This article investigates school mentors' perspectives on their role in training student-teachers following an initial teacher education (ITE) programme via a flexible learning route. The paper draws upon data gathered from focus groups and interviews to examine how mentors are redefining their role in response to the opportunities and challenges…

Over the past 30+ years, many colleges have made themselves more accessible for adult students. These innovations include flexible scheduling, online learning, professionally-oriented degrees, and credit for what students already know. However, there is more work to be done, particularly in the areas of financial aid for the very large number of…

Planning is an important phase of teaching, during which teachers make decisions about various aspects of instruction that ultimately shape students' opportunities to learn. Prior research on teacher planning, however, fails to adequately describe experienced teachers' planning decisions, and is unclear about the extent to which teachers use…

Focusing on the current timetabling process at the University of Toronto Mississauga, I apply David Wesson's theoretical framework in order to understand how increasing enrolment interacts with a decentralized timetabling process to limit the flexibility of course schedules, and the resultant impact on educational quality. I then apply Robert…

All children can learn. When principals and faculties fully embrace this core belief and demonstrate it to students, parents, and each other, significant improvements in academic performance can result. However, while it is certainly true that all children are capable of academic success, it is also true that learning occurs at different rates.…

Since 1989, North Carolina has implemented several statewide initiatives to establish high expectations for all students. State educators have also paid increasing attention to the flexible use of time as a resource for expanding student learning. Block scheduling is a reorganization of school time that is increasingly being adopted by North…

To offer insights into scheduling strategies, this paper presents the effects of block scheduling in one rural public secondary school. This case study revolves around three questions: (1) "What prompted the school's move to block scheduling?"; (2) "How was block scheduling implemented?"; and (3) "How has block scheduling affected perceptions of…

The most commonly used calendar cycles are described in this paper, with a focus on the advantages and disadvantages of each. Calendar options include the following plans: 45-15 block and staggered, flexible 45-15, 60-20 block and staggered, 90-30 staggered, Concept 6, 60-15, Concept 8, trimester, quinmester, Concept 16, Concept 12, multiple…

Using IBM's EPIC:SOCRATES as a vehicle, this paper examines the general work flow of a master schedule generator, the required and optional data necessary to drive such a system, the human methodology of linking data and controlling the system, and the actual algorithmic approach used by the computer. (Author)

The paper contains a model of a technique for increasing the quality of educational and instructional opportunity for all students. This model is developed around the flexible or modularly scheduled secondary school. Also included is a procedure containing a computer program, with which the administrator can develop the master schedule of the…

Describes a committee's efforts to revamp schedules to improve their high school's elective course options, provide equitable teacher-preparation time, and use instructional time productively. From three viable schedules (a four-period block, alternating-day schedule; a five-period trimester with a flexible period; and a modified trimester plan…

Microcomputer-managed examination scheduling at the University of Calgary (Canada) has two stages. The first uses mathematical methods to create a timetable that is conflict-free, uses a minimum number of periods, and minimizes the number of students with multiple exams in one day. An interactive stage allows the examination officer to accommodate…

Across the United States, an ever-increasing number of high schools have reevaluated their use of instructional time and have adopted some form of a block schedule. Block scheduling, an innovation grounded in Trump's Flexible Modular Scheduling Design, reorganizes the school day into extended blocks of time, each approximately 70 to 90 minutes.…

Musical theatre is one of the great genres of music, yet very few community theatres use live music to accompany their productions. Sadly, many community theatres that formerly employed pit orchestras are replacing them with electronic music. Some producers would welcome live music, but they worry about the potential cost. There are so many…