The Redesigned AP U.S.
History Course and Exam
New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association
May 10, 2013
AP U.S. History: Course Launch
http://advancesinap.collegeboard.org/history
The AP U.S. History
Curriculum
Framework is
now available
(October 2012)
The course will first
be taught in fall
2014, with the first
revised AP Exam
given in May 2015.
Workshop
consultant training
will begin in spring
2013 and continue
in spring 2014.
Teacher support
efforts will roll out
over the next 2
years.
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AP U.S. History:
Revision Goals
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Revision Goals: Depth and Breadth
What are the benefits of going into depth when studying the past?
 Patterns: Use specifics to
understand larger trends
 Inquiry: Ask questions instead
of memorizing answers
 Critical Thinking: Develop the
ability to reason with evidence
 Engagement: Build off of
curiosity and connection
… but achieving these goals takes a great deal
of instructional time.
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Revision Goals: AP Teachers
AP Teacher Survey, Open Forum, 2011 AP U.S. History Reading
“The current AP U.S. History Exam effectively provides teachers with
flexibility to teach some topics in greater depth than others.”
1. Strongly Agree
2. Agree
3. Neutral
4. Disagree
5. Strongly Disagree
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Revision Goals: AP Teachers
AP Teacher Survey, Open Forum, 2011 AP U.S. History Reading
“The current AP U.S. History Exam effectively provides teachers with
flexibility to teach some topics in greater depth than others.”
Strongly Agree, Agree
Neutral
Disagree, Strongly Disagree
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Revision Goals: Higher Ed
1. Develop Student Proficiency In Historical Thinking Skills
“I think skills are
vastly more crucial
to success than
content knowledge”
“[I] really think the
increased focus on
the 4 basic skills as
an organizational
framework is very
important.”
“[R]eally stress [to
teachers] to focus on
the skills, as that is
the most important
part of the course in
my mind.”
Source: Higher Education Validation Study, November 2010
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Revision Goals: Higher Ed
2. Include Critical Recent Scholarship in U.S. History
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Revision Goals
AP teachers and higher ed faculty share the same goal:
An AP U.S. History course
and exam that fosters depth,
flexibility, and engagement
while reflecting faculty
expectations about current
college-level U.S. History
survey courses.
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The USH Curriculum Framework
Validating Course Scope: Higher Ed
Overall results:
History department chairs
and faculty at colleges
and universities strongly
endorsed the curriculum
framework in a November
2010 validation study.
• Very effective at preparing
students for success in
sequent college-level U.S.
history courses
• Highly favorable for granting
credit and placement
• Appropriately balances
depth of conceptual
understanding with breadth
of topic coverage to foster
student success in
subsequent college-level
courses
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The USH Curriculum Framework
Validating Course Scope: Higher Ed
The study also confirmed that Higher Ed faculty would be less likely
to grant AP credit and placement to a course that did not include
pre-Columbian and recent history.
Mean Scores of Essential
Knowledge Statements, by Period
7.36: Mean of Essential
Knowledge Statements
for whole curriculum
framework document
Period 1 (1491-1607)
Mean: 7.14
Period 9 (1980-present)
Mean: 7.19
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The USH Curriculum Framework
Validating Course Scope: AP Teachers
 AP Teachers working
in focus groups estimated
that the revised course
could fit comfortably
within the academic year
 Without seeing a
revised exam, however,
participants’ estimates
were highly tentative
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In 2011, we asked…
How should AP U.S. History
change to promote the goals
of flexibility and depth?
Should the College Board…
1. Cut additional topics from the
curriculum framework?
2. Reduce or even get rid of
the multiple choice section?
3. Have students submit a
portfolio based assessment?
4. Turn the course into two
courses (U.S. History 1 and 2)?
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Research into Options
Recommendations on Next Steps
High School and
Higher Ed
Partners
Experts on
Historical
Thinking and
Learning
• Not enthusiastic about splitting the
course or removing more topics from
the curriculum.
