanding they can achieve with guidance. | “Before we write full paragraphs, let’s make sure everyone can link evidence and explanation clearly.” |
2. Model the Process
| Demonstrate step-by-step how to complete a task using worked examples, visual cues, and think-alouds. | “Watch how I structure this argument — I’m using the sentence starter to connect my ideas.” |
3. Check and Adjust
| Use prompts, sentence stems, and checklists early on, then fade them as competence increases. | “Use the writing frame for this paragraph — we’ll remove it once the structure feels automatic.” |
4. Check and Adjust
| Use mini-whiteboards, paired talk, or hinge questions to check accuracy. Add or remove support as needed to stay in the success zone. | “Let’s pause — I can see a few slips. We’ll do one together before you try independently.” |
5. Fade and Secure Independence
| Withdraw scaffolds gradually so students can apply learning independently and confidently. | “Now write the next one on your own — same structure, no frame this time.” |
6. Reinforce and Revisit
| Recycle scaffolded content through retrieval, review, and mixed practice to build retention and transfer. | “Let’s revisit last week’s paragraph frame — this time, build it entirely from memory.” |
Until next time — keep building the bridge, then taking it down.
Jamie
Free Guides and Resources Download
Scaffolding in Action: Classroom Planner Download
To help you design lessons that build understanding and independence, I’ve created a one-page Scaffolding in Action Classroom Planner — a printable, editable tool for mapping how support will be introduced, checked, and gradually removed.
Rosenshine and Scaffolding One-Page Guides Download
These one-page guides are powerful tools for bringing evidence-informed teaching to life in your classroom or CPD sessions.
DistillED+ Checklist and Slideshow
This week’s ⚗️DistillED+ resources include a Scaffolding Checklist and a CPD Slideshow. Together, they explore the what, why, and how of providing scaffolds for difficult tasks — helping teachers design lessons that guide students from supported to independent practice. Each resource offers practical examples, reflection prompts, and strategies for fading support effectively so that learning stands on its own.
If you’re a ⚗️DistillED+ member, scroll to the bottom of this post to access the exclusive download. You can also visit the DistillED+ Hub to explore the full library of member-only resources.
Upgrade to DistillED+ to get this content!
Join DistillED+
Members gain access to expertly curated digital evidence-informed content
UPGRADEA ⚗️DistillED+ subscription gets you:
- Full access to new premium one-page guides
- Full access to evidence-informed strategy checklists
- Full access to slide templates (PowerPoint and Keynote)