1. Cohort Size and Structure There are several factors that combine to contribute to a school’s ability to keep academy/cohort courses pure; size and structure are two of these contributing factors. This brief presentation examines the effect of the number of students in an academy/cohort and the effect of the master schedule structure on the academy/cohort.

2. Let’s look at a Linked Learning Pathway/Cohort with the following: A 6 period student day Teachers that teach 5 periods per day Pathway Teachers have a common planning period A pathway with 4 teachers The cohort is composed of 120 students organized in 4 groups of 30 students each, Group A, B, C and D Each group of students takes the same 4 courses in the Linked Learning pathway, Course 1, 2, 3 and 4

3. Per 1Per 2Per 3Per 4Per 5Per 6 Course 1PREPABCD Course 2PREPBCDA Course 3PREPCDAB Course 4PREPDABC Pathway with 120 students (Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway) A B C D A B C D Aspects of this structure: Common prep Teachers teach one period out of the academy Students take 4 classes in academy and 2 out Students in academy can go out for classes during period 1 & 6 Academy field trips complicated by 6 th period outside class (students in academy periods 3- 6 improves the ability to take field trips) Now let’s see what happens with 30 more students

4. Per 1Per 2Per 3Per 4Per 5Per 6 Course 1PREPABCDE Course 2PREPBCDEA Course 3PREPCDEAB Course 4PREPDEABC Pathway with 150 students (Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway) B A D C A E B C D E Aspects of this structure: Common prep Teachers teach all 5 periods in the academy Students take 4 classes in academy and 2 out Students in academy can go out for classes during any period 1 – 6 (a student can change group to go out any period) Academy field trips complicated by students taking classes outside of the academy during all periods of the day

5. Grade Level Pathway with 150 Students

6. The 300 Student Model The 300 student model on the next page has the following attributes: 8 teachers all with common prep Teachers teach all 5 periods in the academy Each teacher teaches 150 of the 300 students – internal rotation of classes will allow all teachers to work with all students Students take 4 classes in academy and 2 out Students in academy can go out for classes during any period 1 – 6 (a student can change group to go out any period) Academy field trips complicated by students taking classes outside of the academy during all periods of the day Now we will take a look at this model and follow a band student in group A who also takes Algebra 2

7. Per 1Per 2Per 3Per 4Per 5Per 6 EnglishPrep ABCDE EnglishPrep FGHIJ HistoryPrep BCDEF HistoryPrep GHIJA SciencePrep CDEFG SciencePrep HIJAB TechPrep DEFGH TechPrep IJABC Pathway with 300 students (Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway) All OutE & JA & FB & GC & HD & I BandAlg 1 Alg 2 Geom Chem Physics Alg 2 AP Course World Language AP Course World Language AP Course World Language

8. Pathway with 300 students

9. The Golden Numbers How do you know the best configuration of a Linked Learning Cohort? Number of teachers Number of periods Number of students Tool: Cohort Size Calculator – Excel Spreadsheet Fill in the 5 values and a chart on the spreadsheet will show you workable configurations