Name:_____________________________
American Imperialism and Progressivism: 1890-1918
Matching: Write the letter of the person described by each statement. Note that not all people
will be used.
1. President of the National American
Woman Suffrage Association and
A. Carrie A. Nation
organizer of the League of Women
B. Carrie Chapman Scott
Voters. Carrie Chapman Catt
C. Booker T. Washington
D. Eugene V. Debs
2. Head of the Tuskegee Institute in
E. Jane Addams
Alabama. Booker T. Washington
F. Marcus Garvey
G. Upton Sinclair
3. Founded the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored
H. W.E.B. Du Bois
People (NAACP). W.E.B. Du Bois
4. A founder of the Socialist Party of
America. Eugene V. Debs
5. Famous for smashing liquor bottles
in bars across the country. Carrie A.
Nation
6. Muckraker who wrote about the
unsanitary conditions in
meatpacking facilities. Upton
Sinclair
7. Founder of the Hull House. Jane
Addams
Multiple Choices: Choose the best answer for each question.
1. The United States emerged as a world power after which war?
a. The War of 1812
b. The Spanish American War
c. World War I
d. World War II
2. The Venezuelan Affair: Venezuela was subject to a naval blockade from Britain and
Germany for alleged “acts of violence against the liberty of British subjects.” Which
president denounced the blockade and stationed naval forces in Cuba to ensure that the
Venezuelan people could be “happy and prosperous”?
a. Grover Cleveland
b. James Monroe
c. Theodore Roosevelt
d. William McKinley
3. Which African American leader advocated advancing his race through education and
economic progress, concentrating on learning industrial skills?
a. Booker T. Washington
b. Frederick Douglass
c. Marcus Garvey
d. W.E.B. Du Bois
4. Which of the following best defines the Progressive Movement?
a. Conservative reaction to immigration
b. Middle-class response to urbanization and industrialization
c. Republican response to muckraking
d. Working-class response to big business
5. Jingoism is best defined as
a. Anti-imperialism
b. Domestic racism
c. Intense American patriotism
d. Nationalistic expansionism
6. The Teller Amendment
a. Appropriated funds to combat yellow fever in Cuba
b. Directed President McKinley to order American troops into Cuba
c. Guaranteed the independence of Cuba
d. Made Cuba an American possession
7. Yellow Journalism
a. Described the conditions in Cuba
b. Entertained its readers
c. Promoted the progressive agenda
d. Sensationalized the news
8. Which territory did not become an American possession according to the Treaty of Paris
of 1898?
a. Cuba
b. The Philippines
c. Puerto Rico
d. Guam
9. The Platt Amendment
a. Prevented American intervention in Cuba
b. Made Cuba an American territory
c. Followed the tenants of the Monroe Doctrine
d. Represented a shift from traditional American foreign policy
10. Arrange the following events in chronological order: (A) American declaration of war on
Spain, (B) sinking of the Maine, (C) passage of the Teller Amendment, (D) passage of the
Platt Amendment.
