A western North Carolina study explored how 31 teachers and 35 students viewed implementation of the 4 x 4 block schedule in five high schools. Teachers generally favor the 4-period schedule, but several cited absence problems, less student homework, and "uneven" student schedules. To reap full benefits from block schedules, principals…

It is inappropriate to judge high school teachers' failure rates without making appropriate modifications to reflect student-caused failures. Devising an adjusted failure rate addresses this problem. If properly placed students with 10 or more days absent and 10% or more missing homework assignments are removed from failure numbers, the…