posted May 23, 2005 08:00 PM            

8th grade Exam in 1895

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 50 cents a
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)
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.
11. 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.
BEN *note, I don't know who Ben is.

posted May 23, 2005 08:04 PM              

quote:

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Also shows you how poor our education system has become... and, NO! I don't have the answers.

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Well any suggestions? Besides bringing back the belt or whatever they used back then...ouch!

quote:

---

BEN *note, I don't know who Ben is.

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posted May 24, 2005 01:07 AM              

I know I was a "good guy", well girl and well at least I think I was (I never got the paddle, from my teachers that is) . Honestly sometimes I wish we could use those things in class at times ...it would definitely get the kids to hear us out!

posted May 24, 2005 02:14 PM            

Well, it was so unfair, girls hardly ever got paddled...even when they were the cause of the talking or whatever was going on that shouldn't have been going on.

So, you were one of the good girls...who didn't get caught?

Hmmm, I think things here, have deteriorated past the point a paddle would be useful in class. Perhaps an M-16 and a whip would be better choices

Difficult job being a teacher..dangerous too in some schools.

posted May 24, 2005 08:38 PM              

High school is over for me, I'm graduating in two weeks, and all I can say is thank god I made it through. It's no lie that public high schools are hell-holes, it's a place where no one wants to be including teachers sometimes. It's true, first reason why schools now a days suck is because no wants to be there in the first place. You know how it is when you don't want to be somewhere, you feel like crap day to day, it mentally takes a toll on you. There is no passion for learning, and for a good reason. We just haven't figured out the real reason yet. I think there are various reasons why schools are failing. Maybe because they feel like prisons. The academics and the administration are both to blame.

Sometimes teachers are in the same boat as students, and so you can't blame them for all the problems. I can tell you one thing, the biggest problem with the education in our school system, is that everything is rushed. Teachers are constantly rushing, rushing, rushing to get certain lessons done. Therefore students are constantly left behind, and to make up for it they just get pushed a long anyway.

I can tell you the biggest problem with subjects such as Math and Science. One thing I've noticed since I've struggled a lot with these subjects for various reasons, is they never seem to spend more than 3-4 days on any topic within the subject. Math class only scratches the surface of the topic, and then moves on to the next topic, and then the next topic. So after a few months pass by you need to take an examination. You need to have knowlege on various topics, but then since you've only scratched the surface, you really end up knowing nothing, and a little bit of everything, but still you know nothing. Get it?

How can you grasp a subject, and love it when you've only scratched the surface, because you need to be rushed along in order to meet the state requirements? Subjects such as math need to go deeper into one topic in a given subject, learn all about it, and then evolve into something else. We need to learn everything about one thing, and SLOW DOWN so the majority of the kids can soak it in. Instead only a few kids do good in the majority of the class, while the rest of us suffer because we can't catch up. It stinks when you want to learn, but you can't, it's a really sad feeling, and your self-esteem goes down the drain. You start feeling self-conscious, and then you fail completely. You get doors slammed in your face.

Another problem, is that teachers expect students to know the basics in math and science, but in reality Calculus students can't even multiply fractions. Like I said, you get rushed a long, and you're expected to absorb countless amounts of information. In the end, you learn a little bit of everything, but nothing at the same time. In the end, no one cares if you can't do the work, you just get the "F" and the blame. There are no labs in my school where you can brush up on the basics, there is just no time for that.

posted May 24, 2005 09:23 PM            

This would have been unthinkable when I went to school. Any student attacking or threatening a teacher would have been decked, then expelled, then prosecuted. That's exactly what should happen now as well and the fact a sizable percentage of students are out of control is a direct result of them being able to get away with it.

"TEACHERS THREATENED WITH INJURY OR ATTACKED BY STUDENTS
In 1999-2000, teachers in central city schools were more likely than their peers in urban fringe or rural schools to be threatened with injury or physically attacked.

