Please take a look at this test. It is often used to illustrate the 'quality' of an 8th grade education from 1895. By 'quality' what most who post this or email it around mean is really how terrible our education system is today. I would like to get your thoughts on this test and how it compares to the knowledge our students acquire in schools today.
An 1895 8th Grade Final Exam: I Couldn't Pass It. Could You? | The New Republic
Not only is most of this 'knowledge' antiquated (bushels of wheat) and incorrect (Columbus did not discover America), but it is also at the very shallow end of Bloom's Taxony. Most of this information was delivered with a 'drill and kill' approach and can be regurgitated on to a test.
ReplyDeleteWhere are the questions addressing higher order thinking skills (analysis, evaluation, and creation?). While I'm sure it had relevance to the students at the time (though most would not go beyond 8th grade), this supposed grand 'knowledge' has little value to today's learners.
Students could answer every question correctly in half an hour using Google on their phones. Some of the comments at the end of the article like to trumpet our lack of knowledge regarding these questions as proof that our education system today is woefully lacking. Well, I'd like to see college graduate from 1895 teleported to today's high school and try to take some of our final exams (let's see how they handle web design, pre-cal, economics, and the digital essay).
Here is how my Great Grandfather would have answered your challenge, Kurt.
DeleteWeb design... that's the spider's nest and the way they catch prey.
Pre-Calc? That's the math they teach at college.
Economics? You spend less than you make
(I think we could take a lesson from them)
Digital Essay? Well, of course we use our digits to write an Essay. You think we
just talk to the paper and the words magically appear?
Good Times, good times.
That's funny. I love it. Excellent voice and style in your prose, by the way.
DeleteI feel that anyone who thinks they are dumb because they can't pass this test is completely wrong. The test does have some facts that most people should know. However, 1895 is completely outdated. I would only hope that the knowledge that one should've known then, doesn't match the knowledge that one should know now! I would never want to be stuck back in the times near the Civil War. I feel it is almost a better thing that people can't pass this test. It shows that we are moving on, and experiencing bigger and better things. To grow, we need to move on and innovate. Knowing the knowledge presented in the 1895 8th Grade Final Exam, is not innovation here in the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteOkay let's be real. When I read through all of those questions I was probably able to answer two of them. A few questions that were asked on it were incorrect. One of them being the Columbus question. Columbus didn't discover America, he discovered South America. Or in the arithmetic questions when it talked about bushels of wheat. We don't even deal with bushels of wheat anymore. Most kids today don't live on farms, which is the opposite of the way it was back in the 1800's.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of those questions are not relevant for today's students. We don't learn about the history of Kanas or the republics in Europe. It is unimportant in our culture. If we really needed to answer those questions we could just go on google and find the answer within ten seconds.
Someone that took that final exam back in 1895, I would like to see them come to our classes everyday and see all this new technology. They couldn't handle it. They say those are things that all 8th graders should know, but if you were to ask an adult or a college graduate they probably couldn't even answer the questions. Not to mention if kids back then took our final exams they probably wouldn't know any of the answers either.
The questions that are being asked are from the material that was being taught to 8th graders in 1895. I feel that we should not even be expected to know most of these answers, mainly because we have not been taught this material, which we shouldn’t because it is now outdated. If we were given the opportunity to study for this exam, the majority of us would do fairly well because we would be able to memorize the answers and then just transfer the information to the test. But is this really teaching us? Likewise, I don’t expect people from 1895 to be able to pass an exam from modern day history on topics including the media, calc, or modern day history.
ReplyDeleteI’m not saying that learning material from ancient history isn’t important, but most of the questions don’t pertain to that, and some are also false information.
This material is almost pointless for our modern generation to learn or even know just because it most likely won’t be needed for us in the future. If it ever is, we have the internet at our fingertips and will find the answer in no time. :)
The questions this test asks, for the most part, are irrelevant to our society today. The question that asks how many bushels of wheat will fit in a LxWxH wagon is no longer common knowledge among people of today. I have no problem finding the area of a simple box like that, in fact I learned that knowledge in elementary math (NOT 8TH GRADE). However I was never taught the area of a bushel of wheat, it's irrelevant. I will go as far as to say I will never be asked that question again.
ReplyDeleteI strongly feel, however, that had we been taught this knowledge in 8th grade it would have been a breeze for us to pass that final. The truth is, that material isn't in our teachers curriculum today. Mostly because it is irrelevant and outdated.
Brett Kosel
Brett, I think most people will agree with you. I do. It's messed up to use this as an indictment of the current educational system. What we learn is not nearly as important as how we learn. High Schools should be in the business of helping students develop those learning skills. Wether memorizing, listening, watching, or playing, the schools place is to help students grow as learners. We can't possibly teach you the skills you'll need. They change to dang fast! There's no way to know what those skills will be in ten years. You know? Give a man a fish...
