1912 eighth grade exam: Could you make it to high school in 1912?

Christian Science Monitor ^ | August 2013 | Andrew Averill

[iowamark]

A 1912 eighth-grade exam was donated to a museum in Bullitt County, Ky.

The Bullitt County Genealogical Society put a scanned copy of the 1912 eighth-grade exam on its website today.

This exam was called the "Common Exam" in 1912 and was "apparently a big deal," according to the Society's description of the scanned document. Students in Bullitt County would come to the county courthouse once or twice a year to take the exam.

For passing the exam, students could be given scholarships to attend high school ("which was also a big deal back then," the site says).

The exam consists of 56 questions, a 40-word spelling test, and mentions a separate reading and writing test.

The test quizzed students on mathematics, grammar, geography, physiology, civil government, and history.

Try your hand at some of the questions. Would you have made it into high school in 1912?

Test begins at:

[iowamark]

Picture of the entire exam

[fso301]

Having helped my kids and their friends with homework in recent years, this doesn’t look too different from what is being done now.

[humblegunner]

I guess everyone passed the spelling part.
Since all the words are, you know, right there all spelled out and everything.

[iowamark]

This version of the exam was probably a master version given out to the schools (note that the spelling words wouldn’t be written on a test.)

[Carpe Cerevisi]

Could you make it to high school in 1912?

Only with a DeLorean time machine.

[DirtyPigpen]

You could definitely make it with anyone if you drove a deloreon to high school.

[sharkhawk]

Don’t forget that in 1910 probably only 10% or so of the US had a high school diploma.

[Nifster]

got em all

[Nifster]

from 8th grade ??? are you kids going to private school

[Georgia Girl 2]

I have a Master’s degree and I cannot pass this exam. When I see word problems I curl up into the fetal position. :-)

[JimRed]

Would you have made it into high school in 1912?

My mom's birth year.

[fso301]

are you kids going to private school

Nope. Public school.

[HotHunt]

I scored an 81% (30 correct out of 37 questions). Was my score good enough to get into high school in 1912?

[RandallFlagg]

Bookmarking.

[Nifster]

in what state? I only ask because my child learned most of this from me. She attended a good public school but the curriculum required by the state did not match most of what was on this test for EIGHTH GRADERS The Common Core covers almost none of this. Fortunately she is long out of attending school

[fso301]

in what state?

The oldest was in Louisiana and the younger two were in Rhode Island. The questions on the 1912 test look pretty similar to what you can find in middle school textbooks.