# data[].attributes.headline
An institutional essay written in 2020 published by ascd.ord named Pacing Lessons for Optimal Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
An institutional essay written in 2020 published by ascd.ord named Pacing Lessons for Optimal Learning

# data[].attributes.body
“When pacing is too slow, students often become bored and disengaged. When it's too fast, some may not grasp what's being taught and get lost—or discouraged.”

Students are the best determiners of which curriculum will assist them in success or drive them to failure- without them, there would be nothing to argue.

“If a lesson's content, for example, is complex and conceptual and your learning target involves thorough understanding of a key concept, you may need to devote more time to concept development and direct instruction than to a student work activity.”

Time management is crucial to processing and comprehension, especially when large/intensive units are introduced.

“When developing learning targets, you must be realistic about how much content you'll be able to teach because (for most secondary teachers at least) the amount of minutes you have with each group of students has been allotted by your state, district, or school—and can't be expanded.”

If students aren’t given the time to be introduced to, examine, and interpret their learning within coordinating time frames, then much of that learning becomes muddled.

“It's crucial to read your audience. Even if you've planned your lesson well, as it unfolds, attend to the signals students give you as to whether your pacing is too fast or too slow.”

Even if a subject is near deadline or the educator has assigned more than expected, if some part of the curriculum isn’t ‘working’, they should step back and reevaluate a more efficient way toward success.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You are committed to students and their learning. Each week, you invest many hours in instructional planning. Your commitment is evident in your bell-to-bell instruction. Any time an observer enters your classroom, they will see you teaching: If you aren't leading whole-group instruction, you can be found at the kidney table working with small groups or conferencing with individual students. You have good classroom-management skills. You also provide opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction, and your instruction is clearly aligned with the standards, all in an effort to provide your students with high-quality, effective instruction.

Imagine you're the teacher described here. You feel good about your practice-yet you sense that something about how effectively your lessons move along and keep students engaged isn't as strong as it could be. During post-observation debriefings, while your principal or other observers consistently talk about your strengths, they also mention growth opportunities-all of which center on what we might call pacing. After some reflection, you realize that pacing, the timing and presentation of elements of a lesson, is an instructional practice you need to refine. So what now?

What Do We Mean by Pacing- and "Learning Time"?

What exactly is pacing? Feeney, Hibbard, and Ylvisaker (2006) define pacing as "the rate at which instructional activities occur or at which specific 'learning trials' are presented to the student." Perception is part of pacing: The teacher-development group Impact Teachers (2016) describes pacing as "the skill of creating a perception that a class is moving at just the right speed for the students."

There's a correlation between effective pacing and student engagement, so it's crucial to consider the speed at which you move through a lesson and the rate of delivery for different parts of the lesson. When pacing is too slow, students often become bored and disengaged. When it's too fast, some may not grasp what's being taught and get lost-or discouraged.

As an instructional coach and educational consultant, I'm responsible for facilitating critical reflection and collaborating with teachers in problem solving to improve or enhance their instruction. I spend many hours observing classroom instruction, which allows me to see different teachers, instructional styles, and implementation of practice. I've noticed that teachers who struggle with getting the right pacing in their lessons often struggle because of barriers they create themselves. By this I mean teacher behaviors that adversely affect pacing. Fortunately, any teacher can improve her or his pacing by engaging in certain processes when planning for and delivering instruction.

How we use time is an important factor in the success of any lesson. Before diving into how pacing impacts student learning and ways to improve pacing, we need a common understanding of time within the context of teaching and learning. After conducting classroom observations over a six-year period, researchers Carolyn Denham and Anne Lieberman (1980) developed the term academic learning time, which is composed of several variables:

Allocated time: The amount of time teachers plan to devote to instructional activities in a lesson.

Instructional time: The amount of allocated time dedicated to a specific instructional activity that a teacher (or students) actually spend on that activity.

Engaged time: The amount of time during which students are authentically engaged in the instructional activit(ies).

