8th Grade Test, circa 1895 (1 Viewer)

[Tucker Case]

Where the hell is Hecla?

 

[obvious Child]

I'm with OC here that the important part is putting the facts together.

Ever see the old 70s movie/book "Paper Chase?"

Facts are only the beginning and any fool can memorize facts. The difference between an educated mind and an uneducated mind is that the educated one can take the mush of facts and create meaning and connections.

 

[OxymoronP]

You fail to take into account that these schools chatered to the well todo, they didnt have the shere numbers of students. Students who dont have parental support, no resources, no future. Its one big baby sitting service so that the serfs can work.

 

[Kushinator]

Not being able to answer most of these questions does not tell all about our current education. If we were to inverse the situation, and have them just take the test via a computer, they (those in 1895) would probably freak out, and call it the devils box.

 

[danarhea]

Imagine that. And today, most Kansans believe in Creationism. Go figure.

 

[the makeout hobo]

You fail to take into account that these schools chatered to the well todo, they didnt have the shere numbers of students. Students who dont have parental support, no resources, no future. Its one big baby sitting service so that the serfs can work.

You have a better way to do things?

 

[OxymoronP]

You have a better way to do things?

I do indeed, simply put in a few words:

Create vouchers for families so that they have more choices in schools.

Increase number of private subsidized schools.

Reward families with excelling students families with tax breaks and or subsides depending on income.

Give tax breaks to corps which develop their own private schools and afterschool care for their workers families.

 

[Picaro]

I get to dispute my 2nd post here.


The Citizen Scientist

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Internet Archive

High School Entrance Exam - Midsummer, 1890

WRITTEN ARITHMETIC

1. Define concrete number, aliquot part, finite decimal, present worth and ratio.

2. Simplify: (6/7 of 1 1/4 of 14/15 + 3 1/2 of 2 10/21 - 2 2/3) x 3 6/7

3. Three men, A, B, and C, start together from the same place to walk around an island 60 miles in circumference; they walk in the same direction, A at the rate of 5 miles per hour, B at 4, and C at 3. In what time will all be together for the first time after starting, and how many miles will each have travelled?

4. If 5 tons of coal are equal to 9 cords of wood for fuel, and a family burns 31. 5 cords of wood in a year, how much will be saved by changing from wood to coal, when wood is worth $4.25 per cord and coal $6.80 per ton?

5. If a family of 9 people can live comfortably in England for $7,862.40 per year, what will it cost a family of 8 to live in Canada in the same style for 7 months, prices being supposed to be 3/5 of what they would be in England?

6. Find the compound interest on $500 for 1 year 6 months at 8% per annum, interest payable semi-annually.

7. What is the present worth of $600 due 8 mos. 18 days hence @ 9% per annum.

MENTAL ARITHMETIC

1. What will 3 1/2 cwt. of hay cost @ $25 per ton?

2. If 5 1/2 yards cost $.77, what will 4 2/7 yards cost?

3. Write a decimal equal in value to a unit.

4. What is the first prime number below 100?

5. What will 225 hats cost @ $.66 2/3 each?

6. If 3/8 of a ton cost $13.50, what will 5/9 of a ton cost?

7. What is the simple interest on $1, 250 for 2 years 8 months @ 2/3% per month?

8. What part of 2/3 of 3 1/2 is 5/9 of 4 1/2?

9. What is the brokerage on half a million dollars @ 1/8% ?

10. What is the true discount on $620, due 2 years 8 months hence at 9% per annum?

1890 High School Entrance Exam - Arithmetic

subject page:

1890 Programme of Study

Pretty close fit to the Kansas test. I would say Mims is right and Snopes and truth or fiction is wrong on this story. A lot more was expected out of education back then besides seat-warming to jack up Federal subsidies based on attendance.

 

[Picaro]

Other than focusing on different areas, it doesn't seem to much harder than my 8th grade education. The math is less advanced, and the test is quite shoddy because it relies on the unknown givens like the volume of a bushel of wheat. However, I bet that the students solved the exact same type of problem regularly in real life. Orthography has certainly changed, with some of it being lumped into other studies and the rest just forgotten.

this is a graduation test from a rural county, not from Phillips-Andover or Boston Prep. But then, George W. went the Phillips-Andover route, after failing in Texas schools, and then Daddy got him into Harvard and Yale, he couldn't get into U of Texas, so maybe the 'Ivy League' has always been pretty much of a joke, too.

