Florida 8th graders forced to declare majors

[error]

Bureaucrat supports program, thinks it won't "do too much damage."

http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/11/18/florida-eighth-graders-to-declare-majors/

[AlanM]

"Beginning with the School-To-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (No Child Left Behind?s predecessor), states have been encouraged to adapt their education systems to the needs of the workforce, including choosing a career related major and work toward a skill certificate."

  It is not about educating students. It is about becoming a useful cog in the business machine.

[Brock]

It is not about educating students. It is about becoming a useful cog in the business machine.

It's always been the goal of government education.  As Woodrow Wilson stated when giving a speech before a group of businessmen prior to WWI:

We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.

From Rockefeller's General Education Board's Occasional Letter Number One (1906):

In our dreams...people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present educational conventions [intellectual and character education] fade from our minds, and unhampered by tradition we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, educators, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we have ample supply. The task we set before ourselves is very simple...we will organize children...and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way.

For a good (but very scary) read on compulsory schooling - John Taylor Gatto's The Underground History of American Education.  I've found it difficult to idependently verify some of his data, but, as my wife and I both come from families of government school teachers, Gatto's conclusions square perfectly with our personal observations.

[AlanM]

It is not about educating students. It is about becoming a useful cog in the business machine.

It's always been the goal of government education.  As Woodrow Wilson stated when giving a speech before a group of businessmen prior to WWI:

We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.

From Rockefeller's General Education Board's Occasional Letter Number One (1906):

In our dreams...people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present educational conventions [intellectual and character education] fade from our minds, and unhampered by tradition we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, educators, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we have ample supply. The task we set before ourselves is very simple...we will organize children...and teach them to do in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way.

For a good (but very scary) read on compulsory schooling - John Taylor Gatto's The Underground History of American Education.  I've found it difficult to idependently verify some of his data, but, as my wife and I both come from families of government school teachers, Gatto's conclusions square perfectly with our personal observations.

My mother was a teacher, as was one of my sisters. Gatto, as I see it, is right on the mark. As your above quotes show, they are about manipulation, not education. This is what Gatto showed so excellently in his book.

[eques]

In addition, aside from everything else wrong with government schooling, an error in Woodrow Wilson's thinking (or echoing) that we need a large class of non-educated or minimally educated people to perform manual labor is entirely shortsighted and misses the boat on the increase in technology.  To wit, manufacturing jobs have been undergoing a steady decline since 1945 while manufacturing output has been increasing.

Perhaps one cannot fault Wilson for what he ostensibly thought to be a valid observation, given the times in which he lived.  However, looking at the net effect of his policies, I think it's safe to say that it's ultimately harmful in the long term for government to set long-term policy, especially in areas that the market can handle (oops! that would be all areas! ).

All that being said, I could barely decide on a major when I was a freshman... I don't remember why I couldn't just start off as undeclared--it might have had something to do with the scholarship I had at the time.

[AlanM]

  If there were at least two ways to teach someone to read, with one method being obviously superior to the other(s), why would the less superior method be the method of choice? Yet this is the case in Compulsory Gov Schools.
  I learned to read using the phonetic method, where I was taught to sound out the words. It enabled me to figure out words I had never seen before. The modern method of choice in Gov schools is the 'whole word' method, where you recognize words you have previously learned. It allows you to read, yes, but only at a simple level, hence the dumbing down syndrome.
  This is but one way the Gov schools manipulate students.

[cathleeninnh]

But you can't deny the tremendous market/parental pressure to teach children something useful as quickly as possible.

Cathleen

[aries]

I thought I wanted to be a philosophy major in the 8th grade. And I knew the names of about 3 colleges.

I'm now a political science major and I'm in college simply to learn what I can while I'm there. I have no intent of entering the professional work force using my degree as a ticket. I want to write, something that I'll learn very little about as a polisci major. I just do it in my free time and I'll take a few classes on writing.

[Braddogg]

But you can't deny the tremendous market/parental pressure to teach children something useful as quickly as possible.