Some of the offenses against teachers are committed by students. Data on the extent to which students make threats or physically attack elementary and secondary teachers can provide a snapshot of this problem. In the Schools and Staffing Survey, teachers were asked whether they had been threatened with injury or physically attacked by a student in the previous 12 months. The survey results indicate that a smaller percentage of elementary and secondary school teachers were threatened with injury by a student at their school in the 1999-2000 school year than in the 1993-94 school year (9 vs. 12 percent) (table 10.1). No difference was detected in the percentage of teachers physically attacked by a student in the 1999-2000 school year compared to the 1993-94 school year (4 percent in both years) (table 10.2). In 1999-2000, few differences were detected in the likelihood of teachers being victims of attacks or threats by students according to teachers' race/ethnicity (tables 10.1 and 10.2). One such difference was that Black teachers were more likely to be threatened than White teachers in 1999-2000 (12 vs. 9 percent).

In both survey years, teachers in central city schools were more likely to be threatened with injury or physically attacked than teachers in urban fringe or rural schools (figure 10.1 and tables 10.1 and 10.2). For example, in 1999-2000, 11 percent of teachers in central city schools had been threatened with injury by students, compared with 8 percent each in urban fringe and rural schools. Five percent of teachers in central city schools had been attacked by students, while 3 percent each of teachers in urban fringe and rural schools had experienced such attacks.

In 1999-2000, teachers' reports of being victimized or attacked by a student varied according to the level and sector of their school. Secondary school teachers were more likely than elementary school teachers to have been threatened with injury by a student (10 vs. 8 percent); however, secondary school teachers were less likely to have been physically attacked (2 vs. 6 percent).

Public school teachers were more likely than private school teachers to be victimized by students in school (figure 10.2 and tables 10.1 and 10.2): 10 percent of public school teachers had been threatened with injury, compared with 4 percent of private school teachers. Likewise, 4 percent of public school teachers and 2 percent of private school teachers had been physically attacked by students.

Among teachers in central city schools, those at public schools were four times more likely to be targets of threats of injury than their colleagues in private schools (14 vs. 3 percent) and about three times more likely to be targets of attacks (6 vs. 2 percent). This indicator repeats information from the 2003 Indicators of School Crime and Safety report."
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/crime_safe04/indicator_10.asp

Now, even if only 2% of teachers are being attacked by students, that's 2% too many but the averages are much higher than that.

PS: Star, congratulations in advance on your graduation. I know you're one of the great students teachers really appreciate having in their classes.

posted May 24, 2005 10:26 PM              

Yes I was a good girl, my father and aunt raised me well, plus I had to fend for myself and my younger siblings for a good part of my childhood and teen years. When my mother was sick I did a lot of the work my mother would have done. I know I was too responsible for my age, but now I'm just going backwards...turning into more of a teenager each year

posted May 24, 2005 10:48 PM              

I can see that being an advantage to graduating students wishing to further their edu in post-secondary. Once there, universities and colleges purposely try to flunk and weed students out. For such students it is better to rough it out and learn how to handle such pressures from highschool, then to learn it the hard way, and get in the hole at post-secondary.

quote:

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but in reality Calculus students can't even multiply fractions.

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I don't see any harm in taking an extra year of highschool. In Ontario, Grade 13 was just removed (I think around 2000), so many students are still taking advantage of an extra year of highschool so they can spend more time on developing a deeper understanding of the fundementals. Schools should consider making more connections to the real world, and a teaching via a more hands on approach to learning...at least early on, before jumping to more abstract things, that quite frankly most adolescent brains are not yet completely pruned for.

And with discipline issues, teachers need each othere and ESPECIALLY the ADMINISTRATION to back them up. At the school Im at right now, oohhh how frustrating, students are sent to the office all the time, but then they return back to class in no time, and continue on with their behaviour. No support!!

And I don't know if we can directly blame the students...in most cases it's the socio-economic,cultural, and political circumstances they come from that helps in creating and sustaining such problems.

There needs to be a balance...somehow.

M-16 and whips...a good way to get yourself into trouble jwhop!! And that’s true jwhop, the averages should be higher, with many incidents not being reported.

posted May 25, 2005 01:13 AM            

Almost all children think their parents are tyrants at one point or another...or say they think that...usually starting around age 13. Well, helping to take care of younger brothers and sisters helps develop a sense of responsibility, so I think you probably got some benefit from that too. So, are you now regressing to the mean?

posted May 25, 2005 03:10 PM            

You are only legally required to stay in school through the equivalent of 10th grade (they call it 5th form). If you are not going on to university or some other tertiary education, you can leave school at that age, and start an apprenticeship or go to a trade school to learn a trade, which actually works out quite well IMO.