a. A, B, C, D
b. B, A, C, D
c. B, A, D, C
d. C, D, A, B
11. Theodore Roosevelt’s role in the Panamanian Revolution involved
a. Funding the Panamanian rebels
b. Ordering an economic embargo of Colombia
c. Remaining perfectly neutral
d. Funding the Panamanian rebels
12. Which president brought the most anti-trust cases to court?
a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. William Howard Taft
c. William McKinley
d. Woodrow Wilson
13. This group often had political motivations to the Socialist Party
a. Conservative Republicans
b. Democrats
c. Populists
d. Progressive Republicans
14. Which of the following was an immediate cause of the Spanish American War?
a. Business need for raw materials
b. The Sinking of the Maine
c. U.S. expansionism
d. Yellow journalism
15. The De Lôme Letter
a. Criticized President McKinley
b. Promoted Cuban independence
c. Requested American intervention in Cuba
16. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine called for
a. Building a U.S. naval base in Cuba
b. Intervening in Latin American nations that could not pay their debts to
European creditors
c. Investing in the development of Latin America
d. Prohibiting foreign nations from purchasing land in the Western Hemisphere
17. William Howard Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy
a. Advocated military intervention
b. Copied Roosevelt’s foreign policies
c. Emphasized financial investments
d. Resembled the Monroe Doctrine
18. Woodrow Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy
a. Brought additional troops to Panama
b. Granted citizenship to Puerto Ricans
c. Practiced non-intervention
d. Upheld the Treaty of Paris of 1898
19. Which president listed was the first to advocate a shift away from the Monroe Doctrine?
a. Theodore Roosevelt
b. William Howard Taft
c. William McKinley
d. Woodrow Wilson
20. Theodore Roosevelt’s New Nationalism
a. Favored state rather than federal government activism
b. Favored the free functioning of unregulated and unmonopolized markets
c. Opposed consolidation of labor unions
d. Supported a broad program of social welfare
21. Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom
a. Advocated social-welfare programs
b. Favored small enterprise and entrepreneurship
c. Opposed fragmentation of big industrial combines
d. Supported minimum wage laws
22. As World War I began in Europe, the alliance system placed Germany and AustriaHungary in the _____________________, while Russia and France were in the
_____________________.
a. Allies; Central Powers
b. Central Powers; Allies
c. Central Powers; Triple Alliance
d. Triple Alliance; Central Powers
23. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the great majority of Americans
a. Favored U.S. mediation in the conflict
b. Favored entering the war in support of the Allies
c. Hoped to stay out of the war
d. Supported the Central Powers
24. Those who question whether U.S. policy from 1914-196 was truly neutral point to
a. Increased U.S. trade with Britain and France
b. The president’s prejudices with racial issues
c. The reelection of President Wilson
d. The sinking of unarmed ships by German submarines
25. The Treaty of Versailles was defended by President Wilson on the grounds that
a. Large war reparations would satisfy the Allies
b. It provided for a League of Nations committed to preserving the peace
c. Germany deserved to be treated harshly
d. It represented the best thinking of the world’s political leaders
26. Congress did not pass the Treaty of Versailles because
a. It’s terms were too imperialistic
b. It was unfair to the Central Powers
c. The Central Powers would be plagued with debt
d. The League of Nations threatened American sovereignty
Essay: President Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine represented a shift in American
foreign policy. In a well-constructed essay, describe the following four foreign diplomacies and explain
how Theodore Roosevelt impacted each.
1. Monroe Doctrine
2. Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy
3. Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy
4. Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy
Analytical Rubric
Roosevelt’s Impact
(x2)
Content Accuracy
(x2)
Structure
4
Contains clear
correlations
between
Roosevelt and
every other
foreign policy
Accurately
describes every
foreign policy,
with possible
minor errors
Consistently
adheres to the
established
structure
guidelines, with
possible minor
errors
3
Contains mostly
clear correlations
between every
foreign policy
2
Contains minimal
correlations
between every
foreign policy
1
Contains no
examples of
correlation
between the
foreign policies
Accurately
describes most
foreign policies
Accurately
describes some
foreign policies
Fails to accurately
describe any
foreign policy
Adheres to most
established
structure
guidelines, but
struggles with
consistency
Lacks several
features of the
established
structure
guidelines
Lacks significant
features of the
established
structure
guidelines
This test is designed for my 11th grade AP US History classes. This is the highest level
history course an 11th grader at Gloucester can take and almost all of the students are intending
to go to college. The course is designed to be taught at the college level and is academically
rigorous. The test, in turn, will be difficult, reflective of the higher-order thinking objectives for
the unit as indicated on the table of specifications. The unit, covering American foreign and
domestic policies from the Spanish American War to World War I, comes after a unit on the
Gilded Age. Because it is an AP course, the test will include an essay in addition to multiple
choice and matching questions.
The immediacy of the AP test demands that thorough content knowledge maintain a
spot as an educational goal, even though such knowledge generally lies at the instructional
level. My educational goals for the class are to promote skills for historical thinking. These
skills include the ability to analyze documents, construct well-developed written and verbal
arguments, and connect different historical events in their appropriate contexts. My global
objective is to provide my students with skills that will be useful when they leave the school. I
want my students to be able to think for themselves, defend an argument, and approach
different knowledge with a critical eye for detecting bias and motivation. Additionally, I have as
a global objective the development of respect among my students- respect for themselves,
respect for others, and respect for learning. These global and educational objectives are
primarily promoted through my instruction in daily lessons and only partially promoted during
the assessment.
