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

my mom tld me the other day that texting is going to put us to a new low she was like, it a bunch of run in senatnces with no forma nd a ton of mistakes. here is no paragraph capital letters or punctuation Every abbreviation is usd so yu don no wat the hell their talkig abot

Damn, spell check is a bitch to work backwards...

Originally posted by VforVendettea
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein

 

School is meant to...
Break up the family,
Get children used to the idea of them having to work without pay (Go into a mall and try to buy something with that A you worked so hard to get),
To teach the used to authority figures,
To accept what they are told is the truth
Keep them from leaning to critically think and figure out situations.
In short to teach them to think like the slaves they are.

Schools are for animals, Academies are for humans.
Guess where they send the children of the masses.


Read the book 'The underground history of American education' (I think you can find it free to read online)

What a load of Rubbish.

So you went to an Academy did you?.. Sometimes I just shake my head at some posts and this is one of them.

reply to post by sligtlyskeptical


Those questions are actually fairly simple. I could easily go through them right now and get about 95% on that test. The questions on this 1895 test are much different. First of all they aren't completely obvious multiple choice questions, and they ask less obvious things which require a bit of thinking. I'd probably score extremely low if I attempted that 1895 test right now. It's certainly a few levels above what 8th graders get taught these days.

The simple answer is the test was based around what they were taught. It's not a general knowledge test.

Every school test involves aspects of what they were taught over that year.



The fact no one else has raised this shows that yes... we have dumbed down considerably since 1895!.

Of course not.

But that's mostly because educational content and emphasis has changed.

English

The emphasis by eighth grade was more on knowing the basic rules like the differences between adverbs, adjectives, etc, but also vocabulary and reading comprehension.

History

The emphasis was to know a good general overview of U.S. history, but also to have a good grasp on geography, the ancient history of the American continent, and my state's history.

Education has gone from the memory of details to the memory of a more broad-based curriculum. This is probably a necessary thing, seeing as how we live in a different world. Knowing extremely specific things was necessary in a time when you'd probably rarely interact with anybody outside of your own zipcode. Having a broad-based education is more necessary when you have our people regularly doing business with folks half a world away.

Edit: Also, that math test I couldn't do because I don't know things like how big a bushel of wheat is and stuff, but most of those problems look like stuff I was doing in the sixth grade.

Most of those problems looked like simple multi-step subtraction, addition, multiplication, and finding volume. I was doing that stuff in the sixth grade.

reply to post by pacifier2012

It's not a general knowledge test.

How is it not a general knowledge test? It covers basic subjects: grammar, arithmetic, history, orthography, and geography. All 8th graders learn these same "general" subjects. It isn't until the last few years of school that students begin studying specialized subjects. Then they move onto college and university to dedicate their efforts on very specialized subjects. This 1895 test is in no way specialized, it's general stuff.

Originally posted by Druid42
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.

The level of the test seems appropriate for teachers, and not 8th graders. I could do most of it except the orthography---that is clearly a specialized section for teachers who have to make some sense out of the nonsensical spelling in English.

deliberately low education www.youtube.com... one of thousands of weapons against humans

Originally posted by Druid42
reply to post by TDawgRex

 

The link was given earlier in the thread, I just opened the three links that said this thread should be in the hoax bin, and saw the link that gives other links to find out the information. You still have to answer the questions.

I did do a dry run through the test, but found some of the questions vague. Was the bushel they were referring to Jefferson's bushel, more closely called a "peck", or the standard bushel, which is 4 pecks, or 35 liters?

I grew up on a farm, so most of the questions were familiar to me.

The question is, did I cheat, because I didn't know the answers, or was I smarter because I knew where to look for the answers?

I would say that you are just well rounded in your education, and smart to boot.

I've always said that there is a difference between a education, intelligence and common sense. Many of us have a sprinkling of all three, some of us two and the majority of politicians only one and it ain't common sense.

This test did finalize a decision for me though. I'm going to use my GI Bill and go back to school.

Why is this not in the hoax bin? This isn't a test for 8th graders.

www.truthorfiction.com...
www.snopes.com...

This is not a HOAX, using my super human skills, I did a "google search" of Smoky Valley Genealogical Society... and yes I would have done well on that test years ago, but not so much these days.

SOURCE: The following document was transcribed from the original document in the collection of the Smoky Valley Genealogy Society, Salina, Kansas. This test is the original eighth-grade final exam for 1895 from Salina, KS. An interesting note is the fact that the county students taking this test were allowed to take the test in the 7th grade, and if they did not pass the test at that time, they were allowed to re-take it again in the 8th grade.

Here is the link proving this is not a hoax. I think people are in denial about how poor education is these days.

Smoky Valley Genealogical Society



A side note: skyways.lib.ks.us... is the site this is hosted on,.. otherwise known as the State Library of Kansas

Somewhat related...

Before the introduction of public schooling, children were better educated. it's all been downhill since they setup the worker indoctrination camps known as schools.

Originally posted by VforVendettea
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein

 

School is meant to...
Break up the family,
Get children used to the idea of them having to work without pay (Go into a mall and try to buy something with that A you worked so hard to get),
To teach the used to authority figures,
To accept what they are told is the truth
Keep them from leaning to critically think and figure out situations.
In short to teach them to think like the slaves they are.

Schools are for animals, Academies are for humans.
Guess where they send the children of the masses.


Read the book 'The underground history of American education' (I think you can find it free to read online)

What a load of bull.

How do you get stars for this sort of crap?

You want to talk about slavery and working with out pay, why not have a look at the conditions of workers before education was widely available? Working class poor families worked very hard to get their children educated. To have schools available to them. To close the gap on the rich capitalists. It didn't break up families and it never has broken up families.