For those kids who are not academically inclined (ie; the kind who can learn well in a classroom setting), you now have 2 years before reaching the age of majority to learn a trade that will make you employable when you reach 18. That means that you have that two years, while your parents are legally responsible to support you, to learn a trade that makes you employable upon reaching the age where they're not legally required to support you. Unlike in the US where people strugge through HS, then have to try and pay for some expensive trade school to learn mechanics, heating and airconditioning, welding, etc, while trying to support yourself.

I know they teach some of that stuff in High Schools, but I think that because those kids are not the classroom type yet their still in a school environment, they can end up being disruptive.

The second choice is to go through 11th grade (6th form). That would be what kids who maybe want to go to an ITT Tech-type school, or learn a white-collar trade (travel agent, office administration, Heald college kind of stuff, etc).

12th grade is ONLY for kids who want to go to university, generally. It is the equivalent of the general ed classes that we in the US are required to pay a lot of money to take at the college level. So when you get to college, you're taking ONLY classes that relate to your major, and not forced to pay additional tuition to take that general ed stuff.

Because you slowly weed the kids out of the higher grades that have zero interest in the coursework, that make class sizes smaller as you get to the more difficult stuff like calculus, physics, etc. You're also better prepared for college IMO. And now the kids who have no attention span for sitting in a classroom can get out and into the world, and learn in a real-world setting that will hold their attention span.

Oh, and it is the child and parent's choice as to what grade to go to, the Govt doesn't dictate that, and the Govt pays for school up through 12 grade (they call it 7th form).

Of course there are kids that dropout after 10th grade and do nothing. The difference is in the US, they're not allowed to do so generally, so they're kept in school and end up affecting the environment of the entire HS.

They have some of the highest literacy rates in the world, they don't have high crime, and their unemployment is one of the lowest in the world (3.??%). The schools are not dangerous places to be, the teachers are not threatened and don't have to live in fear. Students are respectful.

posted May 26, 2005 07:07 AM              

I agree with Isis on the apprenticeship concept; I would say that kids even ought to be able to start apprenticeships at 14. There is no visible governmental encouragement of this, even though so many are clamouring for it to be brought back. In fact, quite the contrary, the Government wants to send 50% of pupils to university, where all but about the top 20% are clearly incapable of making the grade, or would prefer to be doing s/th more vocational. It's crazy politics.

The reason no-one wants to be at school is because school is boring. The curriculum, firstly, does not make allowances for specific interests, something even I found when I was at school during the 80s. There is a quota, they push you through. Secondly, a lot of teachers at state schools are snowed under with paperwork, with the result that most of the best teachers leave because they just can't stand it. Add to that the fact that due to the standard of education becoming poorer, we will increasingly rely upon teachers whose own knowledge falls far below that of a generation ago. And so it goes. Many students at teacher training colleges actually need to take extra spelling and maths classes as their basic skills aren't up to the job.

posted May 26, 2005 05:39 PM              

I think 14 years of age is too young for kids to entirely leave the books and hit work apprenticeship. I do think they need cooperative education. Some variety...a balance between the books and apprenticeship would be great. Without the books they'll be disadvantaged in today's ever evolving information age (is it still the info age?).

Post-secondary education isn't for everybody. I agree, in no way is school the end all, be all. For me personally with higher education...what I learned during one year alone at post-secondary would have taken me at least three times the same time without it...Although I probably would have learned different social and other special skills if I just started working right out of high school.

Alot of kids don't know what they want to learn. I think it is always best to keep your options open, and play with full deck of cards, so that you can have something to chose from when you happen to change your mind later on.