The unit this test covers deals with American Imperialism abroad and Progressivism at
home. The content covers SOL objectives USII.4e and USII.5a,b, and c. Foreign policy will recall
prior information about the Monroe Doctrine in order to draw comparisons between America’s
old tradition of foreign policy to its new, imperialistic tradition. This tradition is evident in the
Spanish American War as well as Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy, Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy, and
Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy. Following instruction on America’s foreign policy before WWI, the
unit deals with the Progressive Movement. It will include trust-busting, political reform, labor,
women’s suffrage, the temperance movement, conservation, and African American interests
through the presidencies of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. The unit concludes with WWI and
America’s role as a world power during and concluding the conflict.
The Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO’s) are created with a foundation in the SOL’s for
the unit and then expanded upon for further thinking. They primarily cover knowledge,
comprehension, and application for the unit assessment but also include evaluation through
the essay. The students don’t have enough time during the assessment to complete multiple
supply-response type questions so assessment at the analysis level for the media content is
completed through a class project where the students compare the yellow journalism in the
Spanish American War to muckraking during the Progressive Era. Students then create their
own example of either media medium that reflects their understanding of the motivations and
consequences of yellow journalism and muckraking. The students also have to complete exit
tickets that reach into the application and analysis levels of cognitive thinking. The exit tickets
include an analysis of how Roosevelt shifted American foreign policy and why the Progressive
Era began when it did. These additional assessments provide enhance the student’s learning in
a format that is more reasonable and time-effective than having them on an end-of-unit
assessment. The final assessment serves as the main means of understanding student
knowledge and evaluating the historical thinking skills that are contained in the ILO’s.
Intended Learning Objectives
USII.4e: The student will demonstrate knowledge (knowledge) of how life changed after the
Civil War by:
e) Describing (comprehension) the impact of the Progressive Movement on child labor, working
conditions, the rise of organized labor, women’s suffrage, and the temperance movement.
1. TSW relate (application) the emergence of progressive labor movements to
industrialization.
2. TSW give examples (comprehension) of Progressive Movement leaders and their
main goals.
USII.5a: The student will demonstrate knowledge (knowledge) of the changing role of the
United States from the late nineteenth century through World War I by:
a) Listing (knowledge) the reasons for and results of the Spanish American War.
1. TSW analyze (synthesis) the war-hungry public sentiment of the United States
leading up to the Spanish American War.
2. TSW analyze (analysis) and interpret (application) examples of yellow journalism to
increase understanding (comprehension) of events and life in United States history.
(USII.1a)
3. TSW recognize (comprehension) the emergence of the United States as a world
power after the Spanish American War.
4. TSW list (knowledge) the territorial shifts-Cuba’s independence, US acquisition of
Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico- following the Spanish American War.
b) Explaining (evaluation) Theodore Roosevelt’s impact on the foreign policy of the United
States.
1. TSW summarize (comprehension) the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
c) Describing (comprehension) the reasons for the United States’ involvement in World War I
and its international leadership role at the conclusion of the war.
1. TSW explain (evaluation) the United States’ emergence as a world power and its
impact on the world stage during World War I.
Table of Specifications
Content
Progressive
movement:
 Child labor
 Working
conditions
 Labor
 Women’s
suffrage
 Temperance
Knowledge
+
Demonstrat
e
knowledge
1,2,3,4,5,6,
7
(matching)
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Total %
13/33
39%
Describe, give
examples
Relate
3,12
4,13, 20, 21
Relate
Exit ticket,
Muck
raking
creation
project
Spanish American
War:
 Causes and
results
 Media impact
9/33
27%
Demonstrat
e
knowledge,
list
Understand,
recognize
1,6,10, 14
5,7,8,15
Foreign
Policy/Imperialism:
 Roosevelt
Corollary
 Dollar
Diplomacy
 Moral
Diplomacy
 Entering WWI
 Conclusion of
WWI
Total %
Interpret
9
yellow
journalism
creation
project
Analyze
Primary
documen
t analysis
during
class,
+
Demonstrat
e
knowledge
+
Summarize
Describe
Explain (x2)
16, 17,18
2,11,19,24,2
5
Essay
Exit ticket
9/33
27%
10/33
30%
22,23, 26
13/33
39%
In-class
assessme
nt
In-class
Essay
assessmen
t
Gloucester High School is predominately white at 85% of the population, with 11% black
students, 2% Hispanic students, and 1% Asian students. My classes are generally evenly split
among genders and there are no students with IEP’s or 504’s so I do not need to include any
specific accommodations for this assessment. None of my students are language learners so I
do not need to adapt my assessment. There are, however, some economic differences among
my students that impact the type of work they get done outside of the classroom. For this
reason, the majority of my assessment while focus on content covered during instructional
time, rather than information from the textbook that is assigned as homework.
