Less than a month ago I presented a PDF of an 1870’s Harvard University entrance exam (i.e. for prospective incoming freshmen…). If you were to look this exam over, you could see that the level of rigor in our education system has changed (pretty dramatically!). Of course, there are some counter arguments to present, such as the fact that in the 1870’s entrance to an esteemed Ivy League university was far a relatively small (self selected) group of students who were versed in Latin, Greek, and the intricacies of European history and literature (topics which have fallen into various levels of modern disregard nowadays…).
BUT…
Here is a 5th grade final exam from 1879…These are questions which would have been posed to all 5th graders (in this state’s public schools…)…not just the elite, college bound future leaders of our society.
Admittedly, many of these questions are not representative of our current world. But it wouldn’t be too difficult to generate some comparable questions for modern students. I should mention, though, that having spend time teaching 7th, 8th, and 9th graders…our current education system does not prepare students for this level of scrutiny, for this level of ability to express oneself, or to have some equivalent level of basic mastery over data in these fields (grammar, history, geography, arithmetic, etc.)
I should also mention that these questions may be quite taxing to many grown adults in our society these days…sigh.
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader (1879)?
http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2011/06/are-you-smarter-than-a-5th-grader-1889.html
FIFTH GRADE
JUNE 2.
GEOGRAPHY (Two credits each.)
1. What are the principal mineral products of the United States, and where is each found?
3. Which are the five leading nations of Europe?
5. Give a brief description of the Sahara.
8. Of what does the Chinese Empire consist?
10. Make the diagram and draw the outline of South America.MUSIC (Two credits each.)
1. How many sounds in the scale?
2. Write the numeral names of the scale; also the syllables used in slugging the scale.JUNE 3.
ARITHMETIC (Three credits each.)
1. What is prime number; least common multiple; complex fraction;
3. Write the six propositions showing the effect on the value of a fraction of multiplying and dividing the numerator and denominator.
5. If 323 1/5 yards of cloth cost $33.45 ½, how much will be gained on each yard by selling the cloth for $45.13?PHYSIOLOGY (Two credits each.)
1. Describe the heart.
2. Describe the larynx.
3. How is air changed by respiration?JUNE 4.
GRAMMAR (Two credits each.)
1. Define the words “subject” and “predicate,” as used in a sentence. Give an example, showing a simple subject and a compound predicate.
4. What parts of speech have person and number?
9. Name the adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions in the following sentence:
The arose about this time a man named Cromwell, of incredible depth of understanding,
strict integrity, and unwavering resolution.
Harvard entrance exam 1870
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/education/harvardexam.pdf
