I read this blog post the other day and had to reblog it. The more people who read this article the better. Hopefully the powers that be will listen so that teachers will be spared more meaningless paperwork.
“What do you think about district pacing guides?” I am asked this question a lot. To answer it, let us consider the origin of the idea, in competitive racing.
My daughter runs track. She is a fine miler, on course to break 5 minutes this spring (she ran 5:09 to win her league last spring). So, start by doing the math to establish a pure pacing guide: she needs to run four 75-second laps to run a 5:00 minute mile.
But in a typical race, the pace varies for different reasons: there is often group excitement or timidity in the first 200 meters that causes the first lap to be faster or slower than an accomplished runner aiming to win or break a record might prefer. A too-quick start, of course, causes oxygen depletion for all, leading to a fall-off in the pace later in the race; how quick the…
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