A real 8th Grade test from 1895

Remember how our grandparents said they only had up to 8th Grade education from the Americans before the War? Yet they always seemed a lot smarter than us when we were in high school or college. Know why?

This is a real 8th Grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, picked up from files at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library. The Thomasites – American teachers whose first batch of 48 arrived in Manila in Aug. 1901 aboard the U.S. transport ship Thomas – must have used similar exams on our grandparents. Except for the U.S. history part of the test, you might remember your lolo and lola mentioning these items learned from public schools that the U.S. Army set up during the Occupation. No wonder they were qualified to teach after graduating from 8th Grade. And wonder too how today’s college grads would score on this:

Grammar (Time: 1 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 "lie", "play", 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 ft. 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 bushel, 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 the 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 meter?

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 of 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, 1865.

Orthography (Time: 1 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, sup.

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.

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Incidentally, our Department of Education presently is under a secretary who has yet to be confirmed. Our Commission on Higher has a chairman who is but an officer-in-charge. Only 6 out of every 1,000 Grade 6 elementary graduates are prepared for high school. Only 2 of every 100 4th Year high school graduates are fit to enter college. Filipino students rank 41st in Science and 42nd in Math among 45 countries. Only 19 of every 100 public school teachers have confidence and competence to teach English.

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