DeleteIts antequated but seriously worth knowing. How much time would it take to actually answer these questions with the help of the internet. I feel that if someone actually took the time to look these up or at least watch a few videos on the subject to make something of it. I think its funny that I know how to program my computer to do what ever the heck I want but I can't clearly define climate.
ReplyDeleteI know I would absolutely fail this 8th grade test, but I don't know anyone that would pass it. All of the stuff on this test is completely outdated. I do think that it is interesting to see that what schools used to teach compared to what we are being taught now has changed so drastically. We were not taught most of the stuff on this test at all, I don't even know what a lot of it means. At the time that this test was written, that is the things that the schools must have been teaching. That was a long time ago. Schools have changed drastically since then and we are not taught those things anymore. This is because, in my oppinion, we don't need to know those things. Any of those test questions we could have the answer to in just one google search. I do think that it is good to know things without using google or the internet, but those are questions that aren't anything that we need to know. The test is just outdated and that is why many people that are highly educated would not pass it.
ReplyDeleteI think I can speak for all of us here when i say, we're sure lucky we weren't born in the 1800's if we were forced to know this junk. A total waste of time for today's scholars, and a certain F as a grade for anyone willing to take this test without using Google.
ReplyDeleteWhat is important to take from this is how lacking our school's curriculum is for the 21st century. I'm sure bushels of wheat were important back then, but what is important now for students is to know economics, how to write college worthy papers, and which priorities to put first. (Fun time with friends and homework are, for me at least, difficult to choose between).
We obviously aren't learning everything we truly need from teachers and face it, a professor giving a lecture on YouTube about the Bernoulli Effect would allow for a better understanding, as well as keep our attention a thousand times greater than a moldy old textbook on the same subject would.
This test from 1895 was very challenging,and I would most likely fail if forced to take it. It had questions in every single category that I would be unable to even B.S. my way through. But the most important part of that test is that it IS from 1895. That knowledge is what someone growing up in the 19th century needed to know. They would need to know all that in order to land most jobs in that time. But of what use is this to most people today? Besides being fun to know trivia, most of that info is not needed today. Today's schools are attempting (And I emphasize the ATTEMPTING)to teach us skills that are important in today's job market. That does not make them smarter than us, it just makes them better at what they do. Things change, and now we learn what is important for us in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteMr. Geiser,
ReplyDeleteOne of then comments I read about the test struck me as interesting. "Maybe this is why students did not go beyond 8th grade very often at this time." I think perhaps the schools geared education to finish in 8th grade for a good number of students, those going beyond were those who were college bound for professional careers. My 8th grade geography class certainly would have prepared me for this, it was very rigorous. I also think this is only a snapshot. Just because this is the test does not mean everyone knew it or remembered it. Interesting stuff though!
I disagree that much of this test is antiquated and irrelevant. Change the Kansas stuff to Minnesota, and the bushels of wheat to anything else one might want to carry, and it's pretty much relevant. I would also argue that while several of these are just basic memorization of facts, there are also several that ask you to demonstrate a pretty complete understanding of the topic. The questions are difficult, and the fact that we (myself included) can't answer many of them without consulting outside sources makes me a little uncomfortable. I wish I could -- I feel like I should.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I don't think this sample 8th grade test from 1895 can serve as an indicator of poor educational standards today. Today's students learn and understand entirely new sets of concepts that weren't even imagined/possible/in existence in 1895. Times change, and the things that one needs to know changes with them.
Some things, however, are enduring...we need to find the middle ground.
What I see missing in the comments by today's "scholars" is comments about the work and thinking that it took to get to a point to pass these tests. It doesn't feel much different than what students have to pass currently. Sure, the "facts" may change (except in math, thank God for math!), but you memorize a bunch of things. There are a few questions that require a little higher thinking skills, but it's much like today's standardized tests to which our students are subjected.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm sure I would not pass. But, I'm sure I could if I spent 8 years of school in 1887 preparing for this one test to measure my worth.
Excellent point. What would happen if we compiled a list of the top ten skills or questions each student should master in order to pass classes in math, social studies, communications, and science today? Would students 200 years from now think the same thing about us as we do about the 8th graders?
DeleteIf I had to take this test, I would definitely not pass. It looks very hard for an 8th grade level thinking of 8th graders today and thinking that the rest of us wouldn't even be able to pass it. The information on this test is completely outdated like the fact that they use "bushels" in one of the math problems, what is that? None of us know, we are so much more advanced than this today that it doesn't even matter that we don't know any of the information on it because we have no reason to. The information necessary to know to pass this test would not benefit us whatsoever in our futures, so learning it for a test like this, from 1895, is unnecessary.
ReplyDelete