Dumbing down: the proof [a copy of a test for 11-year-olds from 1898]

The Spectator (U.K.) ^ | November 27, 2004 | No author

[snarks_when_bored]

The way it used to be.

[judywillow]

And then the whole generation which passed that test got killed off in WW-I.....

[judywillow]

using tactics no American commander ever would have used after Picket's charge...

[snarks_when_bored]

The test is from England, but American tests were almost as challenging. Have a look some time at American Algebra texts from the early 1900s. The notion of teaching even a tiny fraction of that material (at that level) to current American students is ludicrous.

[William of Orange]

using tactics no American commander ever would have used after Picket's charge...

---

except for Grant at Cold Harbor.

[snarks_when_bored]

And as for using the best and the brightest as cannon fodder, that's nothing new in history. In the opening lines of his "Theaetetus", Plato allows Socrates to assail (in a subtle way) the stupidity of Athen's political leaders as shown by their willingness to send a young genius, Theaetetus, into a vicious battle which ended up costing him his life.

[William of Orange]

I would fail that test ignominiously, except maybe for some of the arithmetic... I've had tests at university that were less challenging than that!

I feel dumb now... bigwinkysmiley

[Guillermo]

Amen.

At the old Georgia Military Academy (in Marietta), which is now a conference center/hotel, they have on display the curriculum for high schoolers from the 1860's.

If anyone thinks it's easy, or desgined to make sure none of the students suffer from "low self-esteem," they are sorely mistaken.

[snarks_when_bored]

"I'm not feeling so good myself!"

[snarks_when_bored]

Speaking of 'self-esteem', here's another (related) "Spectator" article that I posted a few minutes ago:

Know your place

[wildcatf4f3]

Who builds a room 13' 6" wide?

[snarks_when_bored]

Test writers?

[THEUPMAN]

Who builds a room 13' 6" wide?


using 14 foot framing material ... a very common, sometimes the cheapest per ft.

walls would be 14 ft on center ... leaving the width of the wall and wall finishes to be deducted from the clear width.

you probably have a room like that in your home.

[Conservatrix]

Well, don't be too hard on American schoolchildren. They learn all about putting condoms on bananas and cucumbers, the various types of STD's, positions for homosexual sex, Muslim holidays and beliefs, why communism and socialism are good, studying art such as crucifxes in urine, and so on.

We know A LOT in America!

[snarks_when_bored]

For Athen's political leaders in my post #6 please read Athens' political leaders.

[snarks_when_bored]

Too true.

[snarks_when_bored]

And people who know something about carpentry?

[wildcatf4f3]

I think it was originally 14' but as they layered one after another sheet of wall paper it shrunk inward like a giant trash compacter. Or perhaps they practiced their fractional equations on the wall- 31/32 x 435/9 + one metric cow at 3L 6 shillings x the wagers lost on darts at the pub to the 5th power = what king of England?

[the invisib1e hand]

would love to see a test from some public "school" today for contrast.

[SunkenCiv]

My apologies for this large number of pings today. This is very unusual, and this should be the last one (I've gotta eat, then go shopping). Thanks snarks_when_bored for posting this topic.

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