To make effective learning happen, we want to maximize "engaged time"-in which students aren't just attending to direct instruction or doing the activities planned, but are substantively engaged as they do so. In other words, students put forth cognitive effort, actively participate, and commit to the task.

Using Planning to Improve Pacing

Determine How Much Time You'll Really Have

To increase engaged learning time, we must first recognize that lesson planning is just as important as teaching, and it should include planning to set the right pace. It's the phase of instruction in which teachers have the most opportunity to be intentional in selecting content and pedagogical practices. The TESOL International Association (n.d.) explains that when a teacher "... is clear on what needs to be done, how, and when ... [pacing] will tend to flow more smoothly because all the information has been gathered and the details have been decided upon beforehand." Well-planned lessons lead to an increase in Denham and Lieberman's "instructional time" (as well as "engaged time").

Since most U.S. schools are now doing remote learning to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, let me note that it's equally essential to think about planning for effective pacing in lessons taught online. When teaching virtually, we should think about pacing in lessons a bit differently, but good pacing is still important. (See " Good Pacing When Teaching in Virtual Settings ".)

When planning for a lesson you want to teach, it's imperative to consider the amount of time you will actually have for delivering instruction and facilitating student activities. Actually is the operative word here because both expected and unforeseen variables like announcements, attendance, restroom breaks, fire drills, and student misconduct all impact instructional time. It's almost impossible to predict when and what types of behaviors will occur within your lesson-and fire drills can happen out of the blue. But, although you have no control over unexpected events, you can at least estimate how much instructional time you'll likely have by approximating the time needed for extraneous activities like attendance that are within your control.

Getting a handle on this information will be critical in determining how much information and how many activities you'll be able to fit into a single lesson. It will help you decide how much time each element should ideally take. Failing to allocate specific amounts of time to each part of a lesson-whether you write these allocations down or just mentally note them-often causes lesson components to lag.

Determine the Learning Target

To ensure you allocate appropriate amounts of time to present essential content, you must first identify the lesson's learning target. You have to determine, specifically, what you want students to know and be able to do by the lesson's end. This will inform how you apportion your lesson time. If a lesson's content, for example, is complex and conceptual and your learning target involves thorough understanding of a key concept, you may need to devote more time to concept development and direct instruction than to a student work activity.

When developing learning targets, you must be realistic about how much content you'll be able to teach because (for most secondary teachers at least) the amount of minutes you have with each group of students has been allotted by your state, district, or school-and can't be expanded. Therefore, you need to set reasonable expectations for how much students will be able to learn within the time allotted for the lesson. This can be achieved by breaking the standard you're teaching into bite-sized, manageable learning objectives and designing a lesson (or several) for each objective.

Take, for example, a language arts standard determine the main idea. The following learning targets would be considered bite-sized for this standard:

Learning Target 1: Determine the topic of a text.

Learning Target 2: Identify key details and explain how details develop the topic.

Learning Target 3: Determine the main idea of a text.

The opposite of planning bite-sized objectives is planning too many learning targets-or one massive learning target-for a lesson. Teachers who pick too large a target and plan components for a single lesson that lead to mastering that target-and who are adamant about sticking to what they planned-will likely end up teaching the content, not the students. Because such a teacher is pressed to get through the lesson, he won't have time to pause and check for understanding. This approach to pacing adversely impacts student learning. When instruction moves along too quickly, many students won't understand what you're teaching and will become discouraged (Impact Teachers, 2016).

Script Your Questions

Every teacher behavior impacts a lesson's pacing. While asking questions is a sound practice, neglecting to carefully plan questions beforehand can be a detriment to pacing; questions that are vague or misfire disrupt the flow of a lesson and take away time from essential content. I've seen many lesson objectives not attained and the instruction come to an impasse, so to speak, when extended time was spent on one or more questions because the teacher was refining her questions during instruction. Generally, the teacher had to refine questions midstream because students' responses indicated that the questions she was posing were verbose, ambiguous, or nebulous. Scripting your questions carefully during planning increases your chances of keeping pacing on track.

