Link from ZeroHedge
![[Image: schoolexam1912sm.jpg]](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-chJdOvEKw6U/UP2zWxtfhCI/AAAAAAAAAGY/nfW3EQgOWl4/s640/schoolexam1912sm.jpg)
To be sure, some of these questions are more appropriate for their time, as contemporary or more recent serious events are likely to be given precedence. Further, the simple recall of various bits of information isn't as important as the processes that lead to said recall. Education isn't just about pure information, but by growing the mind and encouraging intellectual curiosity. In theory, of course. I have little doubt this 8th grade class of 1912 would be more educated and intellectual than a comparable 2012 class.
That being said, it shows how less rigorous our school system is. Thinking back to my days in 8th grade, this sort of exam would not be administered nor passed by the vast majority of students.
However, there is more going on here. My hometown was poor but had many rich students. A balance had to be struck to keep the rich student's parent happy with their kids grades while teachers had to engage in crowd control at large - especially with lower class males and upper class females (who felt more power to gossip about/attack/etc. other girls, especially lower status, attractive girls). You had to pass the poor kids, but had to make sure rich kids get good grades. Not as easy as you would think, as more than a few rich kids were dumber that shit on a stick.
So, the problem was prevented, in general, from poor kids from outshining their rich peers. Rich kids generally outshone poor ones because of parental involvement, social status, etc. However, there was a big problem as it related to social status and student achievement. I was shit on, not because I was particularly poor; but because I wasn't rich, my parents were not donors at all nor involved in the petty politics of a country school. So, I became a proxy for these fights. I had superior essays, products, etc. rejected just because who I was. I didn't understand it at first, but learned why X male or Y female got the higher grade, the award - all that.
That being said, consider contemporary society and class.
Consider one comment from AlaricBalth from the link:
The ONLY reason I know the answer is I took CISCO course classes in high school.
That being said, why the fuck is this on a private high school admission for 8th graders? Is that how smart our burgeoning intellectuals are in 8th grade?
Wrong.
If was to hazard a guess, it isn't about the pupil regurgitating the rote information. It is about the parents and the school system.
This question is there not because it really matters to an 8th grader's education, but because parents can status-whore if their child can cough up said information.
But, didn't you hear? Our dear Sarah got into that exclusive private junior high? My - oops! I mean our, hubby dearest - daughter is destined for great things!
Said technical data could be relevant to our digital age, but it doesn't strike me as something an 8th grader would need to know. I always thought the lower the grade, the more general the information needs to be.
For example, everybody needs to know how to read, identity colors/shapes, the simple basics of English and science. By that, I mean said basics are taught in kindergarten, 1st grade, etc. Even by 8th grade, you are still talking in fairly general terms. Just because you can't recall certain information now, as an adult, when you could in 8th grade isn't as relevant as some would make it. As I said before, recalling rote information isn't as important as developing young minds and encouraging a thirst for knowledge.
![[Image: img-0026.jpg]](http://toptestprep.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/img-0026.jpg)
That being said, I don't see that in modern education. The aforementioned admissions question doesn't strike me as relevant to the advancement of a junior-high education. It seems more like something more technical a high-schooler might dabble in. I think it is about uplifting the egos of the parents of admitted children.
Our kid had to know the basics of how a computer works to get into X exclusive private school. What school did your kid get into? A less exclusive school? That's funny, does your kid know about DRAM?
The intense world of private school admissions looms large for aspirational parents. In order to further their self-image, they need a kid who, at least, treads water with other similarly-situated parents. They desire a kid who out-achieves their peer-group, but said achievement is necessarily limited by their kid's own genius or, usually, climbing the established educational hierarchy.
The educational hierarchy is something beyond my kin, as I have only really heard about it from friends who had to deal with the intense stress of meeting certain standards to get into a particular institution. I just went to a country high school. Still, it speaks to the narcissism our society - a society that is increasingly hierarchical, but not based off achievement, but on adherence to established rules and approval from authority figures.
Many factors have lead to the degradation of American education, but I think the self-absorption of parents has lead to the superficial recalling of information as more important because you can always beat a fact into a kid's head than beat original, thoughtful analysis of anything out of them.
Getting approval from an authority figure makes more sense if it is based out of identifiable criteria, like black/white questions, than wide-open essay questions. It is much more difficult to ascertain what an authority figure wants on an essay question, much less how to answer said question in a way that reflects a kid's own growing perception of the world.
Darling, X happened because of Z, not Y.
But I argued Y happened based on A, B, C facts I argued!
Oh dear, don't you want to get into this or that institution?
Yes...
Then you know what is the appropriate response. Don't let me down.
People's thoughts are often wrong. People make stupid arguments and rely on questionable facts. Education should be about people using logic to analyze the world around them while relying on plausible facts.
Hell, what are plausible facts anymore? Far too many people believe rape happens because it is socially approved/mandated.
That being said, far too often is socially-perceived intelligence based on what school you went to, the platform you spew your commentary from, etc. Authority figures have a great interest in limiting the expression of free thought.
The public education system reflects this. Not only did our government value higher levels of knowledge and intelligence in students in the past, but it seemed to have a higher emphasis on the pursuit of knowledge over modern day approaches based on feelings, etc.
Parents play a great role, as they often use their kids as proxies for who they can't be or could never be. Said approach often fails. Still, they need to show off their kid to other parents. Chello lessons, fencing class or whatever ridiculous classes kids take in order to build their resume and their parent's egos - it is all about raising parent's egos and the system getting the kids to become thirsty adults who desire to climb mindless and stultifying corporate/government hierarchies.
Thoughts?
