If only we knew now what they knew then - or maybe not?

In 1895, 8th grade students from Salina, Kansas had to pass a five hour final exam that covered the subject areas of grammar, arithmetic, US History, orthography, and geography. The test consisted of a total of 50 questions and was administered orally; teachers evaluated the students on the content of their answers as well as their penmanship. Some of the questions seem appropriate for a modern day 8th grade curriculum, including:

• Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
• Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
• Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
• Use the following correctly in sentences: Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
• What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
  

Others seem completely out of place in today's schools, such as:

• Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
• If a load of wheat weights 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. Per bushel, deducting 1050 lbs for tare?
• Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
• 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.
• Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall, and Orinoco.
  

What do you make of this? Are we requiring less of our students? Does this exam provide evidence of a decline in the American educational system or are the needs of our students so different today that knowing the nine uses of capital letters is no longer relevant?

To read the entire exam visit the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society's website at http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/saline/ and click on School Exam 1895.