In addition, make sure you use your questions judiciously. I've seen the pacing of lessons derailed by a teacher continuing to call on different students in search of a correct response to a question, even when more than enough student answers have clearly demonstrated that a teaching point was needed for these students to grasp the concept or content being asked about.

Plan Your Teaching Point-and Try a Few Tricks

Just as you plan questions, it's important to plan your teaching points. A teaching point is a specific piece of information, skill, or understanding you want learners to take away from the lesson. If you were teaching a math lesson, a teaching point could be teaching students how to regroup; in a science lesson, it might be how to differentiate between chemical and physical changes. Unlike a learning target, which states what students should know and be able to do, a teaching point is any segment or piece of information within the lesson that supports students in mastering that objective.

Whether made in a think aloud, teacher modeling, mini-lesson, guided discourse, or point of clarification, in my experience, the teaching point is often where the downward slope in instructional delivery effectiveness begins. The trouble often stems from a lack of preparation, evidenced by a teacher giving protracted explanations and superfluous information-both of which cause pacing to lag. To increase the likelihood of strong lesson pacing, you must know the lesson's content, know what you're going to say and how you're going to say it, and know specifically what you are going to do in the lesson and how you're going to execute those actions. In return for this intentionality, instruction will flow more smoothly.

Since you need to keep the lesson-especially in key teaching points-feeling briskly paced but not go so fast that some students get lost, consider ways to use a bit of smoke and mirrors, creating the perception of speed. This can be done by varying the modes of presentation (lecture, video, direct instruction, etc.) and including more than one activity (pair-share, think-write-speak, discussion period, and so on) to attain the lesson's objective. Changing things up creates interest and increases the pace.

Thoughtfully Plan Activities

Activities directly impact student learning, so you need to choose or develop engaging activities, plan them carefully, and allocate time for activities appropriately. With your learning target in mind, brainstorm activities that will require students to interact with the content, interact with their peers, and get out of their seats. It's also necessary to consider your students' readiness. Planning for readiness is crucial because readiness impacts both motivation and engagement. If the content is too difficult, students might mentally check out; if it's too easy, they'll become bored.

Besides planning for students' readiness levels, you must plan for relevance-and for the same reason: engagement. Roberson (2013) defines relevance as "the perception that something is interesting and worth knowing," and claims it's one of the most important aspects of teaching and learning. He notes that in addition to a connection to students' lives, the perception of relevance is enhanced by good classroom relationships. Students engage more with teachers they have a relationship with and like.

To increase the chances students will perceive the learning as worthwhile, begin the lesson with a captivating hook or lesson opener (Simmons, 2015). Getting students' attention at the onset of a lesson is critical. In addition, as you introduce lesson content and activities, make clear to students the "why" of the lesson and its long-term value. Connect the lesson to their lives and backgrounds.

Before You Allocate Time, "Internalize"

After determining the lesson's learning target, key questions, teaching points, and activities, it is time to internalize the lesson. Lesson internalization entails thinking through the lesson and practicing critical aspects, such as think alouds, explanations, and transitions. It involves rehearsing. Alber (2012) explains that it takes practice to make the pacing in a lesson seamless. Rehearsing is paramount because it allows the teacher to refine aspects of the lesson before presenting it.

There are several ways you can practice your instructional delivery to positively impact pacing. If you're comfortable presenting in front of colleagues, you can ask them to participate as students. If being that vulnerable makes you uneasy, ask friends or family members to role-play. These two methods are effective because you have the opportunity to receive honest, critical feedback. If you're like most teachers, when it comes to self-evaluation, you're probably overly critical, and it may feel too hard to rehearse in front of others. In this case, you might want to record yourself to watch and learn from later.

Rehearsing the lesson promotes appropriate time allocation. Only after completing this phase should you begin allocating time to elements of the lesson. If you allocate without engaging in the internalization process, you 're likely to devote insufficient time to certain parts and too much time to other lesson components.

