How Many of Today's Public School Teachers Could Pass This 8th Grade Exam from 1899?
An image is going viral on the social media platform X, showing a test for 8th graders from 1899. It demonstrates how dumbed-down our education system has become — with many believing that most high school students, and even public school teachers, probably would not pass it.
An image of the test was posted to X Tuesday with the caption that this was for 8th graders in rural California.
A quick glance shows subjects like Math, English, Music, Geography, and U.S. History.
Another 8th grade graduation exam—this one from rural California in 1899. These were not elite prep school kids, but farm children. pic.twitter.com/j1HgnVB1aa
— Jeremy Wayne Tate (@JeremyTate41) August 19, 2025
One English question asked students to write a biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, with a minimum of six quotations.
Math questions had students working with fractions, decimals, and ratios, as well as a number of word problems, while the music section tested students’ knowledge of scales and time.
One geography question asked students to compare the climates of different American cities. It also tested their knowledge of South America and Europe.
Although cut off the page, the U.S. History section appeared to ask about the division between the North and South, with one abolishing slavery and the other utilizing it. Another question asked about the functions of the executive branch of government.
The New Republic posted another 8th grade exam from 1895 with similarly challenging questions.
Heads Up posted images of a test from 1912 for 8th graders, with questions like defining nouns, personal pronouns, longitude and latitude and asking students to “Describe the heart” and locate specific organs and describe their functions in the section of physiology.
Compare this to more recent images from commentator LibsofTikTok, showing how dramatic the shift has been in educational standards.
A 10th grade English class in October 2023 was probably too busy telling white students how awful they are to teach them any of the things 8th graders used to learn.
.@PburgSchools is reportedly teaching white students that they’re privileged because they’re white and that power structures which white people dictate, marginalize people of color.
.@PburgSchools is teaching kids that they’re guilty simply for being white pic.twitter.com/nEj9ZEeZmu
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 30, 2023
Another post indicated middle schoolers were being taught about radical gender ideology, which, again, was probably too time consuming to teach them anything useful that children from over 100 hundred years ago were learning.
Sent to me by a follower. A middle school in Alberta. They’re teaching kids about sexuality and genders using animals.
Homeschool your kids pic.twitter.com/SZOEdVqWzh
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 20, 2023
Another school brought in a drag queen to educate children about changing their name and gender in a legal sense.
SCOOP: Logan Memorial School (@LMECSD) in the @sdschools district brought an LGBTQ activist and dr@g queen to talk to students about how to file with the State to change their name and gender marker on legal forms.
They’re transing your kids in schools. pic.twitter.com/2cn2UnpQPI
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 23, 2024
Never mind today’s students. Could even 20 percent of today’s teachers pass any of the tests shown here? It’s doubtful if they’re spending classroom time exposing children to backwards race and gender ideology.
Education used to be a means of equipping youth with the tools to be successful.
Now it is about indoctrinating them to become activists for social causes.
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