The school system has its flaws, especially the schools that the working class are taught in, but that doesn't mean that the intention of schools is to create slaves. People are far more free with schools than the poor were before them.

The underground history of American education is an idiotic book penned by an idiotic person.

John Taylor Gatto is another free market fantasist who wants education privatised, which would devastate the working class, which is why private education was moved away from in the first place, because it was an unfair, unjust system that didn't work. I do hope the irony of him falling ill and not having the money to pay his medical bills, leaving him in financial ruin, is not lost on his libertarian supporters

Schools have their flaws, this much is true, but it's because of people like Gatto, and you, that it is so. Education for the working class is at its worst because right-wing idiots don't want governments spending money on education, they don't want to be taxed to support education, they'll pay for the education of their own kids thank you very much. Lets privatise education, that'll help the poor people

Certified crap

reply to post by Chrisfishenstein


Some of these questions are not actually answerable. They weren't then and they are not now. So either this was a badly written exam, or more likely in my mind, this is totally BS and untrue.

Try and spot the question which is impossible to answer by anyone. Ever. Any time.

Originally posted by Observationalist
I noticed no multiple choice or true or fase questions.

It must have been rough on the teachers to have to read and grade all those test.
Hand written answers. Oh no

That is something that always baffled me when watching something about american schools on TV, because (I am from Germany) we don't have multiple choice or true or false answers at all in our exams. (At least we hadn't when I was there about ten years ago). It's all about questions and hand written answers. (My teachers used to not like my handwriting at all ... ;-)) I always thought multiple choice would be so much easier because at least if you should happen to draw a blank you could get an idea about what the answer might be ...
Considering it as a dumbing down technique ... I don't know but I suddenly feel very curious about my nephew and what his exams may look like a couple of years from now (he's in 4th grade now). .

Originally posted by pslr2301
One of the ways people absorb information is categorized into visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic / tactile learners.

As an example, my son is definitely a tactile / kinesthetic learner. He has to touch everything to understand it. He has to move non stop to absorb it. However, in most public schools the kids aren't allowed to get up and move much.

Forcing children to learn the way most public schools teach is similar (IMO) to forcing left handed children to write with their right hand. I am sure some of you would say it isn't a big deal but you are taking away the individuality of the child and teaching them to conform to all the other kids.

One of the first papers I had to write in college was about how many different ways a person receives information, and how they retain it. I also had to go into what type of a learner I am. I believe that the public school's one size fits all education, which does not apply the different ways children can learn, is a complete failure.

Also, I'm blown away by the lack of recess time these children have now. Have they forgotten how important play is in relationship to learning?

In the defence of the 2013 American student, does the 1895 student know anything about sex positions, STD avoidance, tollerance for gays, self confidence despite the evidence of stupidity, or yoga? You know, things that have absolutely no place in public education.

Keep in mind, that's the material that was taught at that time. The material taught today is much different. That was the information needed to function in the society of that time and has since become irrelevant to us today.

If an 8th grader back then took an 8th grade test from today, they would fail miserably due to the different kind of knowledge that is deemed important.

Education is a reflection of society. The information in that test is information not used much by society today so it's not well known.

With that said, it is true that expectations have changed a great deal and the retaining of facts and figures is no longer the focus, it's more the use of the facts and figures now. We also have 12 years to cover the needed knowledge as opposed to only 8. The 8th graders of 100 years ago are equivalent to the 12th graders today. The work ethic was much better, discipline was easier and children were expected to do their homework at home AFTER they finished their chores as opposed to watching TV and playing video games.

Originally posted by Emarie

Originally posted by Observationalist
I noticed no multiple choice or true or fase questions.

It must have been rough on the teachers to have to read and grade all those test.
Hand written answers. Oh no

That is something that always baffled me when watching something about american schools on TV, because (I am from Germany) we don't have multiple choice or true or false answers at all in our exams. (At least we hadn't when I was there about ten years ago). It's all about questions and hand written answers. (My teachers used to not like my handwriting at all ... ;-)) I always thought multiple choice would be so much easier because at least if you should happen to draw a blank you could get an idea about what the answer might be ...
Considering it as a dumbing down technique ... I don't know but I suddenly feel very curious about my nephew and what his exams may look like a couple of years from now (he's in 4th grade now). .

That's because in the US, they teach to the test and the test they teach to is the ACT/SAT and the state achievement tests as opposed to actually teaching knowledge and skills

Originally posted by HopSkipJump

Originally posted by Emarie

Originally posted by Observationalist
I noticed no multiple choice or true or fase questions.

It must have been rough on the teachers to have to read and grade all those test.
Hand written answers. Oh no

That is something that always baffled me when watching something about american schools on TV, because (I am from Germany) we don't have multiple choice or true or false answers at all in our exams. (At least we hadn't when I was there about ten years ago). It's all about questions and hand written answers. (My teachers used to not like my handwriting at all ... ;-)) I always thought multiple choice would be so much easier because at least if you should happen to draw a blank you could get an idea about what the answer might be ...
Considering it as a dumbing down technique ... I don't know but I suddenly feel very curious about my nephew and what his exams may look like a couple of years from now (he's in 4th grade now). .

That's because in the US, they teach to the test and the test they teach to is the ACT/SAT and the state achievement tests as opposed to actually teaching knowledge and skills

And back then they would have taught to that test as well. I'm waiting for someone to post up a test some ancient romans or greeks used (in classical greek or latin) and someone else to come here and start complaining how dumbed down we are from those ancient times because we can't even speak latin or greek any more ;p