Getting to Engaged

Keeping the lesson flowing at a good pace helps keep students engaged-and remember, what we're after is maximizing not just time on task, but "engaged time." Here are several other things to consider about pacing for engagement:

Transitions and Classroom Management

Like the previously mentioned pedagogical practices, classroom management impacts pacing. Transitions, for example-if not planned well-can be the point where pacing goes off track. As you internalize your lesson, create explicit instructions you'll give students as they move to the next activity. Make a note of what materials you'll need to have readily available to provide learners as they make this transition.

Teachers will also need to respond to unexpected student behaviors-and misbehaviors-as the lesson unfolds. While we can't pre-plan the best response to any behavior that may arise, we can plan and practice strategies to address minor behavior issues (and even more serious ones) without breaking the flow of the lesson. My article in the September 2019 EL describes such strategies. It's important to not completely stop instruction to address inconsequential behaviors. Stopping the lesson negatively impacts pacing and interferes with creating instructional time and engaged time.

Finally, it's crucial to read your audience. Even if you've planned your lesson well, as it unfolds, attend to the signals students give you as to whether your pacing is too fast or too slow. Pay close attention to students' behavior. I've seen many lessons executed poorly because teachers failed to adjust their pacing to meet the needs of their audience.

Signals that indicate pacing is too slow include:

Signals that indicate pacing is too fast include:

Students ask many questions for clarification.

Students are struggling to keep up and understand the material.

Signals that indicate your pacing is just right include:

Students are engaged (asking questions that spark discussion, collaborating with peers, completing tasks, and keeping up with the pace of new material presented).

Students seem to be grasping the content, evidenced by correct responses and appropriate, relevant questions.

Better Pacing, Better Teaching

Whether you're teaching face-to-face or virtually, choosing lesson content well and implementing sound instructional strategies are just two components of a powerful lesson. If students never get to the essential content or become disengaged as you present it because of poor pacing, the lesson will be somewhat futile. Teachers must take actions like those described here to enhance the pacing of their lessons. Getting this aspect right will help increase the most important time elements in the classroom: instructional time and engaged time.

Fig. 1: Good Pacing When Teaching in Virtual Settings

As an instructional coach, I often facilitate teacher professional learning communities on the topic of strengthening instructional pacing. Now, as I facilitate such groups virtually, I find myself discussing with teachers how to get pacing right when teaching in the virtual space, and the pacing of asynchronous and synchronous instruction.

Teaching in the virtual space is very different from teaching in the physical classroom, and pacing in a remotely delivered lesson space presents a unique challenge: teachers and students aren't in the same physical setting. Not being in this same space leaves the teacher with little to no control over household distractions and students becoming preoccupied, both of which can adversely impact pacing. To mitigate these barriers to good pacing, when teaching remotely:

Keep lessons short (15 minutes or less) and upbeat. Only include essential content.

Include appropriate audio and visuals in pre-recorded lessons (asynchronous learning) and during live sessions (synchronous learning).

During synchronous learning, cold call on students, as needed, to prevent students' lack of participation from disrupting the lesson's flow.

Fig. 2: Essential Steps for Planning with Great Pacing in Mind

Choose the Goal and Components for Your Lesson:

Determine how much time you'll have.

Set your learning target.

Script the questions you'll pose.

Plan actions and words for your teaching point.

Plan lesson activities (consider readiness levels and relevance).

Once You've Planned Individual Components, "Internalize":

Think through and rehearse key parts of the lesson.

Allocate how much time to give each element.

Think through transitions-and be ready to read signals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Planning for good pacing-the timing of presenting elements and keeping kids engaged-is crucial to a lesson's success. Here's how to get it right.

# data[].attributes.body
I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance. This work is mine.

# data[].attributes.headline
A field study from 2023 published by International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) called Beyond the Bell: The Role of Instructional Time and Learner Persistence in Shaping Effective Public-School Curricula

# data[].attributes.subject
A field study from 2023 published by International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) called Beyond the Bell: The Role of Instructional Time and Learner Persistence in Shaping Effective Public-School Curricula

# data[].attributes.body
“In the implementation of the Matatag Curriculum now that the allotted time for each subject is down to only 45 minutes from 1 hour which is a challenge for teachers since they need to congest all the important information the topics they are discussing inside the classroom just to fit in the allotted time.”

