Dumbing down the population?!! See if you can pass this 8th grade test from 1895

reply to post by sligtlyskeptical


Thanks that you posted some current test. I do not think that the main difference is in the sum of "facts". Such facts are changing (not so much in geography) constantly. What strikes me is the structure of the test. Older one is not all about "facts" but is more directed to critical reasoning. It is not testing primarily your database, rather your understanding of problem. When I was in high school abcd tests just arrived to our educational system (early 90.). We loved it because it was much easier for us. We were not forced to formulate our answers, we just picked one from offer. Real teachers were not happy with this and now I understand why.
My bachelor paper at uni have 120 pages (traditional old school). Same formal degree you can now achieve with 30 pages at private schools. Definitively there is inflation in education.

Interesting, there is a book with part of the name of your title, op, but they added deliberate to the book title.

A book by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt

The deliberate dumbing down of America.

www.deliberatedumbingdown.com...

Free download

www.deliberatedumbingdown.com...

reply to post by AfterInfinity


Yeah! Like grammar, punctuation, how to write a paragraph, math. I could go on and on.

As a matter of fact none of it is relevant anymore.

LOL

Originally posted by Bob Sholtz
reply to post by sligtlyskeptical

 

2

2

4

variations don't come from mutations. sexual reproduction plays a role, but asexual organisms display variations over time too.

2

i believe those are the right answers, and i didn't cheat either.

edit on 18-2-2013 by Bob Sholtz because: (no reason given)

Mutations add variation to the gene pool!

I'm certain the correct answer is sexual reproduction.

reply to post by sligtlyskeptical


Wow! That is a eighth grade science test in 2010? I was taught all that by fourth grade. I kid you not.

Algebra (which I hated) is now commonly a elective course across the U.S.

Poor kids are being dumbed down. Through the educational system, social media, psychotropic drugs, MSM and supposed "Reality" shows, etc, etc.

But there are still quite a few bright lights out there who do see through it all. Hope is not lost.

There are diamonds in that pile of gravel.

reply to post by toastyr


That's awesome! I came up with that title because it sounded cool......Here I actually sound smarter now, since I came up with a title that is almost the same as a famous author! Thanks for the ego boost!!

Lord help us as a nation. I have no idea how many bushels will fit in that wagon, nor the next question. I only know a few uses for capital letters such as proper names, the beginning of sentences and titles.

Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
Mods you can move to a different forum if you feel the need, I picked general conspiracies because I wasn't sure where else it fit. Thanks MODS!!!

I received an email on this and thought this is the perfect place to present this information!

The "HOAX" forum would have been a better place...

www.truthorfiction.com...

www.jefflewis.net...

www.snopes.com...

reply to post by hellobruce


Lets say its true.

Say to a 1895 kid find me something on the constitution.
He would spend all morning in the library and bring you a passage.

A kid in 2013, will get you the whole thing in 10 minutes and print you out a copy.

Ask a 1895 kid to make a phone call.

he will wind up the phone and try to relay the message to the operator and hope for connection.

A 2013 kid will make the call on his mobile and ask if you want video and give you a skype connection.

A kid in 2013 could work any technolgy from 1895 a kid from 1895 would not get past windows login.

Kids today are more brighter, anyone even a parrot can take thing in and repeat them.

And finally ask a kid from 1895 to plab a journey 70 miles away, then would not be able to do it.

Ask a kid from 2013, he will steal a car and have you there in an hour..

Give me a 2013 kid anytime.

reply to post by hellobruce


Lets say its true.

Say to a 1895 kid find me something on the constitution.
He would spend all morning in the library and bring you a passage.

A kid in 2013, will get you the whole thing in 10 minutes and print you out a copy.

Ask a 1895 kid to make a phone call.

he will wind up the phone and try to relay the message to the operator and hope for connection.

A 2013 kid will make the call on his mobile and ask if you want video and give you a skype connection.

A kid in 2013 could work any technolgy from 1895 a kid from 1895 would not get past windows login.

Kids today are more brighter, anyone even a parrot can take thing in and repeat them.

And finally ask a kid from 1895 to plab a journey 70 miles away, then would not be able to do it.

Ask a kid from 2013, he will steal a car and have you there in an hour..

Give me a 2013 kid anytime.

reply to post by hellobruce



Snopes is a scam, they are too biased to be believed. Do your own research on that and see for yourself, snopes belongs in HOAX, lol, they really do.

I found this on another site. Here.... grandfather-economic-report.com...


