In response to the 4/11/2012 post, “Increasing Time on Task – The Master Schedule,” a reader writes:

SC

In my school district the middle and high schools are on an 8-period, 50-minute day for 70,800 annual instructional minutes. Just for available time on task, I like our schedule over any of the three you listed.

SC Response I’m glad you did the math.  It means that you are exploring options. My discussion was based on holding the school day constant.  What it looks like your campus district has done is add 5 minutes to each class, essentially extending the day by 40 minutes.  I could take that 40 minutes and add 8 minutes to each of the five classes in the trimester schedule and the trimester would once again come out on top over your semester based, 8-period day (72,570 instructional minutes to 70,800). 

Plus, the students in a trimester have a manageable class load. Five courses at a time instead of eight.

And I have the flexibility to manage schedules that more accurately reflect both student need the reality of state accountability testing.

Game, set, and match?

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