Cathleen

I think that's a great point.  My parents are getting rather fretful as they see their eldest (me) about to graduate college without planning to work in my field of study (history).  My littlest sister is a junior at a vocational-technical public high school, and my parents are worrying that she can't decide which kind of work she wants to study.

Bah, this is one reason why I think a philosophical/societal revolution will have to occur before a political one can.  If the government went away today, I'm not so sure the world would be a great place.  But, the philosophical revolution is going to take a lot more time to accomplish . . . .

[AlanM]

But you can't deny the tremendous market/parental pressure to teach children something useful as quickly as possible.

Cathleen

I don't grasp what you are saying here, Cathleen. What is this a reply to?

[Braddogg]

But you can't deny the tremendous market/parental pressure to teach children something useful as quickly as possible.

Cathleen

I don't grasp what you are saying here, Cathleen. What is this a reply to?

I think she's saying that even without the government there would be schools with career paths starting from 8th grade, if not earlier, and that to a large extent the government is reacting to what would otherwise be known as market forces.

[eques]

It's difficult enough to change majors at college when you have a relative degree of flexibility--if you have to take more courses to catch up or to take an extra semester to finish your degree(s), you have that option.

I clearly can't speak for all 13-14 year olds, but I can't ever recall college crossing my mind.

In my high school, there was some latitude regarding the classes we could select.  I wouldn't say that there was a "major" at all, but some class selections were clearly "college track."

Ah well, I don't think I have anything really intelligent to say, so I'll just leave this drivel at the door. 

[cathleeninnh]

It is undoubtedly dangerous to abdicate your responsibilitiies to the government, but it isn't all a plot to turn people into automatons. Life is tough, in no small part, due to the government. Surviving, getting by, making a living, is far more of a force than the devious beginnings and underpinnings of the current educational structure. Maslow's hierarchy of needs and all that stuff.

Cathleen 

[Pat McCotter]

http://mwhodges.home.att.net/1895-test.htm

Questions: What percentage of this year's seniors and last year's high school graduates could pass the following 8th grade test required in 1895, even if the few outdated questions were modernized? How many college students could pass it? For that matter, what percentage of high school teachers could pass it? And - - what percentage of today's schools have standards for promotion from 8th grade equal to or tougher than those required in 1895?

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, Kansas - 1895

This is the eighth-grade final exam* from 1895 from Salina, Kansas. It was taken
from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society
and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.


Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10.Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?


Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. 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.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10.Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10.Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

The top of the test states > "EXAMINATION GRADUATION QUESTIONS  OF SALINE COUNTY, KANSAS
April 13, 1895  J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent.Examinations at Salina, New Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.)"

According to the Smoky Valley Genealogy Society, Salina, Kansas "this test is the original eighth-grade final exam for 1895 from Salina, KS. An interesting note is the fact that the county students taking this test were allowed to take the test in the 7th grade, and if they did not pass the test at that time, they were allowed to re-take it again in the 8th grade."


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*Source - this exam information was sent to this author on February 12, 2001 by OkieVan@aol.com, a reader of this Grandfather Economic Report series. Another confirmation regarding authenticity > Sept 2003 email from Dionee Schwenke of Cape Coral, Florida (Dionees@cs.com), who is writing a book about her teaching career and researched the above exam: "I know the test reflects what was in the textbooks of that era, and that it is similar to the test my mother had to take in the 1920s before she could be certified in Nebraska. I confirmed the authenticity of the test you mentioned by the old fashioned way, picked up the phone. First to Mary McIntyre at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society & Library, 785-825-4624 (got that info from a query to the Salina newspaper). Ms. McIntyre assured me the test was fact, not fiction, and told me it had been written by J. W. Armstrong, the superintendent of Salina County schools in 1895.  They even have on record the names of students who took the  test--and the answers--but they can't divulge that info because of privacy laws. Then she gave me the name of his granddaughter, Mary Laas. 785-825-5140. Mrs. Laas was fun to visit with; told me about growing up across the section from her grandfather; how the family still has the hand written notes her grandpa made as well as a typed copy; how his family once nursed Buffalo Bill back to health. . . I asked about needing permission to include the test in my book and she said go ahead, it is public property now that it has run in the newspaper.  They have had a lot of calls in Salina, not just at the Laas home but at the Genealogical Society as well."

