Comments on: Language and schedule conflict

By: jd2718

jd2718 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:16:19 +0000

There are several phases:
1. Student course requests must be completed. Often times these are entirely done by pattern (has algebra, gets geometry. has spanish I, gets spanish II). Other times, there are decisions to be made: AP courses, electives, language choice. This can be done by kids, by counselors, by admins, or by a combination. It needs to result in the creation of a file, and that file needs to be counted (how many sections of each course)
2. The master schedule (which courses, when, rooms, teachers) needs to be built. This can be done by letting a computer crunch the numbers of sections of each course, and push out a schedule. It is typical, I think, for the result NOT to be done by teacher. Or the master can be written by hand. It would have to be entered into a database or spreadsheet, and uploaded.
3. The requests are matched with the master to create student schedules. Our schedule maintenance software has a “scheduling engine” which does this, and redoes it, and fudges and fiddles to balance things out.

In my case, I complete 1 by hand (use @if statements and @countif statements in excel, and individual elective request forms with the students, including back-ups.

I complete 2 by hand. For my school, I know in advance who is teaching what, how many sections, etc. I also know which kids have requested what. If there is a conflict that stops kids from taking what could reasonably be interpreted to be a reasonable combination of classes without reasonable alternate, I rewrite the schedule. It is a boutique-y, handcrafted job.

With 1 and 2 completed in Excel, I upload and let our scheduling engine complete step 3. Then I go in and tinker more.

Did I come close to answering your question? We should go to e-mail if you need more detail.

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:54:40 +0000

By “schedule them with a computer” do you mean you guys use ESIS or something else? I’ve been looking into writing a simple scheduler for our school, and I’m interested in how you’ve done it. Thanks for the post – it’s helpful to get an insight into how you approach the beast.

By: Done scheduling « JD2718

Done scheduling « JD2718 — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:26:03 +0000

[...] mixed emotions: Programmer, too! (mixed feelings about being Chapter Leader and Programmer) / Language and Schedule Conflict (scheduling a small vs large school) / Novaya Metla (grateful for an administrator who stayed [...]

By: Novaya metla… « JD2718

Novaya metla… « JD2718 — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:39:55 +0000

[...] school has a “new broom.” From the programmer’s point of view (mine), the new sweeping is noticeable. I worked in the Spring and part of the Summer without [...]

By: jd2718

jd2718 — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:42:35 +0000

400 would be small for a high school or middle school. If you stayed with the same class all day, there really is not a scheduling hassle. However, if each kid has an individual schedule, creating the master schedule for the school might be a challenge (match teachers to courses to classrooms to times – this must be done before creating student schedules).

Once I have my master written, I schedule all the students with a computer. At this point, pretty much all of us do.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:46:27 +0000

What’s a small school? The school I went to in Singapore had 2,000 students, K-12; when I was in 8th grade, there were around 400 students at the middle school, but the principal could schedule everyone with a computer.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:59:04 +0000

Ugh – I remember those days. I used to do the scheudling for a small alternative school. I remember one of the biggest headaches was making sure the scheudle worked for each and every senior, so they could take the classes he/she needed for graduation. I don’t miss those days!