• Focus AP Exam questions on historical
reasoning
• Reward classroom flexibility with the
types of questions asked
• Retain multiple-choice questions, but
rethink their purpose
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A Comprehensive Solution
Curriculum
Clearly identify what’s
being assessed in the
curriculum framework
Assessment
Rethink the AP Exam
design to match
curricular expectations
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The AP U.S. History
Curriculum Framework
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The AP USH Curriculum Framework
Major elements:
 Nine historical thinking skills
 Seven course themes
 Key concepts for each of nine periods
 Learning Objectives for the course as a whole
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Defining the Historical Thinking Skills
Proficiencies defined across the three AP History courses:
Thinking Skills Type
Historical Thinking Skills
Crafting Historical Arguments
from Historical Evidence
• Historical argumentation
• Appropriate use of relevant
historical evidence
Chronological Reasoning
• Historical causation
• Patterns of continuity and
change over time
• Periodization
Comparison and Contextualization • Comparison
• Contextualization
Historical Interpretation and
Synthesis
• Interpretation
• Synthesis
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Defining Course Themes
Overarching “big ideas” that structure the course as a whole:
Identity
Politics
and Power
Work,
Exchange
and
Technology
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Peopling
Course
Themes
Environment
and
Geography
Ideas,
Beliefs,
and
Culture
America
in the
World
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Defining the Course Periods
Period Title
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Date Range
Early Contacts Among Groups in North America
North American Societies in the Context of the Atlantic
World
Birth of a New Nation and Struggle for Identity
1491-1607
Growing Pains of the New Republic
Expansion, Regional Separation, the Civil War and Its
Aftermath
Industrialization, Urbanization, and Cultural
Transformation
Domestic and Global Challenges and the Creation of
Mass Culture
Increasing Prosperity and Global Responsibility After
World War II
Globalization and Redefining National Identity
1800-1848
Exam
Weight
5%
1607-1754
1754-1800
45%
1844-1877
1865-1914
1890-1945
45%
1945-1989
1980-Today
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5%
Defining Key Concepts within Periods
Period 5, Key Concept 5.1: The United States became more
connected with the world as it pursued an expansionist foreign
policy in the Western Hemisphere and emerged as the
destination for many migrants from other countries.
I. Enthusiasm for U.S. territorial expansion, fueled by economic and national
security interests and supported by claims of U.S. racial and cultural
superiority, resulted in war, the opening of new markets, acquisition of new
territory, and increased ideological conflicts. (ID-2) (WXT-2) (WOR-6) (ENV-3)
A. The idea of Manifest Destiny, which asserted U.S. power in the Western
Hemisphere and supported U.S. expansion westward, was built on a
belief in white racial superiority and a sense of American cultural
superiority, and helped to shape the era’s political debates.
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Defining Key Concepts within Periods
Period 5, Key Concept 5.1: The United States became more
connected with the world as it pursued an expansionist foreign
policy in the Western Hemisphere and emerged as the
destination for many migrants from other countries.
I. Enthusiasm for U.S. territorial expansion, fueled by economic and national
security interests and supported by claims of U.S. racial and cultural
superiority, resulted in war, the opening of new markets, acquisition of new
territory, and increased ideological conflicts. (ID-2) (WXT-2) (WOR-6) (ENV-3)
D. U.S. interest in expanding trade led to economic, diplomatic, and cultural
initiatives westward to Asia.
Teachers have flexibility to use examples such as the following:
Clipper ships, Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition to Japan,
missionaries
AP Exam questions will not ask
students about the topics in the
“gray boxes”
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Focusing on Key Developments
Emphasizing overarching patterns allows teachers to explore
specific topics in depth with their students:
 2.1.III: In teaching about British colonial development, teachers can
choose to illustrate each region by focusing in depth on one colony from 3
regions, not the specifics of all 13 colonies
 4.1.II: Teachers can illustrate the growth of democratic and social idealism
by focusing in depth on one or more antebellum reform movements, not
every group, individual, or movement (Charles Finney, Brook Farm,
Oneida Community, temperance movements…)
 7.1.II: Teachers can focus in depth on one or more pieces of federal
legislation illustrating the Progressive desire to regulate corporate abuses
and the economy, not all acts and agencies (e.g. Elkins Act, Pure Food and
Drug Act, Federal Reserve Act…)
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Defining Course Learning Objectives
Theme
Key
Key
Concept
Key
Concept
Key
Concept
Concept
An overarching big idea for the course as a
whole
Specific events in U.S. history where we
can study this theme in context
Skill
Ways that historians investigate and
reason about this phenomenon
Learning
Objective
Statement about what students should
know and be able to do to succeed on
the AP Exam
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Defining Course Learning Objectives
Theme
Identity
Key
Key
Concept
Key
Concept
Key
Concept
Concept
e.g., Period 5, Key Concept 5.1.I
Enthusiasm for U.S. territorial expansion, fueled by
economic and national security interests and
supported by claims of U.S. racial and cultural
superiority, resulted in war, the opening of new
markets, acquisition of new territory, and increased
ideological conflicts.
Skill
Learning
Objective
All AP Exam questions will
now be based on these
Learning Objectives.
Change and Continuity
over Time
Students demonstrate understanding of ways
that debates over national identity have
changed over time. In particular, students can…
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Defining Course Learning Objectives
Theme: Identity – First 3 Learning Objectives
Students demonstrate understanding of ways that debates over national
identity have changed over time.
