Oldfags used to say they only have an 8th grade education?
THIS is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 (Salina, KS, USA) It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.
8th Grade Final Exam from 1895
6 hours to complete
Grammar (Time Limit - one hour)
Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no Modifications.
Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of lie, play and run.
Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time Limit - 1.25 hours)
Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at 20 per metre?
Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U.S. History (Time Limit - 45 minutes)
Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
Show the territorial growth of the United States.
Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
Orthography (Time Limit - one hour)
What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
What are elementary sounds? How classified?
What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
Give four substitutes for caret 'u.'
Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the
sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time Limit - one hour)
What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
Describe the mountains of North America.
Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/p_test/1895_Eightgr_test.htm
There are people with PHDs that couldn't pass that test. In fact I'll wager most can't.
I sure cant... I'd pass out from not knowing anything and being nervous about 6 problems in or so.
I thought I was pretty smart..... Now?....
No monetary unit is given ----- invalid question.
1895 Kansas, everything is dollar denominated for public transactions. Lumber is generally in linear board feet so you would need a standard to metric conversion which is likely the true knowledge test of the question.
Maybe they were real chads and wouldn't recognize the dollar as legitimate currency intentionally.
Metric system? British spelling of meter? 1895 Kansas? Curious..
Bullshit! The question makes you think and is simple. The 'monetary unit ' does NOT matter. The COST is simply 20 per metre, The knowledge you need to bring is how many feet to a metre? 1 metre = 3.28 feet. The boards are ALL 12 inches wide and 16 feet long. Width does NOT matter. Simple math!! 16 x 40 = 640. 640 / 3.28 = 195.12. 195.12 x 20 = 3902.4. Answer 40 boards cost 3902.4.
In the math world it does matter ----- key word COST.
The word "cost" begs the question ----- how many "whats" cents, bottle-caps, chickens, bits (12 1/2 cents), Zimbabwe dollars are we taking about
The question uses a unit-less number ---- dimensionless quantity . "Cost" can not be determined with a unit-less number ---- unless the about is tree fiddy and you done give it to 'em.
I think a lot of the above test is NOT taken from an 1895 exam. Sauce for this exam please?
NASA?? https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/p_test/1895_Eightgr_test.htm
Wrong. Two hens and a goat. Sheesh. This thing is a cakewalk. Pay attention.
A lot of the questions are like that. Or they just don't make sense. In your example, the lack of a monetary unit is the least of it's problems. Why are the boards measured in inches and feet but charged per metre?
Maybe 20 per metre was the name of a chain of hardware stores?
"Honey, I'm going to run to 20 Per Metre's and pick up some turpentine and that new hammer I've been eying."
kek. That's right. Had to be
When I was in school, we had meter sticks, which were 39 point something inches long. As the spelling was "metre," I don't believe this test was American.
Not a whole lot different than the exams we had in the 50s and 60s. Today all they learn is to live off the government, riot, and try to find out what gender they are. No one going to school today is learning anything at all.
And fighting each other. Joggers be fighting all day every day while other joggers record and laugh.
You’re kidding! I have never taken a test that asked many of these questions.
Not in one test, but I did get a lot of similar questions in various classes in school back in the 60s. There was never an overall test for the grade.
These questions are a reflection of a classical education. The students taking this exam would have memorized mathematical laws and properties, practiced drawing maps, studied sentence structure as well as phonetics, and written multiple compositions throughout the year before being asked to do so on this exam.
I educate my children classically and our exams resemble this one (though slightly less intense). My own kids would fare well on this one, though we haven't studied the battles as thoroughly.
Don’t know how old your kids are but there is a special college in Utah (I know the founder) that offers a similar classical education based on Thomas Jefferson’s education. It’s called Monticello College. The school does much more than teach classical education, it is meant to build new American Founders. I even noted once that they offered online courses for homeschoolers at times. And have had families come in summer for activities and learning They are not a typical college but do offer a liberal arts degree. Here’s the link: https://monticellocollege.org/
I visited the website. It is a college that I wish, I could have attended.
