Given Gunn’s academic rigor, it is understandable that many tests in Advanced Placement (AP) and honors classes are extremely time-pressured. These upper-level classes are designed to challenge students by cramming enormous amounts of material into limited class time and moving at a very rapid pace. Consequently, it is no surprise that the exams in these classes also cover a large amount of material and are often quite lengthy.

However, when tests are so long that the majority of students do not finish them in the given class period, they are no longer a fair test of a student’s knowledge of the subject matter and do not reward those who take the time to study and learn the material. While curves ensure that students receive passing grades on these tests, they do not remedy the problem at hand.

Traditionally, exams are designed to assess how well a student has learned a given section of material. If a student studies hard and knows the subject matter covered in class, she should score well on the test. However, when teachers give tests that are exceptionally long, they can no longer reward students who study to learn the material. Instead, teachers inadvertently reward those students who may not study, but are innately able to work quickly under high pressure.

At this point, exams are no longer an assessment of students’ knowledge of the material, but rather an aptitude test of their natural abilities.

While students who know the material better will undoubtedly be able to work faster, there comes a point at which no matter how much a student studies, she will not be able to complete a test, causing her unnecessary stress and oftentimes discouraging her from studying at all. AP and SAT tests are often highly time pressured as well, but they are cumulative, standardized tests and thus serve a different purpose than unit exams written by teachers.

Furthermore, while there are definitely situations in the real world in which being able to work quickly is essential, there are rarely times in which a person would be under so much pressure that she would not be able to complete the majority of work assigned to her.

Also, in the real world, hard work usually pays off. However, by giving students extremely time-pressured tests, teachers are depriving them of the opportunity to learn this lesson and are essentially teaching them the opposite.

Instead, teachers should design tests so they are a fair assessment of a student’s knowledge of the subject matter. Tests need to be challenging, yet of a reasonable length. This way, students who study hard will be rewarded for their efforts and learn a life lesson in the process.