In particular, students can…
In the concept outline:
ID-1 Analyze how competing conceptions of national identity
were expressed in the development of political institutions and
cultural values from the late colonial through the antebellum
periods
2.3.II, 3.1.II, 3.2.I, 4.1.III
ID-2 Assess the impact of Manifest Destiny, territorial expansion,
the Civil War, and industrialization on popular beliefs about
progress and the national destiny of the U.S. in the 19th century
4.1.III, 5.1.I, 5.3.III, 6.3.II
ID-3 Analyze how U.S. involvement in international crises such as 7.1.III, 7.3.II, 7.3.III,
the Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, the Great
8.1.III
Depression, and the Cold War influenced public debates about
American national identity in the 20th century
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Connections to Each Period
Learning Objectives connect key concepts thematically across
the different time periods of the course:
Period 5, Key Concept 5.1: The United States became more
connected with the world as it pursued an expansionist foreign
policy in the Western Hemisphere and emerged as the
destination for many migrants from other countries.
I. Enthusiasm for U.S. territorial expansion, fueled by economic and national
security interests and supported by claims of U.S. racial and cultural
superiority, resulted in war, the opening of new markets, acquisition of new
territory, and increased ideological conflicts. (ID-2) (WXT-2) (WOR-6) (ENV-3)
A. The idea of Manifest Destiny, which asserted U.S. power in the Western
Hemisphere and supported U.S. expansion westward, was built on a
belief in white racial superiority and a sense of American cultural
superiority, and helped to shape the era’s political debates.
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The AP USH Curriculum Framework
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The Revised AP U.S. History
Exam Design
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Assessing the Learning Objectives
In order to assess student
understanding of the learning
objectives, exam questions
should…
• Be designed to elicit student
reasoning with the different
historical thinking skills
• Focus on student understanding
of long-term, significant
historical developments
• Allow students flexibility in
drawing on different historical
examples to answer questions
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AP History Exam Design
Type, time and percentage of total AP Exam score
 Multiple choice
35 minutes – 30%
(36 questions, organized in sets of 2-6)
• Each set is focused on one or more learning objectives
• Each set is organized around the primary and secondary
sources of U.S. history
 Short-answer question
50 minutes – 25%
(4 short answer questions)
 Document-based question
 Long-essay question
60 minutes – 25%
35 minutes – 20%
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Rethinking Multiple Choice Questions
 The MCQ section will have approximately 36 questions total,
accounting for 30% of the exam score and 35 minutes of
exam time
 Multiple-choice questions will appear in sets of 2-6 and ask
students to analyze historical texts, interpretations, and evidence
 Stimulus material will reflect the overarching course learning
objectives
 All different types of sources will be covered – primary and
secondary sources, images, graphs, maps
 No questions will solely reward “reading comprehension”
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Draft MCQ Set: Stimulus
Questions 1-3 refer to the following quotation.
“Our . . . destiny [is] to overspread the
continent allotted by Providence for the free
development of our yearly multiplying millions.
. . . The Anglo-Saxon foot is already on
[California’s] borders. Already the advance
guard of the irresistible army of Anglo-Saxon
emigration has begun to pour down upon it,
armed with the [plow] and the rifle, and
marking its trail with schools and colleges,
courts and representative halls, mills and
meetinghouses. A population will soon be in
actual occupation of California. . . . Their right
to independence will be the natural right of
self-government belonging to any community
strong enough to maintain it.”
– John L. O’Sullivan, 1845
Learning Objective: ID-2
• Students can assess the
impact of Manifest Destiny,
territorial expansion, the Civil
War, and industrialization on
popular beliefs about progress
and the national destiny of the
United States in the 19th
century
Key Concept: 5.1.I.A
• The idea of Manifest Destiny,
which asserted U.S. power in the
Western Hemisphere and
supported U.S. expansion
westward, was built on a belief in
white racial superiority and a
sense of American cultural
superiority, and helped to shape
the era’s political debates.
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Draft MCQ Set: Questions
1. The ideas expressed in the passage above most clearly show the
influence of which of the following?
(A) Models of limited government inherent in the Articles of
Confederation
(B) Beliefs in separation of powers articulated in the United States
Constitution
Skill:
Historical
Causation
(C) Concerns about foreign alliances expressed in George Washington’s
Farewell Address
(D) Concepts of republican democracy found in the Declaration of
Independence
2. The process described in the passage above most directly
led to political controversies in the 1840s and 1850s over the
(A) expansion of slavery into newly acquired territories
(B) authority of the Supreme Court to overturn federal laws
(C) role of the federal government in economic development
(D) use of natural resources in newly acquired territories
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Skill:
Historical
Causation
Draft MCQ Set: Questions
3. Which of the following events in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries represents a continuation of the process
described in the passage above?