11/33
33%
This test is being explicitly used to assess the student’s understanding of the content
taught to them during the unit. Formative assessments have occurred before, during, and after
the lesson each instructional day to observe the understanding of curriculum, but this test will
represent a summative assessment to get more valid and reliable data on student learning.
This is a longer unit so the assessment will be used to see what data students missed so it can
be reinforced. In addition, my global and educational goals include the development of skills
that making an argument and writing coherently, so this assessment will show student progress
in reaching those objectives. I can use my rubric for the essay to determine what part of
writing and argument construction they need most help with.
Validity and Reliability
This assessment has high construct validity for assessing the student’s grasp of the
content of the course. In regards to face validity, the test has questions that deal with material
the students were presented during the unit and does not ask questions that do not pertain to
the unit content. To ensure high construct validity, there are multiple questions within each
content area and cognitive level so the assessment does not rely on merely one question.
It is necessary to evaluate the established table of specifications to examine the content
validity of the test. The test covers Progressivism more than either the Spanish American War
or foreign policy, respectively, but the other two content areas are assessed during the unit
through in-class activities. The questions on the test cover the content and cognitive levels
addressed in the table of specifications and do not cover any content that is not addressed in
the table of specifications. The content validity is high on this test because of its function in
relation to the other assessments during the unit. In examining the unit assessments as a
whole, all content objectives are addressed at the cognitive level they were intended for.
I chose to use multiple choice and the essay because this is an AP course. Both of these
item types are assessed on the AP exam so I believe it is important for the students to practice
using them. The multiple choice item type is an efficient means of assessing content knowledge
on the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy so it is, in addition to good preparation for future
assessments, an appropriate means to assess a large amount of content. I decided to include
the matching select-response item type for the Progressive Era leaders for this same concern
with time. The matching requires students to recall which figures were involved with which
movements as well as their contributions to the movement. The essay gives me the
opportunity to evaluate the student’s higher-order thinking through their recall of the different
foreign policies and then their own evaluation of Roosevelt’s impact on foreign policy. I will be
able to assess their skills in constructing an argument, which is a significant portion of the rubric
for the essay.
The majority of the questions were created by me but I took some questions from an AP
preparation book and some from the course textbook’s test manual. I used both the
preparation book and the textbook extensively during my lesson planning so the content
contained in both resources align closely with my ILO’s and the material covered during
instruction. My decision to include questions from these resources stems primarily from my
inexperience in developing higher-order thinking multiple choice questions. I think that both
resources had valuable questions that allowed me to include a range of cognitive-level
questions while still aligning with my ILO’s. The summary of my question creators follows.
My questions: matching section, 1,2,3,5,8,12,13,14,15,17,18,19,26, essay
United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination: 4,14,16,24,25
The American Pageant Test Manual for Instructors: 6,10,11,20,21,22,23
As stated above, one of the biggest threats to reliability is my inexperience in creating
higher-order thinking select response items. I also am still developing a firm grasp of the
content. These two difficulties made the use of outside sources a necessary concession, one
that was valuable to me as the creator. I’m always cautious in using standardized assessments,
but was intentional in choosing which questions were appropriate based on the content in my
specific objectives. I believe that the reliability for my item construction is very high. On the
matching, I made sure to put the explanations on the left, with the names on the right, and
added an extra name so the process of elimination could be used. I also noted the addition of a
name so the students would not be confused during the test. As with matching, I followed the
rules for multiple choice construction to ensure reliability. Few of the questions are framed in
the negative and the answer choices are listed alphabetically. I made sure to note that the
students are expected to select the best choice, since there may be two possible answers for
each question. Finally, the essay contains clear directions about the expectations that are
subsequently represented in the rubric. The rubric’s assessment of “Roosevelt’s Impact” is
addressed in the prompt’s direction to “explain how Theodore Roosevelt impacted each.” The
assessment of “Content Accuracy” is addressed in the prompt’s direction to “describe the
following four foreign diplomacies.” The “Structure” assessment is expected with a “wellconstructed essay” and the guidelines for appropriate structure will be a part of the instruction
during the unit. The rubric has some subjectivity in terms of words like “most” or “some” but I
did not want to make the assessment too defined (student addresses x policies) because that
might penalize a student who perfectly evaluated three of the policies and neglected to address
one. Finally, the prompt intentionally includes the foreign policies I want discussed so the
students clearly know what they need to address, thus reducing systematic error.