Me, too!
GPT4 (EDIT: this was answered by a machine):
Grammar
Arithmetic
U.S. History
Orthography
Geography
Interesting. I imagine most people do know many of the answers, it's just the way the questions are worded.
We can literally educate ourselves on anything with the internet database. What we need in our education is basic life functions and philosophy. And we need to let kids figure out what they are, not tell them and decide what they will be.
Hey ChatGPT,
Wouldn't the answer be 48.21 bushels of wheat if there are 1.2445 cubic feet in one bushel?
You get an A+ for your answers!
AI was incorrect on capitalization. God is capitalized as well as any pronouns referring to Him.
In 1895, the trade centers would have included New Orleans, Charleston, and Norfolk.
Thanks Adam
Okay, my goal now is to be able to answer all these questions!
Ok, when your though you get the 9th grade test. ;)
Step 1) Find out the properties of a bushel.
If you can research and understand the answers to this test you will be smarter than 98% of the population of the US? Being this aware is not required in our current slave form.
Oh good grief. The NASA article says 'note that the exam took SIX HOURS to complete'.
1hr + 1.25hrs + .75hr + 1hr + 1hr = FIVE hours, not SIX.
NASA can't count.
Oh, missing an hour. Must be bathroom break. Howls.
Nasa is about faclitating muslim relations now, not using differential equations...thx obama
Yes. Nasa is really corrupt. I am not even sure they have left earth.
Well I see the ISS orbiting overhead some nights, and ham radio operators used the Oscar satellites.
I mean moon or Mars landing
They did. Remember: Programs exist outside public perception.
Julian Assange said something about NASA. I have not dug into that yet.
Lunch & bathroom break. All school day test.
That's what I thought.
I was thinking the same thing. If not bathroom breaks then maybe milking cows, feeding chickens, or working on the railroad, all the live long day.
Howls. You and I in the same thought. I forgot, you still have to give them lunch, right?
Huh. I wonder if an exam is missing, actually. Think they had a theology/philosophy portion?
I would fail, so badly that I would drop out!
I have an MBA and can't answer these... my God, we have been dumbed down.
Yer a retard, Harry
My feels
To be fair, at the time of this test, society was in a different place in life. Farmers and tradesmen were the top guys in town. That being said, yes, a dumb population is easy to control. We have been dumbed down for many of years. The icing on the cake is common core math.
Well you know, trafficking kids to a remote island using a submarine?
By a woman who just happens to have a license to pilot a submarine.
I have a whole bunch of old education books (english grammar, math) from the early part of the 20th century that were my great-grandfather's. He was a teacher after WWI. I haven't looked through them. Maybe I should...I might learn something!
Ill bet Not one university student or current PhD could pass that.
They also didn’t have the “Tell-a-vision” back then so students weren’t indoctrinated by it and had to learn from books. What a novel concept.
Read letters from the civil war written country bumpkin soldiers. They sound more eloquent than college literature professors today.
there is nothing super special about most of this. people who dont depend on farming for their income dont need to know about bushels of wheat. we moved away from being an agricultural society. Morse and Whitney inventing things was new and exciting because technology grew slower. we are living in a weird time where everything now goes super fast. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are more relevant to our time, and everyone knows who they are. and jobs is already yesterday's news. there is no longer any need to memorize rote facts because most things can be looked up instantly. school today should not look like school 100+ years ago. shouldnt be confusing kids about what sex they are, either, but here we are
You still should know, personally, many, many things. I saw a kid try to microwave his chick-fil-a sandwich in the foil wrapper once. He hadn't been taught not to put metal in the microwave. The "bushel' part doesn't matter- the multi-step word peoblem does. Knowing the roots of language better equips you to use it, and learn others. I could go on.