 

[Picaro]

Doesn't seem all that useful. Most of that is mere regurgitation. Remember school is not primarily there to put facts in your head. It is there to teach you how to think. And that test doesn't do that or at least reinforce that.

what isn't useful is social promotion, and stupid stuff like teaching 'new math' to kids who don't have the ability to do simple multiplication tables, and ignoring the basics like learning Greek and Roman prefixes and suffixes beginning in the 2nd grade, along with pushing every single little moron onto a 'College track', when over 80% of them have no business going near a college or University. Many of these children need to be set on a trades/professions track by the 6th grade, as I believe many Euro countries do.

 

[Picaro]

Which today is pretty useless. Any kid with a browser and internet connection can look up facts. If that kid cannot make connections to read between the lines to determine why and how, that kid hasn't learned squat.

Sorry, but some of us want those cashiers at Wally World to know how to make change, rather than having to stop and go surf the internet for a calculator for every customer, not to mention it's far preferable to have employees who know what aisle the Spanish Peanuts are on when you ask them. Rote memory skills aren't a critical foundation for learning all about Britney's Problems, but for anything else they are.

 

[Picaro]

Hell, I'm 20, and I couldn't answer all of these correctly. God only knows what I'd have been able to answer when I was 13.

LOL. Well, you would have if you had gone to those schools. Back then, education was more oriented to practical uses. The main goal of education is really to give the skills to be able to educate yourself on your own. I believe Mark Twain was self-educated, as most people who got beyond 8th grade level skills back then were.

 

[the makeout hobo]

this is a graduation test from a rural county, not from Phillips-Andover or Boston Prep. But then, George W. went the Phillips-Andover route, after failing in Texas schools, and then Daddy got him into Harvard and Yale, he couldn't get into U of Texas, so maybe the 'Ivy League' has always been pretty much of a joke, too.

Dude. This thread has nothing to do with Bush.

 

[MrFungus420]

Y'all need to check Snopes...

snopes.com: 1895 Exam

 

[Picaro]

Y'all need to check Snopes...

snopes.com: 1895 Exam

Already been there, done that. Both Snopes and TruthorFiction, a site I linked to myself, have been proven to have not investigated it thoroughly. TruthorFiction at least modified their error somewhat, due to Forest Mims; see link to Citizen Scientist.

 

[formerroadie]

I taught at a school where the trivium was reinstated as the underlying educational method. The trivium pays attention to developmental ideas based on brain development. It was invented in the middle ages and modified for modern educational needs. The whole point is to move a student through their schooling so that they can tackle any subject they encounter. It helps them learn logic, reasoning, and argumentation skills.

So, in 1-6th grades, there is a high placement on rote memory. World history is gone through once throughout those 6 years and math facts, reading skills, geography, vocabulary are part of those facts. Also, the students are introduced to art history and techniques. All the information is integrated: so, if you are studying ancient Greek culture, you read something about Greek society, do vocabulary that surrounds that literature, etc. It's all interconnected. In 7th an 8th grade (if any of you have jr. highers, you know they argue with EVERYTHING. There is a reason for that) they begin logic training and go through world history once again. They reinforce facts they learned in the early years but begin to understand how to apply them through logic and argumentation.

In 9th-12th grade they begin working in more abstract ideas. So, they take rhetoric in 11th and 12th grade and work on logic in 9th and 10th. They have to verbally defend a thesis in 11th and 12th grade before a panel of people. The thesis must be argued at the level of a Jr. in college. I have taught in both high school and college and my kids from that high school blew away most of my college students. In high school, everything in literature is based in primary literature, no secondary. In other words, you didn't read about Homer but you read Homer's works. I was the History and English teacher for 9th grade. They go through history once again in a more complex way, so I started them in the ancient world. While studying Greece, we read works from Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. When studying India, we read the Bagavadgita, the Upanishads, etc. When studying Egypt, we read the book of the dead, the Amarna tablets. When studying Rome, we read the Aeneid. In each section, I emphasized ideas such as themes, characterization, intertexuality, etc. All the while, they were learning high level vocabulary and advanced grammer. They worked with an art teacher who went to Chicago for her degree. They were copying the masters, which was insane for me to watch. Impressive.

This is why I am a complete and utter advocate of Classical Schools. They are incredibly logical an make a lot of sense. They prepare students to think critically and think outside the box as their brain begins to grasp abstract concepts. All of my seniors went to the schools of their choice and got incredible scholarships because of their abilities. They were granted something I certainly wasn't and it was a gift most fully embraced.

I wish we would raise the bar again for our children. Children can be amazingly smart and deserve to be challenged on a level that helps them become productive citizens of our nation.