Here, in Canada, at least I would say that the teachers are much more qualified then the teachers from the generation before. Back then they didn't have to do an undergrad, they could just jump into teacher's college straight out of highschool. Now teachers here are specialized to teach particular subjects. If you want to teach science for instance, you have to have taken a certain number of university science courses to even think about it. Now, there are those few teachers that are forced to teach a subject which isn't part of their qualifications. That's tough on the teacher, and even more so on the students. That's not too common...and I don't see it being common here. We have a surplus of teachers!! Good luck to me for finding a permanent teaching position come the new school year. Maybe I might go teach in the states, or the UK, or China, or Timbucktoo, or somewhere, if I dont get hired here.

posted May 26, 2005 10:31 PM              

quote:

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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 50 cents a
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.

---

posted May 27, 2005 01:34 AM            

Hmmm, I never thought about which parent I related to best, still don't think about the family in that way. They were pretty united when it came to matters involving me...discipline, school, sports, work...and all the things parents and children have to deal with.

When I got to the teen years, I was very independent, thought I did pretty much what I pleased but that included at least an equal amount of work, study and things they wanted done which I included in my schedules for the day(s)...not that I made a written schedule I guess I would say I was ahead of the curve in responsibility, never in any trouble but I played high school football, basketball and baseball and the kinds of trouble kids get into now would have gotten me booted off the team(s).

Well, I'm pretty sure not very many 9th graders would pass that test and not many high school seniors either. Of course, the subject matter those questions came from were covered in their classes.

posted May 28, 2005 03:27 PM              

Hey...what’s wrong with making a written schedule? I look up to those people and wish I was one. I’ve tried it a few times, but always seem to somehow misplace them somewhere

What kind of troubles are you talking about, that would get a kid kicked off a school team nowadays but wouldn’t when you were a student?? I was pretty responsible as a teen. But did a few things I now regret.

posted May 29, 2005 05:00 PM            

My mother, a Libra and one of the nicest people anyone could know. I've never heard her say one bad thing about anyone...even those I thought deserved it..and non-argumentative, helpful and with no malice in anything she said. My father, a Cancer and probably Leo rising never met anyone he didn't like and everyone liked him...instantly friends. So different and yet very unique and special in their own ways. I'm nothing like either of them

Now, I'm not being dense. I understand your question. Sun and Moon, both in Leo, both in the 10th house. One representing the mother and one the father. Perhaps that's your answer. I felt equally close to both of them...perhaps at different times and for different reasons.

Nothing wrong with making a written schedule but I always expect and hope for something to happen to break the monotony and nothing is written in stone....unless I said I would do it now, today, tomorrow etc.

I think you read what I said backwards to what I meant. The kinds of things kids get into trouble for today would have gotten me kicked off the high school athletic teams and/or expelled...drugs, theft, cheating on tests etc. My football coach was a history teacher; my baseball coach was a math teacher and my basketball coach taught biology.

So, if you had participated in school sports, which sports would they have been? Too bad you didn't and now regret it. Why would you refuse to go to your school prom?

Yeah, go team! Well, maybe you can coach the math team...or the debate team.

posted May 29, 2005 10:39 PM              

quote:

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I understand your question. Sun and Moon, both in Leo, both in the 10th house. One representing the mother and one the father. Perhaps that's your answer. I felt equally close to both of them...perhaps at different times and for different reasons.

---

Yeah that's it! But it’s interesting your father is a Cancer (goes with the Moon in the 10th as well)! I’m sorry I shouldn’t be picking on you and your chart so much I'm just a nut! And I usually do read things backwards, and sometimes make up stuff along the way too.

Well up until I entered grade 9 and became a teen I played all sports, ran track and cross country. In highschool I played basketball until I sprained my ankle. After that I played on a soccer league outside of school. And I play in an outdoor soccer league now too With prom I was just being typically rebellious, and I was mad at a certain someone too...that’s all...Oh well!

What I find odd about you...you being a leo, and yet a pretty rebellious one... Would you do a switcharoo if everyone jumped on your bandwagon??? Do you see things as black and white, as matter of fact??

posted May 30, 2005 08:06 AM            

One of my girlfriends from Norway e-mailed me this the other day. It made me cry so much.

Solane Star

posted May 30, 2005 04:54 PM            

Were you picking on me? You have a pretty light touch

Sounds like you had and still have a pretty active lifestyle. Perhaps you would enjoy coaching one of the sports teams instead of debate or math.

So, a boy made you miss your prom and you're rebellious too! How strange for an Aquarius

Rebellious? Me?