(A) Efforts to restrict immigration to the United States
(B) The Supreme Court’s endorsement of racial segregation
(C) The United States gaining possession of overseas territories
(D) Political parties’ attempts to regulate economic activities
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Skill:
Continuity/
Change over
Time
Students Reasoning Historically
Student Participants in “Think Aloud” Study, March 2012
“I think this question was fairly
difficult because you have to think
about it in the sense of ongoing
history and so you have to connect
it to other events in history based
on this quote too. … You have to
break down that quote and then
relate it to something in here.”
“All these questions are like, you have
to make the connection between that
and other events in history. It’s not
something you can just read a question
and say oh, that’s definitely wrong.
You have to think about what’s going
on in the question so you have to –
it requires a lot of thinking.”
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Draft Question: Short Answer
4 questions per section; 50 minutes total
United States historians have proposed various
events to mark the beginning of an American
identity.
A)Choose ONE of the events listed below, and
explain why your choice best represents the
beginning of an American identity. Provide at
least ONE piece of evidence to support your
explanation.
• End of the Seven Years’ War (French and
Indian War) in 1763
• Signing of the Declaration of Independence in
1776
• Ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788
Learning Objective: ID-1
• Students can analyze how
competing conceptions of
national identity were
expressed in the development
of political institutions and
cultural values from the late
colonial through the
antebellum periods
Historical Thinking Skill:
• Periodization
B) Contrast your choice against ONE of the other
options, demonstrating why that option is not
as good as your choice.
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Draft Document-Based Question
1 question; 60 minutes
Learning Objective: PEO-3
• Analyze the causes and effects
Analyze major changes and continuities in
the social and economic experiences of
African Americans who migrated from the
rural South to urban areas in the North in the
period 1910-1930
of major internal migration
patterns such as urbanization,
suburbanization, westward
movement, and the Great
Migration in the 19th and
20th centuries
Historical Thinking Skills:
• Continuity/Change over Time
• Argumentation
• Use of Evidence
• Synthesis
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Draft Question: Long Essay
Choice between 2 questions; 35 minutes
Some historians have argued
that the American Revolution
created a distinct political
identity in the United States,
transforming what it meant to
be an American. Support,
modify, or refute this
contention using specific
evidence.
Learning Objective: ID-1
• Students can analyze how
competing conceptions of
national identity were
expressed in the development
of political institutions and
cultural values from the late
colonial through the
antebellum periods.
Historical Thinking Skill:
• Change and Continuity
over Time
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Early Teacher Reactions
Knowing that… larger patterns, ideas,
and themes will be tested helps me
feel as though I have greater freedom
to get into depth in areas of interest to
the students and my personal
expertise…I have always tried to do this
in my current course, but now I will not
feel the same rush to push through all
of the content and in turn cut out some
of those valuable skill development
opportunities.
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Early Teacher Reactions
I'm very excited about the new
course. I think the new course
is both doable and will require
teachers to get through the
20th century…I am also looking
forward to the freedom
(less prescription) that I am
anticipating in the new test.
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Early Teacher Reactions
I love the Curriculum Framework.
I believe this will be especially helpful
for teachers just getting involved in the
subject and will probably be well used
by the consultants that conduct the
AP trainings…[S]o many districts are
cash-strapped, many teachers are being
given AP teaching assignments with
no real assistance... to me this makes
the framework even more critical.
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Teacher Support
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Redesigned Course: Teacher Support
Date
Resource
October 2012
• Curriculum Framework
• Sample Exam Questions
• State Standard Alignment Guides
Summer/Fall 2013 • PD workshops will introduce the revised course,
but still focus primarily on current course.
• Course Planning and Pacing Guides
Downloadable print publication that provides
an exemplar of how to plan a year’s worth of
instruction in an AP course.
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Redesigned Course Teacher Support
Date
Resource
Winter 2014
•
•
•
•
•
Summer 2014
• AP Summer Institutes focus on the new course
• Practice exams available
• AP Course Audit begins accepting course
submissions
Fall 2014
• Teachers begin teaching the revised course
• PD Workshops focus on the revised course
May 2015
• Administration of the AP US History Exam.
Course and Exam Description
Syllabus Development Guide
Annotated Sample Syllabi
Example Textbook List
Syllabus Development Tutorial
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Frequently Asked Questions
 Will the College Board help prepare administrators, parents , and

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



the public for the revised course and exam?
Will teachers have to resubmit their course for the AP Course
Audit?
What are textbook publishers doing in response to these changes?
Will there be enough exam questions for us to use to prepare our
students?
My state requires that I teach certain content in my US History
course. How will the AP US History course revisions affect me?
How do the changes to the AP US History course and exam align
with the move toward Common Core State Standards?
How will AP Workshop and Summer Institute consultants be
trained on the revised course and exam?
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Audience Q & A
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Thank You!
LCharap@collegeboard.org
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