Each School (and each teacher) has a particular notion of quality. Researchers tend to rate spread issues as 'soft' constraints. However, a better method is to allow the school to use a numerical rating system for each of these issues. As the great management guru, Peter Drucker said, 'what gets measured gets managed'.
A rating system will give a more detailed value of a particular constraint. For example, scheduling a PE double is very close to a 'hard' constraint. Whereas, scheduling an even distribution of morning versus afternoon classes for say 7a English, would be 'nice'. So in a rating system out of 100, where the higher the rating, the more desirable the outcome, the PE double may be rated 100, while the morning class may be rated a 10.
Examples of quality issues:
These issues will be dependent on the structure of the timetable - 5 or 10 day timetable and the number of periods in the day.
If we take a typical structure from my state, Victoria, we have a 10 day, 6 period per day structure. Within this structure these are the typical spread issues:
Practical classes like PE, Art, etc., require double periods - rating = 100.
Avoiding three sessions of a class on any particular day - rating = 100.
Avoiding two sessions of a class on any particular day- rating = 70.
An even spread of classes in week 1 & week 2, e.g., 9 periods of yr7 English needs 5 periods one week and 4 the other - rating = 80.
An equal spread of morning and afternoon sessions. Using the English example previously, the 9 periods should be scheduled with 5 periods before lunch and 4 after lunch - rating = 10.
For classes that may only run for 4 periods over the 10 days, staff would want the 4 periods spread evenly over the 10 days - minimize the gap between periods - rating = 50
Minimize full days for staff - rating = 60.
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