America Reads & America Counts (ARC) is a non profit organization that matches c

Question

America Reads & America Counts (ARC) is a non profit organization that matches college students with public schools who need support in developing literacy and math skills in the classroom. University students receive federal work study funds for working one-on-one with at-risk children, normally for 10 hours a week in 2-hour increments. The program is most popular in urban areas where there is a large concentration of college and university students. For one university alone in the New York city area, 1000 students are placed each semester in more than 100 elementary and secondary schools. Placement must consider the academic calendar, changing class schedules, travel distances from schools, student skills (e.g., bilingual) and preferences (grade levels, etc.), and school needs. The process of matching students with schools can take one to two months, by which time applicants may have found other employment and the process must be repeated. Currently the administrator uses an Excel spreadsheet to organize the relevant data, but the assignment process is basically manual. ARC would like you to review their scheduling process and develop a quantitative model that would improve both the speed and quality of assignments. Sample data is given below for your analysis. Assign one student to each school. Assign students to schools such that travel time is minimized. Assign students to schools such that preferences are maximized. Assign students to schools such that both travel time and preferences are considered. How would you incorporate different priorities on needs or preferences?

Explanation / Answer

School Student 1 2 3 4 5 6 Amy 15 30 60 30 45 20 Brent 10 30 45 20 45 10 Calvin 30 45 20 60 20 30 Deidre 20 30 45 15 10 45 Elena 45 20 15 45 15 30 Franklin 15 45 30 15 20 60 Student Prefernces Student TYPE LEVEL TIME DAYS SKILL Amy Math Primary Morning MWF Spanish Brent Math Primary Afternoon TTH Mandarin Calvin Reading Primary Afternoon TTH Spanish Deidre Math Secondary Afternoon MWF ASL Elena Reading Secondary Morning TTH Spanish Franklin Reading Secondary Morning MWF ASL School TYPE LEVEL TIME DAYS SKILL 1 Math Primary Morning MWF Spanish 2 Reading Secondary Morning TTH Spanish 3 Reading Primary Afternoon TTH Mandarian 4 Reading Secondary Afternoon MWF Spanish 5 Math Primary Morning MWF Mandarian 6 Math Secondary Afternoon TTH ASL Ans Student 1 Type level TIME DAYS SKILL Amy 15 Math Primary Morning MWF Spanish School 6 Brent 10 Math Secondary Afternoon TTH ASL School 3 Calvin 20 Reading Primary Afternoon TTH Mandarian School 5 Deidre 10 Math Primary Morning MWF Mandarian School 2 Elena 20 Reading Secondary Morning TTH Spanish School 4 Franklin 15 Reading Secondary Afternoon MWF Spanish

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