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1912 eighth grade exam: Could you make it to high school in 1912?

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Faulty premise. You instruct then test. What was considered important at the time would have been given to the student to memorize or learn.
 
Faulty premise. You instruct then test. What was considered important at the time would have been given to the student to memorize or learn.

Well yeah, I think the point is to show what the difference is between what was considered important then and what is considered important now.
 
Well yeah, I think the point is to show what the difference is between what was considered important then and what is considered important now.

Or the more likely culprit is to discuss how we have faltered in comparison with our elders.
 
Interesting test if you can make it through the insane format the Christian Science Monitor uses for their quizzes. I got a 73%. Got all the math and geography questions right and bombed on the parts of speech questions and the state founders.\

1912 eighth grade exam: Could you make it to high school in 1912? - Arithmetic - CSMonitor.com

I couldn't make it through the stupid format. I did have 7 out of 7 until I stopped.
Or the more likely culprit is to discuss how we have faltered in comparison with our elders.
Ask those 1912 "elders" how to open a web browser or send an e-mail. See how well they do.
 
Or the more likely culprit is to discuss how we have faltered in comparison with our elders.

I don't think so, although the intro doesn't say anything about it either way. I thought it was interesting because of the difference between what was being taught then compared to today.
 
I couldn't make it through the stupid format. I did have 7 out of 7 until I stopped.

I don't know who ever thought that having to load two pages between each question was a good idea.
 
Or the more likely culprit is to discuss how we have faltered in comparison with our elders.

I think that's true. There's no reason at all 8th graders couldn't handle the material covered on that test. The only difference between then and now is expectation, which has been dramatically lowered.
 
I made it 27% through before boredom set it. I got all but 2 right, but there was some educated guessing. The math part was very easy though, and one of my wrong answers would have been right today.
 
I don't think so, although the intro doesn't say anything about it either way. I thought it was interesting because of the difference between what was being taught then compared to today.

It's implied in the title, as well as the already lengthy commentary added by numerous media outlets on the same exam.

As far as DP's crew goes, you can see it in Harshaw's post.
 
Interesting test if you can make it through the insane format the Christian Science Monitor uses for their quizzes. I got a 73%. Got all the math and geography questions right and bombed on the parts of speech questions and the state founders.\

1912 eighth grade exam: Could you make it to high school in 1912? - Arithmetic - CSMonitor.com

As a Brit I got 62%

Failed the US Geography ,state founders and Biology but got most of the speech questions and international geography.
That was a bit of food for thought.
 
I think that's true. There's no reason at all 8th graders couldn't handle the material covered on that test. The only difference between then and now is expectation, which has been dramatically lowered.

Fiddy's point I think, and I agree with this, is not that expectations are lowered, but that they are different. The test material was not difficult, but some was simply not covered when I was in school. However, we covered a lot that was not on the test.
 
It's implied in the title, as well as the already lengthy commentary added by numerous media outlets on the same exam.

As far as DP's crew goes, you can see it in Harshaw's post.

Personally I think the title was more about how different the information expected of eighth graders was back then compared to today, not necessarily implying that the ones today are dumbed down, but I could see it your way too. It does definitely seem to be the way a lot of people have taken it, although it didn't even pop into my head while I was doing the quiz.
 
Fiddy's point I think, and I agree with this, is not that expectations are lowered, but that they are different. The test material was not difficult, but some was simply not covered when I was in school. However, we covered a lot that was not on the test.

There's a lot of that stuff which isn't covered until later these days. (If that test is even legit, and I have reasons to doubt it.)
 
Fiddy's point I think, and I agree with this, is not that expectations are lowered, but that they are different. The test material was not difficult, but some was simply not covered when I was in school. However, we covered a lot that was not on the test.

Furthermore, the first thing I did when trying to become a better writer was forget the technical system for the English language. My writing immediately improved. When it came to learning how educators wrote lesson plans, I was told to use the standards in designing a lesson. Of course, I had difficulty translating that to paper. I immediately decided to drop "the standards" and just concentrate on history. Suddenly my plans were "creative" and at times "demanding."
 
Personally I think the title was more about how different the information expected of eighth graders was back then compared to today, not necessarily implying that the ones today are dumbed down, but I could see it your way too. It does definitely seem to be the way a lot of people have taken it, although it didn't even pop into my head while I was doing the quiz.

I can get that, but the discussion always centered around those who are much older than young teenagers taking the exam. This more or less sets them up to be intellectually compared to students much younger than themselves.
 
There's a lot of that stuff which isn't covered until later these days. (If that test is even legit, and I have reasons to doubt it.)

Such as? And why do you doubt it is legit(Alaska question?)?
 
Furthermore, the first thing I did when trying to become a better writer was forget the technical system for the English language. My writing immediately improved. When it came to learning how educators wrote lesson plans, I was told to use the standards in designing a lesson. Of course, I had difficulty translating that to paper. I immediately decided to drop "the standards" and just concentrate on history. Suddenly my plans were "creative" and at times "demanding."