Class time alone has become shorter over time, leaving even daily tasks to feel rushed- whole units begin to be segmented before the curriculum's time span even reaches them, starting students on the path to anti-retention early.

“Addressing the gaps in curriculum effectiveness requires a comprehensive approach that prioritizes both instructional time and learner persistence.”

The path to success must be fostered on both ends of an educational transaction; otherwise, the entire system will be out of balance.

“The students came from various academic backgrounds and had different learning styles, showcasing the diverse educational experiences found in the school.”

It’s essential to meet students where they are when they enter, so expecting a child to jump into a more (or less) advanced curriculum than they previously knew sets them behind, which in turn leaves them behind.

“Focusing on motivation and self-efficacy as essential components can greatly enhance students’ persistence and achievements in their educational paths.”

An idea that frequently arose in this article and the other one is the creation of a curriculum that gives students more control, allowing them to tailor their learning to meet their needs and grow alongside it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Beyond the Bell: The Role of Instructional Time and Learner Persistence in Shaping Effective Public-School Curricula - International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This study aimed to investigate how instructional time influences the effectiveness of the curriculum on learner persistence among Grade.…

# data[].attributes.headline
A doctoral dissertation from 2010 for the University of Tennessee, entitled The Effects of Pacing on Academic Performance in Elementary School Students with Attention Difficulties

# data[].attributes.subject
A doctoral dissertation from 2010 for the University of Tennessee, entitled The Effects of Pacing on Academic Performance in Elementary School Students with Attention Difficulties

# data[].attributes.body
“However, some researchers have found a decrease in accuracy levels under explicit timing conditions. Rhymer et al. (1998) examined explicit timing with third-grade students completing math sheets with simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems. They found that problem completion rates increased during the explicit timing condition, but accuracy levels decreased with explicit timing.”

This is crucial to my research process as it explains the division between students under this topic and how the issue itself can be viewed in a multitude of ways.

“The no-delay form of the program provided immediate transitions from one problem to the next after the student entered an answer. The delay condition incorporated a computerized delay of 7 seconds after the student submitted the answer to a problem before the next problem appeared on the screen.”

It was intriguing to discover how a slight difference in the delivery of an assignment can have a significant impact on the results, and wonder if such slight changes could be used in other lessons.

“Student performance was more accurate (though not significantly so) in the delay condition.”

In addition to the past quotation, students respond to the delay with the displayed ability to succeed at higher rates. I will incorporate this thinking into later research.

“These analyses of pacing on effort and difficulty rankings and student choice behavior suggest that pacing had no significant impact on students’ perceptions of the assignment or the preference for which assignment they would rather work.”

I found it interesting that, while the entire article promoted the delay, statistics came back showing the difference in group success wasn’t drastic enough to mean anything, and I wonder if that is why many students go unrecognized in the school system.

# data[].attributes.headline
An article written in 2012 for edutopia.org entitled Instructional Pacing: How Do Your Lessons Flow?

# data[].attributes.subject
An article written in 2012 for edutopia.org entitled Instructional Pacing: How Do Your Lessons Flow?

# data[].attributes.body
“The true art of pacing lies in creating a sense of urgency and also not leaving your students in the dust. Think diligent pace but not frenetic.”

I think this section was interesting to read as it suggests many educators are being lazy with their teaching which may be what’s affecting the students.

“For each set of instructions, write them ahead of time on the board or have a slide in your PowerPoint or Prezi. If you are relying on giving oral directions only, think of those students that have poor listening skills”

I love multi-processing and seeing the inclusion of it in classrooms- as a student who also needs multiple modes to understand, I can see how staring here could change the entire culture of the class before changing anything else.

“Taking time to see where your students are during the lesson and adjusting accordingly means formative assessments play a key role in pacing.”