Dumbed down. The answer is in the question.
As well as half of the replies.
I remember studying law in the UK college (17 +18) years old. I remember bringing up a case example which related around peadophilia. Can't quite remember the context. But it was relevant. I had only one other class member nudge me like wtf is her problem it's legitimate what you're saying etc.. I remember the law teacher absolutely rail roading me in the class for being inappropriate.
Later in uni (19 - 24) my masters in network security and computer forensics. We was talking about forensics of data storage. The teacher referred to explicit child content as chocolate. To be PG in a room full of adults.
I insisted on saying child exploitative content and again was told to check my thinking to not offend the class.
Modern education is a joke and created by losers to create losers.
This is in the United kingdom.
Classic. This has been circulating for a while but good for the noobs to see what unchallenged unchecked govt sprawl and corruption leads to.
Yes.
Filing this under informative.
Have we been dumbed down! Been to a college campus lately? KEK
1970: If Johnny has a kilogram of cocaine. He can sell one gram at 100.00 each. “He” also gave 1/3rd of the kilogram to local law enforcement (FBI) to protect him and he gives 1/3rd to local politician to call him if Johnny gets on the radar. Johnny has the ability to cut his cocaine 50% with ______? How much money will Johnny make from his kilogram of cocaine? 2023: If Johnny has a kilogram of fentanyl. He can sell one gram at 200.00 each. “He” also gave 1/3rd of the kilogram to local law enforcement (FBI) to protect him and he gives 1/3rd to local politician to call him if Johnny gets on the radar. Johnny has the ability to cut his fentanyl 50% with ________? How much money will Johnny make from his kilogram of fentanyl?
1970: If Johnny has a kilogram of cocaine. He can sell one gram at 100.00 each. “He” also gave 1/3rd of the kilogram to local law enforcement (FBI) to protect him and he gives 1/3rd to local politician to call him if Johnny gets on the radar. Johnny has the ability to cut his cocaine 50% with ______? How much money will Johnny make from his kilogram of cocaine? 2023: If Johnny has a kilogram of fentanyl. He can sell one gram at 200.00 each. “He” also gave 1/3rd of the kilogram to local law enforcement (FBI) to protect him and he gives 1/3rd to local politician to call him if Johnny gets on the radar. Johnny has the ability to cut his fentanyl 50% with ________? How much money will Johnny make from his kilogram of fentanyl?
1970: If Johnny has a kilogram of cocaine. He can sell one gram at 100.00 each. “He” also gave 1/3rd of the kilogram to local law enforcement (FBI) to protect him and he gives 1/3rd to local politician to call him if Johnny gets on the radar. Johnny has the ability to cut his cocaine 50% with ______? How much money will Johnny make from his kilogram of cocaine? 2023: If Johnny has a kilogram of fentanyl. He can sell one gram at 200.00 each. “He” also gave 1/3rd of the kilogram to local law enforcement (FBI) to protect him and he gives 1/3rd to local politician to call him if Johnny gets on the radar. Johnny has the ability to cut his fentanyl 50% with ________? How much money will Johnny make from his kilogram of fentanyl?
1970: If Johnny has a kilogram of cocaine. He can sell one gram at 100.00 each. “He” also gave 1/3rd of the kilogram to local law enforcement (FBI) to protect him and he gives 1/3rd to local politician to call him if Johnny gets on the radar. Johnny has the ability to cut his cocaine 50% with ______? How much money will Johnny make from his kilogram of cocaine? 2023: If Johnny has a kilogram of fentanyl. He can sell one gram at 200.00 each. “He” also gave 1/3rd of the kilogram to local law enforcement (FBI) to protect him and he gives 1/3rd to local politician to call him if Johnny gets on the radar. Johnny has the ability to cut his fentanyl 50% with ________? How much money will Johnny make from his kilogram of fentanyl?
Grammar (and specifically capitalization) is inconsistent from the start, but everything else is definitely different.
