DEVELOPING A DATA INFORMED
MASTER SCHEDULE
June, 2012
What’s the Big Deal?
• Why do we talk about master schedule ?
– How time is spent
– How we utilize staff
– How we are able to respond to student needs
Background Information
Middle School 6-8th (8:55a-4p)
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680-700 students
Title 1
20% ELL (Spanish)
High mobility
7 periods (55-75 min) 35min lunch
Common grade level planning
during exploratory
2, 7-8 person teams per GL
2 Intervention Support staff 3-5
periods
6/8 Exploratory staff 1 period
3 Special Ed staff 1 period
High School 9-12th(8:15a-3:15p)
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890-900+ students
Title 1
~18-20% ELL
High mobility
4X4 block
~40% incoming students lack skills
to be successful in Eng1 and Alg1
2, 4 person teams in NGA
1 reading intervention- 45 min for
two periods
1 Special Ed staff - 45 min 1 period
Essentials of Reading and Math
classes
HSAP prep courses
Steps for Scheduling
• Collect student data on current and
incoming students
– CBM/Diagnostics/District Assessments/Course
Failures/EWS/Historical Data
– Start well before proposed budgets and
schedules are due
• March/April for 8th graders
• April/May for 5th graders
– Determine those who are in need of further
screenings
Steps for Scheduling
• Based on data collection determine student
needs
• Develop consensus among stakeholders
surrounding need for
Intervention/Enrichment (I/E) courses
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Staff meetings
Parent meetings
Student meetings
Committee/task force
Communication plan
Steps for Scheduling
• Map out available interventions and match to student needs
– Inventory current materials available throughout departments and analyze
for:
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Research/evidence
Content
Skills addressed
Instructional methodology
Engagement
– Plan for “plugging holes” in intervention options
• WWC, BEE, Local research
– Plan for continuity with elementary and high school feeders
• In highly mobile areas may consider intervention continuity between middle schools
and high schools
– Determine if placement tests need to be given
• General placements based on less than proficient scores on state assessments are
not the best way to schedule students
• Determine course credit codes for intervention sections
– Students cannot go into credit deficit due to intervention classes
Steps for Scheduling
• Use data collected regarding student needs to determine
the types of interventions that will be offered and number
of sections needed
– Try to create homogeneous groups based on your populations’
learning needs
• Program publisher information may be too broad for effectiveness
at secondary level (Fuchs, Fuchs & Compton 2010) E.G. RW
– Consider the amount of time (minutes) required for
interventions to be effectively delivered with fidelity per
session and if this matches time available
– Consider the amount of time (sessions/days/weeks) required
for interventions to be fully implemented
• General pacing/curriculum guides can be developed with guidelines
for re-teaching and extensions to support core instruction
Steps for Scheduling
– Consider number of students per group
• More intense needs= smaller group
– Develop plan for those who may need more intense supports
• Who/when/how
– Develop plan for those who may need multi-semester support
– Determine number of materials to be utilized and costs
• Consumable vs. recyclable
– Technology can support long-term consumption costs
– Investigate sources for funding
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District sources
Budget
Grants
PTSA
Community partnerships
Steps for Scheduling
• Determine number of students who will need
multiple interventions
– Will dictate how many additional intervention
sections need to be offered during Exploratory or
use of intervention time e.g. skinnies
• Determine the number of students who will
need one intervention and impact on schedule
– Use of full block for intervention or half of block for
intervention and half for math/algebra English/ELA
review, re-teach, pre-teach
Steps for Scheduling- where the magic happens!!
• Determine common time for
intervention/
reteach/enrichment to allow for
maximum staff availability- may
require creativity
– Beware of certain periods
– Consider where time can be
stolen:5-7 min shaved off of 7
period day or 8-10 min off of 4
period blocks, reduce time for
lunch, reduce transition times
between periods (easier if
students clustered in grade-level
areas of building) use of A/B
schedules, structured active
lunch, skinnies
– Consider adding time to school
day
Steps for Scheduling- where the magic happens!!
• Determine staffing
– Develop roster of ideal available staff with
specialization in:
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Literacy
ELL
Math
Special Education
Specific instructional strategies/programs
– Develop roster of staff who are interested/available
and willing to teach intervention courses but may
need additional support/training
• Determine plan for supporting those staff
Steps for Scheduling
• Determine designated “master scheduler” who has big
picture view of the school, school counselor for
scheduling intervention students and additional schedule
committee members to review and problem-solve
– At middle school level master scheduler typically principal or
assistant principal
– At high school level master scheduler typically assistant
principal
– School counselors must understand logistics of interventions
and implications for current schedule structure
• (A/B, Block)
• Caps on number of students per section
• Points in time after which students cannot be added to sections
Steps for Scheduling
1. Hand schedule students in need of two
interventions (reading and math) first
2. Hand schedule students in need of a single
intervention
3. Schedule remaining students
Steps for Scheduling
• Plan for new students at start of school year or those who enter after
the semester has begun
– Screening
– Intervention placement decisions
• Create communication protocol
• Create waitlist for those who arrive late in semester
• Prior to end of semester use student outcome and waitlist data to
determine how many and what types of intervention sections will be
needed for next semester
– Determine how to support those who were not successful in interventions
• Smaller or more specifically designed intervention sections
– Rearrange teachers to best meet needs of students in upcoming semester
• Repeat step 1 -review end-of semester data for current students and
plan for next year interventions and gather incoming student data
– Use information related to student response to interventions to inform next
year’s scheduling
Steps for Scheduling
• Progress Monitoring/Program Evaluation
– Consider built-in time for progress monitoring weekly or bi-weekly
• Determine expected outcomes:
– Knowledge
– Behavior
– Skills
• Determine how to best measure outcomes
– CBM/Grades/Attendance/ODRS/EWS/Credits/Formative Assessment
– Frequency/Data Collection Tools/Methods/Individuals Involved
• Determine methods/tools/frequency for assessing fidelity of
implementation
– Develop questions to answer regarding impact of I/E period
• What is the impact of I/E period on students level of:
achievement/attendance/behavior/etc
– Determine methods and data sources to answer the questions
SAMPLE SCHEDULES
Scheduling Resources
• School Scheduling Associates
– Templates and examples
http://www.schoolschedulingassociates.com/
cds.php
Contact Information
Amber Brundage
Abrundage@mail.usf.edu