B737-200 CLBING TO 12000 FT. FO; PF; FAILED TO FOLLOW SOP AND CALL ALT LEAVING 11000 FT. CAPT WAS DOING CHKLIST OUT OF 10000 FT PER SOP AND NOTED ALT 12300 FT. FO THOUGHT CLRED TO FL230. NO COMMENT FROM DEP CTLR.

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THE FO WAS FLYING THIS LEG FROM MDW TO MCI. IT WAS A COLD DAY WITH A LIGHT PAX LOAD; SO THE ACFT WAS CLBING FASTER THAN USUAL DURING CLBOUT. TKOF AND INITIAL DEP WERE NORMAL. COMPANY PROC IS TO PERFORM THE AFTER TKOF CHK FROM MEMORY AS SOON AS FLAPS ARE RETRACTED; THEN REFER TO THE CHKLIST AFTER PASSING 10000 FT MSL. AT THIS POINT WE ALSO CALL OUR DEP INFO BACK TO THE DEP STATION ON THE COMPANY FREQ. PASSING 10000 FT; I ACCOMPLISHED THE AFTER TKOF CHK WITH REF TO THE CHKLIST. WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO CLB TO 12000 FT. AS I WAS COMPILING INFO FOR THE CALL TO COMPANY; I HEARD THE ALT ALERTER SOUND AS WE PASSED 11000 FT. I DID NOT NOTICE THAT THE FO; AS PF; DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED ANNOUNCEMENT OF 'PASSING 11000 FT FOR 12000 FT.' NEXT I HEARD THE ALT ALERTER WARNING FOR EXCEEDED ALT AS WE PASSED 12300 FT. I DIRECTED THE FO TO LEVEL AT 12000 FT AND THE CLB WAS FINALLY STOPPED AT 12800 FT. WE THEN RETURNED TO 12000 FT. THERE WAS NO COMMENT FROM ATC. THE FO HAD THOUGHT WE WERE CLRED TO FL230 DESPITE HAVING ACKNOWLEDGED MY SETTING THE ALT ALERTER AT 12000 FT. MY PREOCCUPATION PREVENTED ME FROM NOTICING HIS FAILURE TO BEGIN THE LEVELOFF AS WE PASSED 11000 FT. WHEN THE CLRNC REQUIRES A LEVELOFF SOON AFTER PASSING 10000 FT; DUTIES SUCH AS CHKLIST CLEANUP AND COMPANY RADIO CALLS SHOULD BE POSTPONED UNTIL THE LEVELOFF IS ASSURED; OR CLRNC TO A HIGHER ALT IS RECEIVED. SUCH DUTIES; WHILE NECESSARY; DISTRACT FROM CTL OF THE ACFT WHICH MUST REMAIN PRIMARY.