Posted on 07/31/2013 5:25:21 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Test for eighth graders in Kentucky dated 1912 ignites debate over kids' intelligence today
A general examination to test eighth grade students in Kentucky's Bullitt County school system in 1912 has stumped some adults and ignited a debate over the intelligence of children today.
The arithmetic, geography, civil government, physiology, grammar and history questions range from 'What is a personal pronoun?' to 'Who first discovered Lawrence River?' and 'Define Cerebrum'.
Posted on Lew Rockwell, the type-written test has promoted some adults to try and answer the questions, and caused some parents to critique the U.S. school system.
'I performed poorly,' wrote Jezebel's Laura Beck. 'But to be fair/excuse my stupidity, some of the answers, especially history, are very different now that we know more of the truth.'
Some questions are specific to Bullitt County, such as 'name five county officers in your region,' while other aspects of the test are antique.
But many parents argue that the children in 1912 who took such tests were no smarter than the children of today.
One commenter noted: 'Most of these questions are memorization-based. They prompt memorized answers with specific words that would have been used in classes back then.
'There are very little critical thinking questions or any other questions that require more than rote memorization to complete.'
Another woman, under the name of Leah Jaclyn, agreed, writing: 'Often people who think our kids are dumb fail to realise that rote memorisation is a skill that is not often required anymore.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Have you ever seen a parent in a store on one knee lecturing his/her 2 year old about “why it’s not okay to pillage the aisles”? The attempt to reason with the unreasoning, where basic cognitive functions aren’t in place yet reeks of overreach and a failure to understand what the mind is/is not capable of performing at the different stages of development. It’s the same idea with education. Somehow libs got it in their heads that children 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, are reasoning creatures and need to be “taught” using more advanced methods to address their “innate higher learning abilities.”
Truth is, education today fails to lay the proper foundation for learning and, thus, doom their young charges to a lifetime of either a) head scratching or b) smugness about why things they don’t know/can’t do are unimportant.
To answer the question simply, no I dont think children were smarter a century ago. They just knew more.
My 11 year old cousin was “reasoned with” by my aunt from a very young age.
He’s the most petulant, rude, disrespectful, ignorant little shit I’ve ever met, and my aunt wonders where she went wrong.
They were certainly better educated, no question.
But, then, hey, we have to bolster the self-esteem of our young morons as they destroy society all around us.
Intelligence is not the difference. Discipline is the difference. Teachers weren’t paid to babysit and propagandize back then; they were paid to teach.
They were also better disciplined. They didn’t dare back talk the teacher.
View it and weep (or laugh):
Students Sign Petition to Legalize "4th Trimester" Abortions
In honor of the Kermit Gosnell / Wendy Davis wing of the Democrat Party, the Media Research Center’s Dan Joseph went to one of those bastions of Obama’s low-information voters, the college campus, to ask students to sign a petition legalizing "4th trimester" abortions. Sadly, the results are predictable.
The main issue would be understanding how many feet in a yard or mile and how much a cord was but I would have known how to get the answers to all of these by the time I finished sixth grade.
However, it doesn't mean the kids are dumber... these questions do not reflect the standards required of 8th grade students. I'm sure the 8th graders from that day would struggle with some of the concepts that are taught today.
Students can't learn what they aren't taught.
I start every class with a short "math fact" drill. I think it's important that students can perform basic operations with simple numbers quickly and accurately. I also teach using calculators... but as a convenience, not as an crutch. We don't use calculators when we couldn't do the same problem without one.
I know some teachers believe a calculator should never be used. I'm not one of them; we live in a world where technology is widely available, and students need to use it responsibly.
‘But to be fair/excuse my stupidity, some of the answers, especially history, are very different now that we know more of the truth.’
Does that mean that now history has been changed to reflect the truth as the teachers see fit?
Not having to memorize times tables/ core curriculum:
For the moment, we’ll look at the third factor, because of the other seemingly endless debate (in addition to calculators): times tables memorization. We’re going to try to end this silly debate once and for all (ha!). There is sufficient rationale for knowing one’s times tables: even at the highest levels of mathematics, there comes a time that two numbers must be multiplied. But beyond its obvious utility, there is greater depth to the times tables than just memorization. There are important patterns inherent in the times tables that can lead to a deeper understanding of the nature of numbers and ultimately, lead to more profound problem solving and abstract abilities. The times tables can play a central role in fostering some fairly advanced mathematical thinking, even in elementary school —Once again, there are problems with the Common Core starting at the very beginning of its treatment of a topic: how it introduces the concept. CCSSI begins a piecemeal approach to multiplication in 2.OA.4:
“Use addition to find the total number of objects arranged in rectangular arrays with up to 5 rows and up to 5 columns; write an equation to express the total as a sum of equal addends.”
Without saying as much, this is repeated addition. Certainly that’s how one begins, but then what? Following CCSSI, students will spend an entire summer after second grade thinking that 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 20, and so what? It is both ridiculous and demeaning to leave students hanging with repeated addition as the way to total an array.
Instead, finding the total number of objects in an array by repeated addition should culminate in an introduction to multiplication as a shorthand notation. There’s no rhyme or reason for separating these two concepts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/a-critical-analysis-of-common-core-math-standards/2012/09/18/1584fd0c-f6b4-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_blog.html
Yes. That really raised my hackles!
I have to say that I could have answered more of these questions when I was IN the 8th grade (or the 10th grade) than I could now. I can no longer diagram a sentence, for instance, but I was prtty good at it back then.
But, I think this test is a good example of why my late father in law (an orphan) could leave school after 8th grade and become an engineer with G.E. with 17 patents to his name after only a few night school classes.
Also, I dare to surmise that he did not have his time wasted during the school day with “diversity studies”, “sec ed”, PE, etc. And those kids who did not keep up were passed over and dropped out. A college education was not required for most jobs in those days, so high school was more rigorous.
And even if they did pass, many were done with formal schooling and went to work on their family farms or in their family businesses. And were better educated than many college grads today.
I used to teach adult ed at a community college; helping prepare students for SAT and GED classes. I was shocked at some of the people that had rec’d a HS degree and could hardly read or add.
Excellent example. Good for him.
Obviously I did not learn to type properly. This danged keyboard causes these errors. (Does that sound like Obama?)
sec=sex; prtty=pretty;
I, too, teach (HS English) and am always “amused” by what it is that students don’t know (basic facts, basic operations, basic learning components) and then, by what they are asked to do at the secondary level (write research papers, solve complex word problems, evaluate implications in the sciences, etc.) Having not been hard-wired with the basics (through techniques such as rote-learning of multiplication tables, for instance), students are often over-matched in the secondary classroom. Their brains have not acquired the kind of functionality that these early steps of learning provide, thus rendering higher-level critical thinking skills out of reach (in many cases).
The use of technology should serve as a quick route to helping to solve complex math problems—after the basics (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing) have been mastered. To do otherwise, is to eliminate a necessary step toward higher-level thinking. Same is true of the idea of spell-check in word processing programs.
Thank you for that link!
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