Southern New Jersey Overlook

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BreakTime: Can You Pass This 1895 Test?

Note: This test has made the rounds on the Internet for some time.  Many of you may have seen it before.  There is some controversy about the test, as to who it's intended recipients were -- was it intended for 8th graders or for the 8th grade teachers to make sure they knew the subject matter they were suppose to teach.  What is not disputed is that the test does exist and is interesting to look at it and compare against our own present day educational experience...

Examination - 1895Can You Pass This 8th Grade Level 1895 Test?
 
According to the Smoky Valley Genealogy Society, "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."
 
Putting aside some of the outdated concepts that were in practice at the time and some current debate as to whether the graduation exam was for the students or the teachers of this grade level, this test is still surprisingly appropriate today, especially in comparing our current level of education and basic knowledge with what was required and expected over one hundred years ago.
 
As others have commented on-line, it gives the saying by our grandparents and great-grandparents that they "only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning.  Could any of us have passed this test in 1895? 
 
Can you pass the test today?
 
Here are links to reprints of the test, answers to the test, supplemental information and comments about the original purpose of the test:
Smoky Valley Genealogy Society
A Reprint With Links to Answers

TruthOrFiction - Purpose of Test (and partial image of original document)
Reprint of Test with Comments
 
 
 
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