Think you're smarter than an 8th grader? Well, see if you can pass this test, given in 1931 by the West Virginia Department of Education, as sent in by a reader of Valerie Strauss' education blog The AnswerSheet over at Washington Post:
The exam was sent to me by John N. Beall of Wilmington, N.C., who received it from his father, the teacher who administered the test in a one-room school in Gilmer County, W.Va. [...]
"The scope and depth of the exam speaks for itself. What is important to understand is that the students came from families that were very challenged financially, especially during the depression years. They lived on small family farms, and, just to make ends meet, every member of the family had to work on the farm. Each child had chores to do before and after school, and, as there were very few automobiles in that area, they walked to and from school each day, some of them walking several miles each way. At night after chores there was homework and then to bed. These young people were part of the 'Great Generation' that fought and died for freedom. Those who survived the war went on to build this great nation.
"You might want to take the exam yourself. I found it to be challenging."
Many of the questions reek of rote learning and propaganda. Being able to give the "official" reasons for America's "wonderful growth in its 155 years of existence is not necessarily a sign of intelligence or worldly knowledge.
Are there things that 1930s education did well? Undoubtedly. But this test is poor evidence either way.
Additionally, would you be answering the questions about production as they were in the 1930s or as they are today? This makes the answers to some questions (like #8) vastly different.
The hygiene section is rather amusing, especially the question about being under-weight! The hygiene movement of the late Victorian era still held sway - thus the questions on bathing and ventilation - and some of the principles stuck around until the post-war era. (Some continue today, like painting hospital walls white, but the question of ventilating classrooms is never considered a "hygienic principle".)
The grammar section seems to be trying to weed out colloquialisms, many of which are acceptable in today's English. The job application question would actually be rather useful today, and the civics and math sections have not changed much; the penmanship section has gone the way of the dodo! The English section is pretty much exactly like tests I took in middle school (10 or so years ago).
I'm 29 years old, and I may not be able to complete a test that I myself once aced in the 8th grade.
It would be interesting to see what the answers to some of the geography questions are. One of the few cities I can name in WV was not around then and I am pretty sure I would have a hard time streatching out 'because the government didn't think anybody would look there' as the reason.
stacy lee - Coal is still an extermly important energy source (44.5% of electric generation): http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/figes1.html
How many of the 1930's 8rd graders can say that?
I am not so sure how science and WV of the 30s mixed.
Stacy Lee - git off yer high horse.
Firstly, in what year are we answering the questions? ie 1931's in todays understanding or as we expected them to answer them?
For example: what if the Gaza Strip was the most populous area on the planet? Right or wrong, a question that may not have occurred to them in 1931.
Ooops, she'd get a minus-1 on that question. It might not be used much for *residential* heating anymore, but it's still a major energy source. About one-half of U.S. electricity is produced from coal.
So I'm not exactly sure where the new curriculum is getting them. And yes, students were tested on math then - without calculators, too.