year to the movie that got shot the quickest? I really don't get it” (Gladwell 2019). Why is everything about how fast one can do something? Our obsession with timed testing only ensures that we do not get all the brightest thinkers at the top of every field; instead, we get the brightest who happen to be the fastest. We even use timed tests to judge elementary school students and even to decide whether their teachers are effective. Hence, Americans are obsessed with getting to the answer the fastest, but that does not show any signs of anyone being more intelligent than others. The timed part of the tests also causes pressure on students and hurts their focus. “These parents [of SAT test-takers] went to such great lengths to get extra time for their kids only because these tests run at breakneck speed—a feature that routinely stresses out test takers of all abilities” (Escobar, 2019). Escobar shows that the tests run at high speeds, which causes students to read through passages lightly, and so timed testing and preparing for the test is anxiety-forming. Many lawyers have said that their most nervous moment was taking the LSAT, which is the test that people need to take to get into law school, meaning the legal system is filled with pressure-resistant hares not just anxious tortoises at the highest levels of the justice system What is the most important rationale for timed testing? Timed tests are made to award those who work the quickest and to see who works well under pressure and that they are also a tie-breaker between people who get correct answers. So why do I disagree with that reasoning? Tests in other countries are taken home. In Eastern European countries, they only have to answer a few questions with no time limit. This shows that you do not necessarily have to answer questions fast to get into the best school. The tests put more pressure than they need to on students. People even said that they were the most nervous on the LSAT. So why is this debate important? Why should the system be fairer to tortoises? Colleges should accept people who are more thoughtful, slow, and steady in their work because not everyone is a hare. How might the system be different if everyone could finish assessments at his or her own pace? We may never know if the system is made for only hares to succeed.
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