Geography including things like "the movements of the earth" (Earth should be capitalized, as it is also the name of our planet -- yes, I will criticize that after the lesson on grammar, because I assume it is referencing our axial tilt) and "the inclination of the earth" already sounds a bit more involved than before, but then this was more of a science class question when I was in school.
The use of the word "orthography" is interesting, as I don't think even most functionally literate people in their 30s, 40s and 50s would pull that word out. This could simply be a (d)evolution of language, but I think that asserts the overall point in a fairly solid way. Most of the accompanying questions were similar to those I faced in second grade, however.
Honestly, geography as a subject seemed a lot more interesting by including more physics oriented education compared to my "geography" classes which had already been rolled into "social studies" for me by that time.
I think education has more than likely just become too forced, too streamlined and dramatized to focus on "social issues" that seem to have invaded other completely unrelated subjects.
Middle (yes, even middle) and high school both had more electives for my older brother when he went through than when I went through. I still hated that he got to choose from a selection of languages, and I had no choice but to learn Spanish from elementary on. A language I was so uninterested in even as a child that I forgot almost everything I learned about it.
Let me present a 6th grade exam in Hong Kong, year 1953 (The "Joint Primary 6 Examination").
Describe Sparta and Athens and their differences.
Describe the causes of the French Revolution.
Answer these two questions: a) What regions do monsoons cover? How is the climate and rainfall? b) What are the causes of deserts?
Compare the contrast the ways of farming in China and America.
What are the organization and powers of the legislative and judicial branches of the Hong Kong Government?
Why did the Hong Kong Government set up a Department for Chinese Affairs? What does it do?
Why does the government collect taxes from citizens? Could it be done arbitrarily? Through which department? What could a citizen do when he did not agree with the government’s tax estimate?
When was the United Nations established? Where is its headquarters? What could it do to achieve “world peace”?
Explain with words and graphs the causes of tides.
How many kinds of Vitamins are there? What are the uses of each? How much is each in our food?
What are the differences between mosquitos and anopheles? How do anopheles spread malaria?
Have we been 'dumbed' down?
Yes.
The title says it all.
Looking at it randomly I would fail, but these tests were given after the kids had lessons, homework, and drills and reviews in real time. I went to school in the 50's and 60's, there was much more taught and the way of teaching was so much better. Each hour was dedicated to a subject, we were expected to pay attention, write a short statement of the understanding of the subject, and classes were graded to ability, not all thrown together with some kids almost genius and some average, etc. An entire semester was spent on History, Science, Literature. Grammar was excruciating but drilled for memory. Now, a smart academically inclined child does better at home. A school should make you curious to learn on your own, find your special interest, give you time to study , write, and discuss it. Not bored with bullshit. The kid who is not inclined has some kind of interest, so find that out early and channel it, teach them what they need for basics, and let them have at it in the trades. By 8th grade, you know their aptitude. Maybe your son or daughter does not want to learn Shakespeare, but would love to learn the basics of electricity or building or mechanics. It is a left brain right brain thing. I cannot book an electrician for the life of me to get some work done here, but if I wanted a lawyer the place is crawling with them.
NC only had 7 grades before high school. My father graduated 7th grade and then left school to help on the farm. I think they added 12th grade about 1947. My mother refused to attend school another year just for another English class, so she never graduated. Same thing happened to my mother-in-law.
The wheat problem assumes that you know how much a bushel of wheat usually weighs. Students from farm families that grew wheat would know. More southern families would know about corn, cotton, and tobacco. Tobacco was the money maker for smaller farms.
I could answer enough of them to pass the test. I could answer more if I had just finished 8th grade. Some people's heads are like a sieve. In one ear and out the other, only pausing sometimes for a test.
You can give this as a Master’s degree final exam and EVERYONE would fail.
I would have been able to pass it, if I was actually taught the subject matter in PUBLIC school.