An idea that has come up a lot and one that I am finding to me a crucial part in finding a solution to my research topic. Adjusting to the students and tweaking a lesson to fit them rather than forcing humans to conform to a single ideal allows more space for learning and success.

“When that pacing seems off, is it time to switch the mode of delivery? Do they need a mini-lecture to clarify some misconceptions?”

-I think these are essential questions that educators should be asking themselves often while teaching and preparing lessons but also questions I need to consider so that my research covers multiple targets instead of a shallow dive into the issue.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

# data[].attributes.headline
An article written in 2024 published by the Taylor & Francis Group titled Navigating the power of time in classroom practices: teachers’ and students’ perspectives

# data[].attributes.subject
An article written in 2024 published by the Taylor & Francis Group titled Navigating the power of time in classroom practices: teachers’ and students’ perspectives

# data[].attributes.body
“The aim is to draw attention to the temporal dimensions of the curriculum, focusing not on methods, styles, or ways of delivering the curriculum “on time”, but on examining the educational functions related to time within curricular practices.”

The idea that pacing may be affecting student learning stems from the core of delivering lessons and the pressure put on educators to complete curricula within a set amount of time. To begin interrogating the issue, one must start at the core.

“The conventional approach to time management within the curriculum is based on a linear, clock-based structure that fails to acknowledge the changing dynamics of information and the essential skills of critical thinking and problem-solving necessary in today's ever-evolving world.”

I noticed the word ‘fail’ here as something that has an ill effect on all participants- strict timelines do not factor in how human nature changes variables, let alone being a variable itself.

“...interpreting the world and people occurs through cognitive processes relating to temporality. Every human experience is ordered in relation to the past, present and future. Time is therefore an individual interpretive matrix for a person's educational experiences.”

Lessons can never be ‘one size fits all’ because students do not enter the room as the same as one another or as themselves on any given day of the week. How time alters a lesson should be based on how the students present in the room can flow within it.

“The systemic imposition of rigid schedules in the curriculum forces educators to prioritise task completion over deeper learning, reflecting structural violence in educational practices.”

The stress put on educators to complete district guidelines and time frames pushed them to focus more on getting from start to finish and less on how well students are doing- this overall becomes a struggle with students' grades slipping or losing the motivation to care.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Navigating the power of time in classroom practices: teachers’ and students’ perspectives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The paper examines educational functions related to time within classroom practices and aims to find out how curriculum delivery shapes the time experience, how time impacts curricular activities,…

# data[].attributes.headline
An academic blog written in 2023 for World Bank Blogs entitled Over-loaded, over-ambitious, and under-focused: Three key problems with curriculum and instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
An academic blog written in 2023 for World Bank Blogs entitled Over-loaded, over-ambitious, and under-focused: Three key problems with curriculum and instruction

# data[].attributes.body
“When the expected pace of learning in the curriculum is misaligned with the actual pace of learning, teachers are unable to provide the instruction that enables students to master essential knowledge and skills. This can happen when the curriculum moves either too fast or too slow, but it is often the case that over-loaded curricula move at an over-ambitious pace. Students may fall multiple grade levels below expectations as a result.”

Students are being left behind while curricula and lesson plans rush through units, keeping their eyes strictly on the finish line; students aren’t realistically receiving the education they need to comprehend or succeed.

“Learning could accelerate if curricula were built around the learning pace of students.”

In typical educator pedagogy, one is taught to meet students where they enter from without unnecessary expectations. How schooling currently meets students breaks the welcoming cycle and instead pushes students down when they cannot keep up.

“Some countries have sought to better align their over-ambitious curricular pacing with the pace of student learning by reducing curricular content. Others have done so by adjusting instructional time or adjusting teaching approaches and temporary student groupings.”

I liked how this section encapsulated how school programs around the world are working to improve their approaches for students and made it a more international issue, rather than staying within the single lens of America.

“Over-loaded curricula, over-ambitious pace, and under-focused instructional approaches are hampering efforts to recover and accelerate learning following the disruptions of the pandemic.

