How Dumb Are We ?

[Lewis]

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education?
Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, 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: Salina, KS -1895
Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of"lie,""play," and "run."
5. Define case; Illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. 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?
5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.


Orthography (Time, one hour) Do we even know what this is??

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. 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.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. Gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it? Also shows you how poor our education system has become... and, NO! I don't have the answers

 

[Quath]

I think this is a skewed view of education. It shows specialized knowledge in certain areas that were considered important back then. So it misses some of the subjects that todays students will know. (We spread out the knowledge more into othe fields.) For example, litature, geometry, algebra, civics, better science and foreign language will be on tests for today's 8th graders. I am not even talking about recent discoveries in these fields, but stuff that was known back then.

It does show that school work was taken seriously back then, but I don't think it is fair to say that education has gotten worse over time.

Quath

 

[cly]

Well, I don't know about you, Quath, but I'd fail that test right now as sophomore in college. Personally, I think it's safe to say that our education system has gone drastically down hill.

 

[peace4all]

IF I had been told the weight of a bushel of wheat..

I bet i could get about a 50%

Ask a person then how to program in VB

I don't see any physics or chemistry questions there.

like quath said. Ours is stretched over several subjects that they dont even seem to cover at all.


I coudl do most the math, Most the history, and most of the geography.

the other 2 subjects. HA i would fail them easily..

 

[cly]

Well, if this is eighth grade level, general education, then I'd hate to see a high school final for something like chemistry or physics.

 

[Gary]

Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

I though Americans were taught that the "far east" was New York. Anyone you meet from Africa MUST know your long-lost relative who lives in Kenya; you know, that African state (or is it a suburb or town in Africa?) where lions roam the streets.

:-?

 

[Dave...]

How dumb are we?

We made up for it with communist activism in the school system. Remove the communist propaganda, and then the kids can once again learn what they need to learn, not what communist want them to learn.

 

[Quath]

We made up for it with communist activism in the school system. Remove the communist propaganda, and then the kids can once again learn what they need to learn, not what communist want them to learn.

Are you saying that learning algebra, English literature, and civics is communist learning? Learning how to farm is a democractic learning?

I fail to understand where this comment comes from.

Quath

 

[Lewis]

Are you saying that learning algebra, English literature, and civics is communist learning? Learning how to farm is a democractic learning?

I fail to understand where this comment comes from.

I am with you on that one Quath

 

[antitox]

In the 1800's, educational training was very good -for those who did get an education. And they were personally tutored. Even though knowledge was not as widespread as today, their lower levels of educational training was much more thorough than anything we have today.
There's a plus for homeschooling, eh?

 

[Hidden In Him]

Saw this old post in "Similar Threads" beneath a thread I was on and found it interesting (and of course, disheartening).

NAEP Tests show American children are still on the decline. The primary problem is reading comprehension, which is in all likelihood the result of today's limited attention span.

NAEP Reading: Sample Questions

NAEP Report Card: Reading

www.nationsreportcard.gov

 

[Christ_empowered]

Covid seems to have done a number on academic performance. Not that things were that great already but…

In my own area the quality of k12 education depends on the school district. Neighboring districts can have vastly different outcomes. Eek

At an individual level the social class one is born into is still a big factor in determining overall outcomes.

 

[follower]

Jesus saves a few.
The others perish.
re Noah's Worldwide Flood Wiped the earth because of world full of sinful men.

 

[Christ_empowered]

The public schools were designed to help sustain democracy. Mission…not really accomplished ugh

But we expect so much from schools! And they get relatively little funding!

 

[jasonc]

The public schools were designed to help sustain democracy. Mission…not really accomplished ugh

But we expect so much from schools! And they get relatively little funding!

no they weren't .

I need to post early Florida school history .

it was very much a local account .the county even smaller handled them . I have photos of one from that time nearby that is about hundred years old another even earlier and one from gem island that was simply a thatch hut.

the later is tied to the one in okechobee as they had the same teacher .

 

[Hidden In Him]

The only thing they teach is you must be on time and tell you what time your allowed to leave and have lunch. Preparing and conditioning people to work for others.

What schools teach life skills like growing food, what about how money works and where it comes from and all about the economy, what about how to become an entrepreneur or start your own business.

It's just be on time and give your life to others you will work for when you leave school just to pay bills and stay broke on a wage.

Another painful part of the equation is that the teachers don't even create their own lessons anymore. A friend of my wife's told her that the State just sends you the junk and then you pass it out and teach it. Not sure if that's true across the board but it sounds like how they would do things, and if it is then how is a teacher supposed to get motivated to teach? There's no heart in it, and no inspiration. You're just part of the machine, and if the teachers have no motivation, how demoralizing must it be for the students?

 

[Corn Pop]

It is a institutionalised system because near all parents don't raise there children, the State does and conditions them how they want, I mean they even provide and give them lunch. And it's like 1 teacher having to raise like 30 kids every session all day.

Parents send there kids to school in the morning and see them again In the afternoon 5 days a week. I'm not sure how the many can say they raise there children, maybe they do a little bit.

Some people might see that as offensive if you said to them that they don't raise there children, but it's just the truth, who is teaching them and where are they and who do they spend most of there time and days and childhood with?, they at school with teachers who are forced to teach them specific things that the State decides to teach them.

 

[WIP]

Another painful part of the equation is that the teachers don't even create their own lessons anymore. A friend of my wife's told her that the State just sends you the junk and then you pass it out and teach it. Not sure if that's true across the board but it sounds like how they would do things, and if it is then how is a teacher supposed to get motivated to teach? There's no heart in it, and no inspiration. You're just part of the machine, and if the teachers have no motivation, how demoralizing must it be for the students?

Here's another aspect. My brother-in-law and his wife are both teachers in New Mexico. Not too long ago, he nearly lost his job because he issued a non-passing grade in his math class. He said, they are not allowed to fail any students.

 

[Corn Pop]

Who decided a work day should be at least 8 hours a day and at least 5 days a week.

 

[Christ_empowered]

Who decided a work day should be at least 8 hours a day and at least 5 days a week.

Good point!

Education is a social institution. Teaching knowledge is only part of the equation.

Kids need to be socialized and not just taught abc but also how to function in today’s society. Problem is…

Well look at today’s society lol a lot of kids are dealing with hunger drug and alcohol dependent parents housing insecurity…

And a society in which it is increasingly every man for himself.