3 ms·

This is a pretty consistent theme around the world. A lot of the gains in educational attainment seem to have come from reducing the standard required to obtain

This is a pretty consistent theme around the world. A lot of the gains in educational attainment seem to have come from reducing the standard required to obtain the credentials.

londons_explore 5y ago
Are there any tests or exams with guaranteed unchanging requirements? For example, 100 years worth of exam papers could be written all at once, and questions shuffled so the exam paper each year has the same difficulty.
- Foobar8568 5y ago
  Take an old book for primary school written in the 70s, then 50s and 20s, fairly large differences between the 3 eras already, now compare that to a typical textbook from our era. For France, it was eye opening ( and the same for the French side of Switzerland)
  - MattGaiser 5y ago
    > For France, it was eye opening ( and the same for the French side of Switzerland) How so?
    - Foobar8568 5y ago
      (talking about France here, I can provide some websites with old manuals or student notebooks) Two examples : past simple is no longer required to be studied in primary school and dumb down kid books with much less vocabulary and grammar (actual incorrect grammar) being re-edited like the Enid Blyton (The Famous Five) ones. One needs to understand that kids are spending at least 2 less years in school from 6 to 18. We are lying to the kids, parents and ourselves.
      - Foobar8568 5y ago
        https://www.reseau-canope.fr/musee/collections/fr/museum/mne?typeDeDocument%5B0%5D=travail+d%27%C3%A9l%C3%A8ve&media=1 https://www.reseau-canope.fr/musee/collections/fr/museum/mne... some examples of old notebooks.
- exporectomy 5y ago
  Cultural changes would make that difficult. Nonetheless, here's a 100 year old exam that mostly still makes sense today and actually tests practical life knowledge, literacy and numeracy: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/1912-eighth-grade-exam_n_3744163 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/1912-eighth-grade-exam_n_3744... Not sure any kid today would understand the sentence "Decline I." though.
  - j605 5y ago
    For those curious to see the test, the link in huffpost has been moved to https://bullittcountyhistory.org/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html https://bullittcountyhistory.org/bchistory/schoolexam1912.ht...

This is a pretty consistent theme around the world. A lot of the gains in educational attainment seem to have come from reducing the standard required to obtain the credentials.

londons_explore 5y ago

Are there any tests or exams with guaranteed unchanging requirements? For example, 100 years worth of exam papers could be written all at once, and questions shuffled so the exam paper each year has the same difficulty.

Foobar8568 5y ago
Take an old book for primary school written in the 70s, then 50s and 20s, fairly large differences between the 3 eras already, now compare that to a typical textbook from our era. For France, it was eye opening ( and the same for the French side of Switzerland)
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  > For France, it was eye opening ( and the same for the French side of Switzerland) How so?
  - Foobar8568 5y ago
    (talking about France here, I can provide some websites with old manuals or student notebooks) Two examples : past simple is no longer required to be studied in primary school and dumb down kid books with much less vocabulary and grammar (actual incorrect grammar) being re-edited like the Enid Blyton (The Famous Five) ones. One needs to understand that kids are spending at least 2 less years in school from 6 to 18. We are lying to the kids, parents and ourselves.
    - Foobar8568 5y ago
      https://www.reseau-canope.fr/musee/collections/fr/museum/mne?typeDeDocument%5B0%5D=travail+d%27%C3%A9l%C3%A8ve&media=1 https://www.reseau-canope.fr/musee/collections/fr/museum/mne... some examples of old notebooks.
exporectomy 5y ago
Cultural changes would make that difficult. Nonetheless, here's a 100 year old exam that mostly still makes sense today and actually tests practical life knowledge, literacy and numeracy: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/1912-eighth-grade-exam_n_3744163 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/1912-eighth-grade-exam_n_3744... Not sure any kid today would understand the sentence "Decline I." though.
- j605 5y ago
  For those curious to see the test, the link in huffpost has been moved to https://bullittcountyhistory.org/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html https://bullittcountyhistory.org/bchistory/schoolexam1912.ht...