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8th grade History test


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Choices were Jamestown, Queen Anne, Charleston, Plymouth, three of which looked reasonable to me - but if you know a little more about the US than I do, you can, of course, exclude more... (a little googling made Queen Anne more reasonable than I thought btw)

what I found most irritating as an exchange student in the US was that exams in history and related subjects really took the form of these quizzes instead of essays and the like... (in particular, you can perform extremely well with a little effort and common sense but without really "getting a feeling" for the topic)

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If this test is what passes for the state of knowledge with 8th graders, then the teaching of history in the US is trouble. There were a couple that were of a little more than average difficulty -- such as the date with greatest loss of life in US history; you had to know that the 1862 date was the Battle of Antietam -- but otherwise not challenging.

Antietam is probably one of the most significant battles in US history: the Union needed a win badly. At that point in the War there was real concern that the English and the French might recognize the South as a separate country. As a result of the battle, they did not. In addition, Lincoln wanted to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation but on the advice of his Secretary of State, William Seward, he waited until he had a victory. Anything else would have reeked of panicking. Antietam, although not a great victory, was the victory that allowed the preliminary Proclamation to be announced shortly thereafter.

Yes, I'm a history buff.

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If this test is what passes for the state of knowledge with 8th graders, then the teaching of history in the US is trouble. There were a couple that were of a little more than average difficulty -- such as the date with greatest loss of life in US history; you had to know that the 1862 date was the Battle of Antietam -- but otherwise not challenging.

Antietam is probably one of the most significant battles in US history: the Union needed a win badly. At that point in the War there was real concern that the English and the French might recognize the South as a separate country. As a result of the battle, they did not. In addition, Lincoln wanted to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation but on the advice of his Secretary of State, William Seward, he waited until he had a victory. Anything else would have reeked of panicking. Antietam, although not a great victory, was the victory that allowed the preliminary Proclamation to be announced shortly thereafter.

Yes, I'm a history buff.

Just because it's a specific subject you specialize in doesn't mean the test was "ridiculously easy", or that it somehow underscores some sad state of history education. Reel it in and show a little humility instead of continuing on with your "if people can't ace this then they are stupid" victory lap.

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28/30.

I too got that Jamestown question "wrong," although I think the test is questionable on that one. Jamestown was the first, but the settlement wasn't really successful in the long term.

If 8th graders are acing this test, then we are in good shape.

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If this test is what passes for the state of knowledge with 8th graders, then the teaching of history in the US is trouble. There were a couple that were of a little more than average difficulty -- such as the date with greatest loss of life in US history; you had to know that the 1862 date was the Battle of Antietam -- but otherwise not challenging.

Antietam is probably one of the most significant battles in US history: the Union needed a win badly. At that point in the War there was real concern that the English and the French might recognize the South as a separate country. As a result of the battle, they did not. In addition, Lincoln wanted to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation but on the advice of his Secretary of State, William Seward, he waited until he had a victory. Anything else would have reeked of panicking. Antietam, although not a great victory, was the victory that allowed the preliminary Proclamation to be announced shortly thereafter.

Yes, I'm a history buff.

Just because it's a specific subject you specialize in doesn't mean the test was "ridiculously easy", or that it somehow underscores some sad state of history education. Reel it in and show a little humility instead of continuing on with your "if people can't ace this then they are stupid" victory lap. I'm not a specialist but do read a lot of history for pleasure. However, these are basic questions for which you don't need any special knowledge. By process of elimination you could have figured out the answers.

As a matter of fact, 8th graders, at least in my district, have to know a lot more, a lot more than I did in 8th grade.

Edited by Brad
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I'm not familiar with the US education system so this is a serious question.

Do 8th graders (13-14 year olds?) have to pass a history test? What happens if they fail?

And are the tests multiple choice like this? Or is this just a web thing based on the standard curriculum? (we get similar things regularly cropping up on British websites bearing no resemblance to how students are assessed in school).

Edited by A Lark Ascending
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