Transcript Master Schedule Building

Master Schedule Building
A Quick Overview
Presented by the MIS Department
Northwest Regional ESD
The Goal of this Training
• Over-view of the scheduling process.
• Provide helpful documentation.
• Is NOT meant to be a comprehensive
training.
• Everyone should attend a full-blown
Master Schedule Building Workshop.
What do you need to make a good
schedule?
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Good data
A good team
A good process
Scheduling Philosophy:
STUDENTS
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Schedule around the Students – not the teachers! The
children’s needs come first. The schedule is designed to
deliver the curriculum to the student.
Establish a Scheduling Team –
Why?
1. Division of labor
2. Developing backup plans
3. Provide more options for
problem solving
Who should be involved in the
Scheduling Team?
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Administration official(s)
Guidance counselors.
Software Technicians.
Department Chairs/Lead Teachers.
Like to haves: Teacher notes on how they’d like to have the course they teach
scheduled (for example, German language courses taught by a teacher
placed back to back, if they also happen to teach math).
Balance Issues – How to minimize
conflict?
1. A conflict - 2 or more courses that
meet only in the same time period.
2. On the first run of the schedule
builder, allow seats to overfill.
3. Change the Master Schedule.
Scheduling Time-line
• It is important to develop a
scheduling time-line.
• Start at the end, and work your
way forward.
• Establish when you want to have
schedules to the students.
Phases of the Scheduling Process:
Phase 1 – Preliminary Tasks
Phase 2 – Tally
Phase 3 – Construction
Phase 4 – Analysis & Adjustment
Phase 5 – Final Tasks
Invest time in Phases 1 – 3, to avoid too much time spent in Phase 4.
Phase 1 – Preliminary Tasks
Review & update Curriculum
• Determine which courses will be offered this year.
Review parameters & constraints
• List all school parameters
• List all constraints
• Note team-teaching arrangements, where
applicable.
Understand the factors that impact
the Master Schedule
• Curriculum
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Number of courses vs. number of students
Percentage of Singletons & Doubletons
Average number of courses selected by a student
Average student density (percent of time scheduled for class)
• Parameters
– Number of periods in a day (more periods add flexibility, but shorten the class)
– Number of days in the cycle (more increases complexity & potential for conflict)
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Organization
Facilities
Staff
Constraints
Constraints
• A constraint is any existing condition which limits
or restricts the scheduler in placing course
sections in the Master Schedule.
• Examples: Curricular Constraints
– Locked in Singletons, Doubletons & Multi-section
courses.
– Double period lab sessions
– Work study programs
– Blocks
– Dovetailing courses
More Constraints
• Examples: Teacher Constraints
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Part-time/shared-time teachers
Team teaching
Interdisciplinary teaming
Period assignment requests by teachers
Negotiated agreements
• Facility Constraints
– Specialty rooms used by several teachers
– High room density
– Shared rooms
• Other constraints
– Late arrival
– Early dismissal
There are three key criteria that
determine how well the Master
Schedule has been constructed:
1. How well the student course selections have
been satisfied.
2. The extent to which there is acceptable
enrollment balance in multiple section courses.
3. The extent to which the Master Schedule is
able to satisfy teacher requests related to
course assignment preference.
Phase 2 – Tally
• Advertise Curriculum, collect student
course selections, & print initial tally
• Edit student course selections
• Finalize course offerings & make
sectioning decisions
Phase 2 – Tally (continued)
• Print final tally & conflict matrix
• Determine resource needs & review
assignments
• Prepare Schedule Board, section
chips, & Order of Placing Sections.
The Importance of section chips
• Contributes to the visual effect.
• Provides a wealth of data that would
otherwise have to be looked up.
• The chips can be different shapes and
should be different colors.
The Importance of ‘Order of
Placing Sections’
• The ‘Order of Placing Sections’ is the Master
Schedule building “game plan.”
• It ensures that there will be a flow and a
logical sequence.
• The tally provides much of the information.
Phase 3 – Construction
• Build the Master Schedule
– Use the conflict matrix.
– Courses to be offered, the number of course sections for each course, and the
teacher & room assignments are extremely important.
• Use the Schedule Board to assist in visualizing
the process
– Make sure that you have someone record it!
– A digital camera works well for this.
It’s important to look for errors/problems all along the process.
The “Ideal Schedule”
• The “Ideal Schedule” would have all core
classes in the morning, followed by Physical
Education and Electives in the afternoon.
• The Problem – It can’t work, due to constraints
such as teacher availability and rooms.
• The Goal – Spread out the core classes evenly
throughout the day.
Order of schedule building:
Try to do the following in the
same sitting:
1. Singletons
2. Doubletons
3. Constraints
Order of schedule building, Pt 2:
Do the following in a different sitting:
Multiple section courses
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Offer each section in as many periods as possible!
Place the section in the period with the fewest seats
allocated for the grade(s) involved..
Visually scan your Board to make sure that the
sections are offered in different periods throughout the
year.
Visually scan your Board to make sure that the
sections are offered in different periods throughout the
day.
Phase 4 – Analysis & Adjustment
• The Master Schedule Board has been built –
now it is time to load the software.
– Use a computer software program to load (schedule) the students.
– Use reports from the software program to analyze the results, and
then adjust the Master Schedule accordingly.
Phase 4 – Analysis & Adjustment
Load students into Master Schedule:
– Students are loaded into the Master Schedule by combining
input from the courses & sections to be offered and the student
course selections.
– This process may be repeated one or more times, depending
upon the quality of the Master Schedule that you built.
– The better the Master Schedule, the fewer times you will have to
load the students to get the best results.
Phase 4 – Analysis & Adjustment
Analyze results & adjust Master Schedule.
– If the scheduling results are not as good as you need, make
changes to the Master Schedule and load the students again.
– Things can get worse, as well as better….
Phase 4 – Analysis & Adjustment
Resolve final conflicts by adjusting
individual student course selections.
– If necessary, resolve final conflicts by adjusting student course
selections. This is a last resort!
– When possible, adjust the Master Schedule to fit the needs of
the students.
Phase 5 – Final Tasks
The Master Schedule has been adjusted so
that you have the scheduling results that
you want. After these final tasks, you are
ready to start school.
– Identify & assign study halls.
– Produce final reports.