Comments on: 1895 Eighth Grade Final Exam

By: HAL

HAL — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 06:51:32 +0000

For the record, Mr. Scrafford, your second post (#4) should be corrected from, “I did GOOD on my exams for school,” to, “I did WELL on my exams for school.”

Not to be annoying, but since we are literally talking academics here . . . . . .

By: vjp

vjp — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 01:45:15 +0000

That is a very good article, probably the closest thing we have to getting to the truth: that this test is authentic but certainly not representative of those tests given to 8th grade graduates across the country in 1895.

By: Olivia

Olivia — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 01:32:30 +0000

I found an interesting article that calls in to question some of the conclusions reached by the websites I linked. But this extensive article does go on to document that greater than 70% of the students who took this exam failed it.

An interesting read:
http://www.republic-of-gilroy.com/1895exam.pdf

(It seems odd to me that an 8th grader would even need to know how to write a bank check and a promissory note – geez, and we think kids “grow up” too fast today!)

By: vjp

vjp — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:41:50 +0000

Did you check the link I have above? The website there says they used the Smokey Valley Geneology Society info.
Anyway, it’s fun

By: Olivia

Olivia — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:35:13 +0000

According to the truth or fiction website, this is most likely an exam for adults. They have located the source, and nowhere does it say 8th grade, but it does mention that this is an exam for applicants. The snopes website also says that this is not for 8th grade, and does a comparison of an exam for teachers in 1870. I believe it’s one of those urban legends. I know I’ve gotten this emailed to me by most of my conservative friends as proof that our education system has completely failed.

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/a/1895exam.htm

By: Bryan Scrafford

Bryan Scrafford — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:01:27 +0000

At least one of us knew the size of a bushel.

By: vjp

vjp — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:14:16 +0000

Actually, I went hunting for the test on line. I found the test and the answers, although the math answers are not explained. My answer of 48 is correct

By: vjp

vjp — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 19:03:27 +0000

Hm – let me take a shot at #2 under the arithmetic.

A wagon box is 2 ft deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

I come up with 48.

According to this, the volume of one bushel is 1.25 cubic feet. Cubic feet =LxWxH. So 10x3x2=60 cubic feet divided by 1.25 = 48 bushels.

Now – I have no idea if this is correct

By: Can You Pass The Eighth Grade? « Bryan J. Scrafford

Can You Pass The Eighth Grade? « Bryan J. Scrafford — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:49:48 +0000

[...] Vivian Paige has a very interesting post on her blog. She has posted a copy of a final exam for an eighth grade class in 1895, which one would think would be relatively easy. I was actually really surprised about what’s on it because some of the questions require a good deal of thought. For instance, here’s the geography section: 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 & 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. [...]

By: Bryan J. Scrafford

Bryan J. Scrafford — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:40:48 +0000

I did good on my exams for school, but some of there are some questions on this that I couldn't answer. For instance, I'm pretty sure I can name all of the European Countries (England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Norway) , but I don't know the capital for Norway or Sweden and I wondered whether or not they would have included the Baltic States as European on this exam. For the capitalization rules I could only come up with. (first word of sentence; person's title when used while addressing them; person's name; a title of a book, article, etc; and departments of an organization such as Department of Justice) And does anyone know the answer for number two in the arithmetic section?

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:35:48 +0000

“What happened to us?” We decided that “everyone deserves an education,” so we made it easy for even the lazy and stupid to get an High School diploma.

By: vjp

vjp — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:00:04 +0000

And how did you do?

By: Bryan J. Scrafford

Bryan J. Scrafford — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:44:42 +0000

I'm a history major at GMU, which I'd like to think is a well respected university, and I've had essay exams and term papers in upper level courses that were VERY similar to numbers 2, 3, and 6 in the US history portion of this 8th grade exam.