I think that stuff needs to sit in the back of the brain, not the front. If you concentrate on it, it gets in the way, but you still have to know it at some level. I think I need to go back and relearn some of it so I can have it more freshly "forgotten" to really help my writing.
 

Some of the geography, history, physiology, etc.


And why do you doubt it is legit(Alaska question?)?

Formatting, typeface, the general thrill people get from generating hoaxes of exactly this nature. It might be legit. It won't surprise me if it's not.
 
70%

Why would I possibly know who settled certain states? Ponce de Leon was the only one I knew.
 
There is absolutely no doubt that this generation of Americans doesn't hold a candle to the generation that fought the two world wars in their youth, and designed rockets to go to the moon in their older age.

I'm saying this as a young man, too. There's simply no way we can compare what we've accomplished to what they were able to accomplish.
 
I don't know who ever thought that having to load two pages between each question was a good idea.
The people in charge of making money through advertisement.
I think that's true. There's no reason at all 8th graders couldn't handle the material covered on that test. The only difference between then and now is expectation, which has been dramatically lowered.
I wouldn't say dramatically lowered, I'd say slightly lower and more spread out. First of all, education in 1912 was not universal, as it basically is now, meaning those who were going to school were probably those who could afford it and those who came from more educated families. Furthermore, students today have a much larger range of information they are required to take in, not only in subjects directly taught, but in those indirectly taught as well.
Fiddy's point I think, and I agree with this, is not that expectations are lowered, but that they are different. The test material was not difficult, but some was simply not covered when I was in school. However, we covered a lot that was not on the test.
And students today are taught things which simply did not exist in 1912.
There is absolutely no doubt that this generation of Americans doesn't hold a candle to the generation that fought the two world wars in their youth, and designed rockets to go to the moon in their older age.

I'm saying this as a young man, too. There's simply no way we can compare what we've accomplished to what they were able to accomplish.
Really? The Internet, cars which can go 70 MPH, cars which can get 50 miles per gallon, buildings which can sustain tornadoes up to an EF5 rating? How the incredible advances in preservation of food, HIV treatment (really medical advances in general), the Mars Rover, etc.?

The idea that the people of today don't compare favorably to the people of yesteryear is simply false, in my opinion. If I lived in the 1960s and wanted to call someone to tell them about a moon rocket, I had to make sure no one else was on the party phone line. If I wanted to talk to my father who was serving in Europe during World War 2, I had to send a letter and wait weeks for a response. These days, I just shoot someone a text or Skype with my father. For goodness sake, we stream high definition TV over the Internet through a box I can hold in the palm of my hand.

By all means, our elders contributed much to society. But what is being contributed to society today is every bit as impressive.
 
I wouldn't say dramatically lowered, I'd say slightly lower and more spread out.

Tomato, tomahto, really. "Dramatically" and "slightly" are pretty subjective terms.

First of all, education in 1912 was not universal, as it basically is now

Yes, it was, at least lot more so than you're implying here -- and that test (supposedly) came from the Bullitt County, KY, public schools.

Furthermore, students today have a much larger range of information they are required to take in, not only in subjects directly taught, but in those indirectly taught as well.

That may be, but the things on that test, if you change some of the context-specific terms, have just as much application today. They are fundamental to just about everything, including:

And students today are taught things which simply did not exist in 1912.

^^^^^
Those things.

It astounds me that, in an era where it's frequently trumpeted how much education has declined in the United States, there would be so much resistance to the idea that education has declined in the United States.
 
68%.

Get at me.

Seriously though, I was being taught other things in 8th grade. In a way, things more complicated.
 
Tomato, tomahto, really. "Dramatically" and "slightly" are pretty subjective terms.
True, but I feel the difference in connotation is important.

Yes, it was, at least lot more so than you're implying here -- and that test (supposedly) came from the Bullitt County, KY, public schools.
Not really. It was not at all uncommon for a child to quit attending school the moment he or she was old enough to help the family. Merely as a personal example, my grandfather stopped going to school at what would be considered a 6th or 7th grade level. He was needed to help on the farm. My grandmother quit after what would be considered 10th grade, I believe.

As far as it being from Bullitt Country schools, I don't understand the significance of that, if there is one.

That may be, but the things on that test, if you change some of the context-specific terms, have just as much application today.
I would disagree with this. Or maybe I should say I disagree with some of the things which are on that test have any real value to today. For example, what practical value is there in knowing how many degrees of comparisons adjectives have, especially to 8th graders?

It astounds me that, in an era where it's frequently trumpeted how much education has declined in the United States, there would be so much resistance to the idea that education has declined in the United States.
But I'm not one of those trumpeting the decline of education. In fact, I don't really believe it. I do agree there are ways we could improve education, but I don't think there's really been a decline in education. Maybe an 8th grade student today couldn't tell you how many degrees of comparison adjectives have, but I believe your average 8th grade student of 1912 in Kentucky could not speak Spanish.

It's not that the education has declined, it's just changed/evolved as the world has changed and evolved.
 
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