*Sources - this exam information was sent to this author on February 12, 2001 by [email protected], a reader of this Grandfather Economic Report series. Another confirmation regarding authenticity > Sept 2003 email from Dionee Schwenke of Cape Coral, Florida ([email protected]), who is writing a book about her teaching career and researched the above exam: "I know the test reflects what was in the textbooks of that era, and that it is similar to the test my mother had to take in the 1920s before she could be certified in Nebraska. I confirmed the authenticity of the test you mentioned by the old fashioned way, picked up the phone. First to Mary McIntyre at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society & Library, 785-825-4624 (got that info from a query to the Salina newspaper). Ms. McIntyre assured me the test was fact, not fiction, and told me it had been written by J. W. Armstrong, the superintendent of Salina County schools in 1895. They even have on record the names of students who took the test--and the answers--but they can't divulge that info because of privacy laws. Then she gave me the name of his granddaughter, Mary Laas. 785-825-5140. Mrs. Laas was fun to visit with; told me about growing up across the section from her grandfather; how the family still has the hand written notes her grandpa made as well as a typed copy; how his family once nursed Buffalo Bill back to health. . . I asked about needing permission to include the test in my book and she said go ahead, it is public property now that it has run in the newspaper. They have had a lot of calls in Salina, not just at the Laas home but at the Genealogical Society as well."

Originally posted by pavmas
reply to post by hellobruce

 

And finally ask a kid from 1895 to plab a journey 70 miles away, then would not be able to do it.

But the kid from 1895 would probably be able to spell.

The thing is, the kid from 2013 would be clueless and left adrift if the grid goes down. The kid with 1895 & 2013 knowledge would thrive.

Here's part 1 of youtube audiobook of The Underground History of American education. The rest is on the YT page. Enjoy

reply to post by Chrisfishenstein


I was once trying to relay a code to a co-worker and said
"the year that Columbus sailed the ocean blue."
She was like what?? What are you crazy? I asked her didnt she learn that
in school? She said no....I had to tell her what year Columbus came to America!

Originally posted by Bob Sholtz
reply to post by sligtlyskeptical

 

2

2

4

variations don't come from mutations. sexual reproduction plays a role, but asexual organisms display variations over time too.

2

i believe those are the right answers, and i didn't cheat either.

edit on 18-2-2013 by Bob Sholtz because: (no reason given)

Please, you are not in 1895. Most of this material would be foreign to people of that time. The 1895 test would be fairly easy if you had knowledge of bushels and rods.

Originally posted by TDawgRex
reply to post by sligtlyskeptical

 

Wow! That is a eighth grade science test in 2010? I was taught all that by fourth grade. I kid you not.

Algebra (which I hated) is now commonly a elective course across the U.S.

Poor kids are being dumbed down. Through the educational system, social media, psychotropic drugs, MSM and supposed "Reality" shows, etc, etc.

But there are still quite a few bright lights out there who do see through it all. Hope is not lost.

There are diamonds in that pile of gravel.

Algebra is an elective in grade school, required in high school. If you taught all that by fourth grade then how can the education system be so bad? I don't think most of you have any idea what you are talking about when you reference weak current standards.

Originally posted by rangersdad
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein

 

I was once trying to relay a code to a co-worker and said
"the year that Columbus sailed the ocean blue."
She was like what?? What are you crazy? I asked her didnt she learn that
in school? She said no....I had to tell her what year Columbus came to America!

What has she lost by not knowing the exact date? How has that change her life or her contribution to society? It hasn't. it is really useless information although historians may feel it is important. If he sailed in 1498 instead does it matter to anything?

reply to post by sligtlyskeptical


The educational standards are weak because the teachers union have made them so. Tenure and all that. The parents are also to blame.

Please note that I am painting with a broad brush here. I know that there are good teachers and good students as well as good parents. It just seems to me on a day to day basis of interacting with them that they are lacking.

I also for a period raised a teen who's grades were lacking when his Mom and I hooked up. From 7th grade to his Junior year, his grades went from C's and D's to A's and B's. I used a punishment/reward system and it worked.

Once his Mom and I broke up though, he went straight to F's and did not graduate. His Mom enabled him in everything but education.

So I do have a bit of background raising a child. I'm not their friend, I'm their parent.

And yes, Algebra is a elective in high school in many places these days. It's not required to graduate.

That test seemed pretty easy. Maybe it's because I'm from Canada and most of those subects are still taught at a primary level. I think most adolescents today pretend it's cool to talk and write like morons.

It appears to more of a test for teachers. This article on Snopes has a VERY similar test listed at the bottom, that WAS prepared by The Examiners of Teachers for the Public Schools, in Zainsville, Ohio, dated to 1870.

What I thought to be interesting was the Arithmetic Section, Question 7. They use "meter" instead of "board feet", while the rest of the section is in Imperial units. Even though Congress approved the use of the metric system in 1866, it has never been formalized in the US, even to this day. So why would they use meter when the archaic term at the time was "board feet", just as "rod" and "bushel" were the standards of the time?

I'm also curious, did anyone answer ANY of the questions? I think i could do the test in under 5 hours, , using this page to cheat.