# 1895 School Test



## Phil V. (May 31, 2013)

www.edu-cyberpg.com/teachers/1895.html I thought some of you would like to see the tests 8th graders had to take that year to move on to the next grade.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I would, but that ain't it... :shrug:


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## Phil V. (May 31, 2013)

I thought it would be something to just talk about. I looked at it and got some of the answers right.


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

The problem is your link doesn't work.


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## Phil V. (May 31, 2013)

Don't know what I did wrong. I wrote down the web page to put it here. Will see if I can get it right. If not might need some help on it.


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## Phil V. (May 31, 2013)

Okay; I seen what I did wrong. www.edu-cyberpg.com/teachers/1895exam.html I forgot to put the word exam in to get you connected. Sorry about that. Phil


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

My mother had her first teaching contract kept in one of the many hope chest she inherited. It was VERY much like the one BUT it also stated 

That she would board at a certain boarding house.
That her pay would be deducted her boarding fee
That she would get a stippend for spending and that the rest of her pay would be sent to her father to tend to.
That at any time a man wished to teach her contract would be termed.
That she could have up to one week between terms for travel/personal time and that she could board at the boarding house but that it was perfered that she return to her fathers home when ever posidable durring school breaks.
Oh and if she went to the approved church she got to sociallize (court) extra time after service.

I loved that document as it was written is fancy lettering and signed by the school board members.


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## Dahc (Feb 14, 2006)

My wife and I are still chuckling over how stupid we are. Most college grads would fail this test miserably.

Several years ago we saw a 1st grade primer from the 1850's and one of the questions wanted the children to calculate the interest at a particular rate, for five years on a 3 digit dollar amount.... no paper allowed. This had to be figured in the childrens heads. You can read the writings of the founding fathers of this country and many others and if we can all be honest with ourselves, no other conclusion can be reached other than mankind is devolving, not evolving.

They could say in a word what it takes a sentence to say now and for one of their sentences, it would take a paragraph or more to explain for the modern man.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Something to remember is that in 1850, age-grading hadn't come to the US yet. Kids in the first grade might have been 7 or 14...

However, I will agree with your basic premise that there is something to be said of the classical education model.



> Most college grads would fail this test miserably.


Do you really think so? 
I mean, yeah there were a few questions I didn't know (archaic terminology or things I simply don't have in my head, like the volume or weight of a bushel of wheat), but other than that...


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## Dahc (Feb 14, 2006)

ErinP said:


> Something to remember is that in 1850, age-grading hadn't come to the US yet. Kids in the first grade might have been 7 or 14...
> 
> However, I will agree with your basic premise that there is something to be said of the classical education model.
> 
> ...


I do, yes.

Aren't the reasons you gave there: terminology, things we haven't been taught or have forgotten, etc, the cause of not passing the test? I know those were the exact reasons we didn't do well on it.

The bushel is still a common measurement in Georgia where we live and I still do not know it's volume. lol. That's my fault but a lot of others don't know it either. You buy baskets called "bushel baskets" and you just fill 'em up, right? hehe. The Rod on the other hand is outdated and to my knowledge isn't used any more. A measurement of 16.5' seems a bit screwy to me but apparently it was a commonly known thing once upon a time. 

Related to that, I honestly doubt that even 50% of those 25-40 yoa can tell us how many square feet are in an acre. I could be wrong there but I don't think I am.

I marvel at the mental ability those before us possessed. A few years back, I read a book by George Pember called Earth's Earliest Ages. Others who read it suggested I use a dictionary when I talked about it but I said to myself, "c'mon, how bad could it be?"

Well, the dictionary was 110% necessary. The man was speaking english but I just didn't know those english words and neither does anyone else in this era.

I don't believe it's a change in the language that has done this. I believe the men and women of the past were superior to modern man and that modern man is degrading with each generation. It's pretty evident considering we still can't quite figure out how some ancient pyramids were built and still have yet to determine what they were even for.... But anyway, most of that could probably be debated by some smart person... somewhere.

Take care.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

> Aren't the reasons you gave there: terminology, things we haven't been taught or have forgotten, etc, the cause of not passing the test?


Well, no, not really. (BTW, I still passed with plenty of room to spare). 

Terminology changes, language evolves. The rod is a perfect example. For that matter, we don't even have all the _letters_ we started with in the English language. So no, I don't think much of that part. 

And something like the bushel (or even an acre), well that's an industry-specific term. Unless you're a farmer of some sort, it's just not something you'll have in the front of your mind. I would bet that that a test given in 1895 Philadelphia looked different than the one we saw that was handed out to 1895 rural Kansans... :shrug:


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## Dahc (Feb 14, 2006)

I should clarify what I meant by not passing the test. I meant with out taking the full time allotted and without using any paper to work things out on. I know that's not the correct standard according to what is allowed on the test, but that is what I was talking about when I said my wife and I failed miserably.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Why would you not need paper or to take the allotted time? Shoot, I need paper and time to work my 8th grader's algebra! lol


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## Phil V. (May 31, 2013)

I didn't do so well on it myself.


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