Quarters help students and teachers stay more organized as opposed to semesters.

Assignments completed in a quarter must be graded in the days following the end of the quarter, which ensures that teachers do not procrastinate their grading until the end of the semester.

Students also must turn in any late assignments by the end of the quarter to receive partial credit which keeps them on track and prevents them from procrastinating on an assignment for too long.

Quarters also help students see their progress throughout the year. In addition to them being able to see their semester grades, students also are able to get a better break down of their improvement with quarter grades. Students can’t get as clear of an idea of whether they are improving or not within a semester.

The quarter system also helps teachers organize their course work. For example, I took biology last year, and the curriculum was divided into four units to be completed in the corresponding quarters. We also were given current event assignments that were due at the end of each quarter.

Many teachers also divide the curriculum by quarters when giving out their syllabi. This helps students better understand when they would be learning a specific topic and whether the class is behind or ahead at any given time.

While having quarters instead of semesters is not necessary, it can offer many benefits and extra organization that helps both students and teachers.