Scheduling Help for Career Academies and SLCs

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Scheduling Help for Career Academies and SLCs
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Welcome!

• Who are we?
• Charlie Dayton
• Tracy Hanna
• CASN

• Who are you?
• Title?
• Geography?
• Experience?
• Or
• Torn out hair?
• High blood pressure?
• Drinking problems?

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What do we have to offer?

• Magical Solutions? Perfect Remedies?
• No
• Well?
• A new guide, an online tutorial
• Information from experts around the country
• Best practices that have worked elsewhere
• An annual schedule of who needs to do what, when

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The Agenda

• We explain the five stages
• You ask related questions
• We share our collective wisdom
• You put a few ideas into practice
• We explain how to obtain The Guide
• You stumble out of the room in a haze of
  confusion

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Session Objectives

• Increase your knowledge and understanding of the
  critical importance of the master schedule in
  implementing SLCs/ Academies.
• Learn more about the Stages and Steps of the
  Master Scheduling Process, related best
  practices, and how to get more information.
• Critique your own schools processes, looking at
  challenges as well as best practices.

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Why is scheduling so important?

• Lack of connections
• Among subjects
• Among students
• Among teachers
• The silo approach
• English
• Math
• Social Studies
• Science

• SLCs provide
• Subject connections
• Student connections
• Teacher connections
• Plus (in Academies)
• Links outside school
• Links to the future

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Why is scheduling so difficult?

• It is an inherently complex process
• Many factors to incorporate (see the Dirty Dozen)
• As you probably know all too well, if youve
  tried to do this
• SLCs/Academies add new complexities
• Student cohort scheduling
• Teacher common planning time
• Shared leadership and involvement

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Constraints and Conflicts

• Outside requirements
• Staffing allocations
• Collective bargaining agreements
• Credit requirements
• Space constraints
• Time constraints

• Singletons/doubletons
• Special populations/programs
• Teacher preferences/needs
• Software capabilities
• Making deadlines
• SLC Academy Needs!

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SLC Academy Needs

• Shared Leadership
• Linked Classes
• Common Teacher Prep Time
• Balancing Across SLCs
• Looping
• Advisories

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Who Should Be Involved

• Traditional Method
• A single administrator or counselor, often
  working behind a closed (and occasionally locked)
  door
• Students and teachers receive their schedule
  during the summer or right before school starts
• Recommended Method
• Master Schedule Team
• Multiple stakeholders are involved in all aspects
  of creating the master schedule

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Master Schedule Team

• Open system with a team environment to build
  capacity and collaboration
• Counselors, teachers, administrators, classified
  staff, even students involved
• At least two people with computer/database
  expertise, or ability to learn how to manipulate
  programs

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District Role

• Districts should provide staffing information/
  teacher allotments earlier in the year (by the
  spring, not the summer)
• Attempts to economize by cutting such allotments
  based on false projections almost always
  backfire, causing everyone grief and hurting the
  quality of teaching staffs

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Put This to Use!

• With two to three people not from your school,
• discuss the following
• Constraints Best Practices
• What are your top 3 constraints in scheduling?
• What are best practices at your school that
  address these constraints?
• The Who
• Who currently designs the master schedule at your
  school?
• What other key stakeholders should be involved?

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The 5 Stages in Master Scheduling

• Planning
• Student course selection
• Master schedule construction
• Analysis, adjustment, and distribution of
  schedules
• Fine tuning and re-adjustment

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Stage 1 (August - December)

• Planning Preliminary/Initial Tasks
• (months 1-5)
• Assemble and develop scheduling team
• Team involves stakeholders
• Team develops materials and calendar for creating
  the master schedule

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Stage 2(January - March)

• Student Course Selection/Course Tallies (months
  6-8)
• Students and families informed of course
  selection
• Students register for next years courses
• Team evaluates course tallies, negotiates with
  administration and the district

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Stage 3(March - May)

• Master Schedule Construction
• (months 8-10)
• Team establishes rules for course scheduling and
  analyzes constraints and SLC/Academy needs
• Computer runs begin, with final adjustments made
  by hand
• Team invites stakeholders to view master schedule

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Sample Bell Schedule
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Stage 4 (May - July)

• Analysis, Adjustment Distribution of Schedules
  (months 10-12)
• Master schedule is analyzed by team and
  stakeholders
• SLC/Academy teachers analyze individual student
  schedules
• Class schedules passed out and adjustments made
  by hand as needed

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Put This to Use!

• With those from your school, discuss the
• following questions and make a plan
• Scheduling Process
• Which steps does your scheduling process already
  use?
• Which steps would you need to add?
• Lessons Learned
• What are the 3 most important things you learned?
• How will you share/implement these upon your
  return home?
• If there is no one from your school, jump into
  another group.

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Stage 5 (August - September)

• Fine Tuning Readjustment (months 13-14)
• Team and stakeholders analyze process
• Team reformed and process begins again
• Do you remember your 1st year of teaching?
• Thats what youre going through now
• Do you remember your 5th or 10th year?
• Thats where you can get to

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Internal Assessment

• Learning from those involved in the process
• Administrators
• Counselors
• SLC Leads
• The scheduling team
• Plus looking at the results

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External Assessment

• Learning from those affected by the process
• Students
• Parents
• The rest of the teachers
• Through
• Focus groups
• Surveys
• Data

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A cycle of improvement

• He who fails to study history is condemned to
  repeat it
• What principles and priorities were met?
• What ones werent?
• How can you improve the process?
• Keep your eye on the goal, and celebrate the
  improvements

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Additional Information Available in the Guide

• Software Matrix
• Alternative Bell Schedules
• Glossary of Terms

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How to Get the Guide

• Written Guide
• http//casn.berkeley.edu (Resources Tab)
• www.naf.org (Members only)
• PowerPoint and Handouts
• http//casn.berkeley.edu
• Tutorials
• http//www.nwrel.org/scpd/sslc/tutorials/
• ITS (almost) ALL FREE!

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Staying in Touch

• Charlie Dayton
• charlesdayton_at_earthlink.net
• Tracy Hanna
• thanna_at_berkeley.edu
• CASN_News-subscribe_at_yahoogroups.com