This is interesting as educators and the public are still being exposed to and witnessing the effects of the pandemic years later. This issue isn’t a single facet but one in a myriad of other problems that need to be reevaluated.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Thank you for choosing to be part of the Education for Global Development community!

Your subscription is now active. The latest blog posts and blog-related announcements will be delivered directly to your email inbox. You may unsubscribe at any time.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Over-loaded, over-ambitious, and under-focused: Three key problems with curriculum and instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, global learning levels were unacceptably low, slow to improve, and uneven. In 2019, the average learning poverty rate - the proportion of 10-year-old children unable to read and understand a simple text - was 57 percent across low- and middle-income countries.

# data[].attributes.headline
An institutional essay from 2013 by 2e Newsletter for the Davidson Institute titled Understanding, Diagnosing, and Coping with Slow Processing Speed

# data[].attributes.subject
An institutional essay from 2013 by 2e Newsletter for the Davidson Institute titled Understanding, Diagnosing, and Coping with Slow Processing Speed

# data[].attributes.body
“Some children take more time to complete tasks due to trouble with activation. A student may not begin a task due to problems organizing time or materials, or due to reluctance, uncertainty, lack of confidence, or anxiety. Other children may take more time to complete tasks because of problems maintaining focus.”

It’s important to understand that not all students are affected by classrooms that are paced too quickly; those who need extra processing time are at higher risk of falling behind than others.

“Regardless of the category of services for which the gifted student qualifies, it’s important to prevent slow processing from interfering with a child’s success.”

It shouldn’t be expected of students, especially those on the younger side, to adapt to and manage their progress through a course; educators should tailor curricula to better fit the class population.

“To provide suitable interventions, a teacher or school needs to determine the source of the problems and tailor interventions to the individual student’s needs. To the right are examples of interventions that can address them”

I think this is so important because students often get overlooked when they struggle in these ways.

“Parents should avoid personalizing, punishing, and reacting emotionally, remembering that slow processing speed is not purposeful and can improve. Parents can help by providing more structure, using schedules, timers, clocks, alarms, and incentives. With older children, it can pay to involve them in the problem-solving process.”

I note this passage because I value the idea that helping and accommodating students doesn’t end in the classroom, but rather should carry on into home and social life.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Understanding, Diagnosing, and Coping with Slow Processing Speed - Davidson Institute

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In this article, Steven M. Butnik takes a look at a number of options regarding slow processing speed. Author: Butnik, S. Publisher: 2e Newsletter

# data[].attributes.headline
A resource blog from 2019 written by ANet entitled An unaligned assessment strategy can undermine quality curriculum.

# data[].attributes.subject
A resource blog from 2019 written by ANet entitled An unaligned assessment strategy can undermine quality curriculum.

# data[].attributes.body
“Often districts have an existing curriculum and then want to overhaul the assessment system but haven’t really thought about how they fit together,” she says. “There are a lot of open questions about the way the two relate and how teachers can use information from assessments to modify instruction. It's hard to get both right at once.”

I liked how this section mentions the difficulties and the importance of modifying instructions to better suit classrooms AND educators.

“We found on average, for a seventh-grader, our districts were giving up something like 22 days of instruction just for assessment purposes.”

Highlights how district misalignment can directly and indirectly affect schools, educators, students, and grades.

“A good assessment strategy influences a teacher’s understanding of what kids are and are not learning. It influences the decisions they make day to day about how to adjust what they spend their time doing.”

A call to action that turns the role on its head, asking teachers to evaluate themselves and see whether what they are doing is working.

“When decisions are based on bad data because they’re from bad assessments, kids end up getting low-quality instruction.”

Interrogates the core of the issue and explains that, with false inputs, data is how we grow; students could be “failed”.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
An unaligned assessment strategy can undermine quality curriculum.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many districts are investing heavily in curriculum to improve teaching and learning. But you’ll only get so far if you only pay attention to curriculum, because assessments can actively work against a good curriculum. ANet helped LDOE grapple with this dilemma.