Another good  reference is the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society's (Salinas, Kansas) web site > http://skyways.lib.ks.us/kansas/genweb/ottawa/smoky.html. You will note on that site a link "1895 School Exam" which takes you to the test shown above at > http://skyways.lib.ks.us/kansas/genweb/ottawa/exam.html

(other sites commenting on this exam are at http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm, which does not question the exam but questions validity of the test questions for today's world, while also showing an exam in the 1870s - - and, http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/1895exam.htm, which appears to add proof of the existence of this exam while questioning (without proof) if perhaps it was intended for other than 8th graders).

Exam answers: Since some readers of this page asked me (Michael Hodges) for the answers to the above exam, on 3 March 2005 I wrote to the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society in Salinas, Kansas (Towneranch@aol.com) as follows > "I would much appreciate your pointing me to the answers, if available, to the 1895 8th Grade Exam. Thank you, Michael Hodges." I received this reply > "Someone has attempted to answer the questions on the 1895 school test, and they are posted on the internet at http://www.barefootsworld.net/1895examcomp.html There is an error on the answers. In the math portion of the test. The answer to question number 9 should be 160 acres with a value of $2,400." Shirley George Towner SVGS Salina, KS


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The author of this Grandfather Economic Report series and its Education Report chapter, Michael Hodges, would like to hear from others with useful information regarding this and other exams of that era - by email.


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A few e-mails from readers >

'I know the test reflects what was in the textbooks of that era, and that it is similar to the test my mother had to take in the 1920s in Nebraska.'

Another > 'Reading that eighth grade exam surely humbled me. It gave me a much greater appreciation for my father whom I considered a highly intelligent man - a Midwesterner, who was able to make a very good living, including putting me and my three siblings through college - with only an 8th-grade "education."

And another > 'I am a retired college professor (after 41 years) of earth and environmental sciences having taught at two universities and one community college in the United States of America.  I simply cannot sit still over the terrible decline in the pre-college preparation of my students and the administrative mindset that the precious self-esteem's of the students merit more consideration than the degree of learning which takes place.'


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Repeating our opening Questions: What percentage of this year's 8th graders, seniors and last year's high school graduates could pass the above test, even if the few outdated questions were modernized? How many college students could pass it? Even more important, what percentage of 8th grade teachers could pass it? And - - what percentage of today's schools have such strict test standards that must be met prior to an 8th grader moving up a grade?

Or - - do we just say, 'so what!!' - - and, 'we just don't care that our students come in last on nearly all international tests comparing students from other nations.'

This author is convinced that those U.S. 8th graders in 1895 had no trouble matching or exceeding foreign students of their day. Why do we produce less relative education quality today compared to our own history and compared to foreign nations?

Bottom-line: Like many, I'm concerned about our education quality, and our relative quality in math also compared with many foreign students. The international community presents more competition to today's generation than ever before, and we are doing quite poorly regarding comparative education scoring and most certainly by our soaring trade deficits and falling currency. We need the best quality education, without question by anyone. That's why one of the chapters of the Grandfather Economic Report series (home page below) includes an extensive chapter on education - - one small portion (this page) of which is that 1895 exam. If showing this 1895 exam causes others to think such as to cause demand for much improved standards, better testing and grading/promotion/graduation requirements, all aimed at improving our quality to assist our young and their nation toward a better future, then, in my view, it will have served a useful purpose.

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WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR EDUCATION STANDARDS
COMPARED TO THE PAST? Do we care, or not?

[Transition Force]

Here's what I'd have my kid tell them (if I were a parent):

Major in:

1) Anarchy
2) Civil Disobedience
3) FUCK OFF