To be sure, some of these questions are more appropriate for their time, as contemporary or more recent serious events are likely to be given precedence. Further, the simple recall of various bits of information isn't as important as the processes that lead to said recall. Education isn't just about pure information, but by growing the mind and encouraging intellectual curiosity. In theory, of course. I have little doubt this 8th grade class of 1912 would be more educated and intellectual than a comparable 2012 class.
That being said, it shows how less rigorous our school system is. Thinking back to my days in 8th grade, this sort of exam would not be administered nor passed by the vast majority of students.
However, there is more going on here. My hometown was poor but had many rich students. A balance had to be struck to keep the rich student's parent happy with their kids grades while teachers had to engage in crowd control at large - especially with lower class males and upper class females (who felt more power to gossip about/attack/etc. other girls, especially lower status, attractive girls). You had to pass the poor kids, but had to make sure rich kids get good grades. Not as easy as you would think, as more than a few rich kids were dumber that shit on a stick.
So, the problem was prevented, in general, from poor kids from outshining their rich peers. Rich kids generally outshone poor ones because of parental involvement, social status, etc. However, there was a big problem as it related to social status and student achievement. I was shit on, not because I was particularly poor; but because I wasn't rich, my parents were not donors at all nor involved in the petty politics of a country school. So, I became a proxy for these fights. I had superior essays, products, etc. rejected just because who I was. I didn't understand it at first, but learned why X male or Y female got the higher grade, the award - all that.
That being said, consider contemporary society and class.
Consider one comment from AlaricBalth from the link:
Quote:Quote:
Heck. I can't even answer this question from an 8th graders private high school entrance exam in 2013.
Which of the following statements about static RAM (SRAM) and/or dynamic RAM (DRAM) is true?
(A) SRAM is implemented using transistors and capacitors that must be periodically refreshed.
(B) DRAM has a faster access time then SRAM.
© DRAM is less expensive then SRAM.
(D) SRAM is capable of operating at speeds closely approximating processors.
(E) DRAM is capable of operating at speeds closely approximating processors.
My answer would be:
(F) I pay people to know that.
The ONLY reason I know the answer is I took CISCO course classes in high school.
That being said, why the fuck is this on a private high school admission for 8th graders? Is that how smart our burgeoning intellectuals are in 8th grade?
Wrong.
If was to hazard a guess, it isn't about the pupil regurgitating the rote information. It is about the parents and the school system.
This question is there not because it really matters to an 8th grader's education, but because parents can status-whore if their child can cough up said information.
But, didn't you hear? Our dear Sarah got into that exclusive private junior high? My - oops! I mean our, hubby dearest - daughter is destined for great things!
Said technical data could be relevant to our digital age, but it doesn't strike me as something an 8th grader would need to know. I always thought the lower the grade, the more general the information needs to be.
For example, everybody needs to know how to read, identity colors/shapes, the simple basics of English and science. By that, I mean said basics are taught in kindergarten, 1st grade, etc. Even by 8th grade, you are still talking in fairly general terms. Just because you can't recall certain information now, as an adult, when you could in 8th grade isn't as relevant as some would make it. As I said before, recalling rote information isn't as important as developing young minds and encouraging a thirst for knowledge.
That being said, I don't see that in modern education. The aforementioned admissions question doesn't strike me as relevant to the advancement of a junior-high education. It seems more like something more technical a high-schooler might dabble in. I think it is about uplifting the egos of the parents of admitted children.
Our kid had to know the basics of how a computer works to get into X exclusive private school. What school did your kid get into? A less exclusive school? That's funny, does your kid know about DRAM?
The intense world of private school admissions looms large for aspirational parents. In order to further their self-image, they need a kid who, at least, treads water with other similarly-situated parents. They desire a kid who out-achieves their peer-group, but said achievement is necessarily limited by their kid's own genius or, usually, climbing the established educational hierarchy.
The educational hierarchy is something beyond my kin, as I have only really heard about it from friends who had to deal with the intense stress of meeting certain standards to get into a particular institution. I just went to a country high school. Still, it speaks to the narcissism our society - a society that is increasingly hierarchical, but not based off achievement, but on adherence to established rules and approval from authority figures.
Many factors have lead to the degradation of American education, but I think the self-absorption of parents has lead to the superficial recalling of information as more important because you can always beat a fact into a kid's head than beat original, thoughtful analysis of anything out of them.
Getting approval from an authority figure makes more sense if it is based out of identifiable criteria, like black/white questions, than wide-open essay questions. It is much more difficult to ascertain what an authority figure wants on an essay question, much less how to answer said question in a way that reflects a kid's own growing perception of the world.
Darling, X happened because of Z, not Y.
But I argued Y happened based on A, B, C facts I argued!
Oh dear, don't you want to get into this or that institution?
Yes...
Then you know what is the appropriate response. Don't let me down.
People's thoughts are often wrong. People make stupid arguments and rely on questionable facts. Education should be about people using logic to analyze the world around them while relying on plausible facts.
Hell, what are plausible facts anymore? Far too many people believe rape happens because it is socially approved/mandated.
That being said, far too often is socially-perceived intelligence based on what school you went to, the platform you spew your commentary from, etc. Authority figures have a great interest in limiting the expression of free thought.
The public education system reflects this. Not only did our government value higher levels of knowledge and intelligence in students in the past, but it seemed to have a higher emphasis on the pursuit of knowledge over modern day approaches based on feelings, etc.
Parents play a great role, as they often use their kids as proxies for who they can't be or could never be. Said approach often fails. Still, they need to show off their kid to other parents. Chello lessons, fencing class or whatever ridiculous classes kids take in order to build their resume and their parent's egos - it is all about raising parent's egos and the system getting the kids to become thirsty adults who desire to climb mindless and stultifying corporate/government hierarchies.
Thoughts?
