Except for the facts that: we also had extensive testing on Uganda and Bolivia (don't ask me why); history also encompassed the present century; science had its own exam, which is conspicuous by its absence from the 1895 exam; our math curriculum was altered by the introduction of algebraic principles, aka "New Math"; our curriculum included Catholic theology, which was a separate exam; and Orthography was called "Spelling", the site you cited is a lot like the exams I had in the 8th grade.

To respond to Frank, I doubt very much that the kids were expected to sit for one 5-hour exam, but that, as has always been the practice, each subject was tested separately, and there were only two, or at most, 3 exams per day, with a break for lunch. I can't imagine any teacher, even in 1895, giving comprehensive exams in the dead heat of the afternoon in Kansas in June. Even a sadist would realize that the exams, once given, would have to be graded. One or two subjects at a time is plenty.

You think our kids couldn't pass a comparable exam? I wonder. I guess it would depend on what one would consider "comparable". Most of our kids can't drive a team of horses, either. How many of those kids could navigate the Web? Education serves the time it inhabits.

One more question: How many children in the Kansas of 1895 went on beyond the 8th grade? This probably represents the complete extent of the formal education received by most children. Amish schools stop at 8th grade even now, because they expect their children to go into handicrafts or agriculture, which requires apprenticeship more than formal schooling. Isn't it reasonable to think that, if a child is going to be in school until at least 16 years of age, and until 18 if he finishes the curriculum, there would be time to spread out the learning?

Regards--
Mary Anne