I’ve realized that, as a white male, I may be culturally biased toward a WASP-centric
approach to teaching and assessment. In constructing the assessment, however, I found that I
adequately covered women, especially in the matching section, and minorities.
During the test, the door will be shut and students will be separated to help ensure
reliability. Distractions outside of the classroom will subsequently be limited and cheating
should be made more difficult.
I’m excited about conducting my first item analysis because it will give me the
opportunity to see how effectively I conveyed the information to my students, and how
effectively my different instructional strategies were. I’m using station team-teaching for the
Progressive movement leaders, inquiry models to assess Roosevelt’s impact, and concept
formation lessons to enhance understanding of imperialism. As a new teacher, I get to see, in
action, how well I teach with each of the models.
I teach two sections of the AP course, one with nine students and the other with over
twenty. I think that the environment of those different classes could influence the quality of
instruction given to either class, so I need to be cautious in determining predictive validity. I
also realize, given my inexperience and relative unfamiliarity with teaching AP classes, that my
assessment may not be the best predictor for future performance on the AP exam. To help
increase the predictive validity, I utilized AP preparation resources that more adequately align
with the standards on the AP test. I do think that there is potential predictive validity in regards
to the essay. My instruction has focused a lot on analyzing the relation of different events and
how to ask appropriate questions before constructing an argument so I’m hoping that such
methods will make the students performance on my essay a valid predictor of their
performance on other essays.
In terms of scoring and grading, the select-response sections (matching and multiple
choice), will represent 2/3’s of the score. Each question is worth two points and they are all
weighted equally. My scoring rubric is out of 20 points but the essay will be worth 1/3 of the
grade. I will compute the average of the essay score in order to fit it into the overall grade on
the test. I think it is appropriate to place a high emphasis on the essay because of the nature of
the course and the nature of the content. An AP course requires more writing than other
courses so a high-valued essay reflects that aim. The question, in particular, is valuable because
it assesses lower-order recall and comprehension in addition to the student’s own evaluation of
the different foreign policies. My CT generally uses tests as about 40% of the overall grade, and
I will follow his example to maintain consistency between the two of us. I also believe that such
a grading policy is more reflective of a college course, which this is intended to prepare the
students for. The grading for the select-response items is inherently objective, but the essay
maintains its objectivity because of the rubric. As stated above, there is still room for some
subjectivity in the rubric, but it is intentionally allowed to avoid penalizing students for
accidental omissions.
This assignment is indicative of my ability to create assessments that provide both a
valid and reliable representation of student learning because it reflects an understanding of the
tenants of item-writing and the construction of a table of specifications. Necessary in a table of
specifications is the establishment of learning objectives and subsequent deconstruction of
those objectives to pin-point content and cognitive level. A valid test must be one that assesses
each content objective at the appropriate cognitive level in order to ensure that it tests what it
intends to test. The provided test on American Imperialism and Progressivism exhibits both this
ability to ensure validity and an understanding of why such measures should be taken.
The items in the test exhibit the criteria for reliable question creation, where each item
is clearly written. This allows the teacher to assess the student’s knowledge, rather than their
ability to weed through unclear, confusing, or deceiving questions. The items are neatly spaced
and distributed, and the select-response items maintain grammatical consistency between the
stem and answer choices. The stems are clear and stated in the positive, without giving away
the correct answer for that specific question, or later questions on the test. Words like best are
emphasized so the students have clear expectations on the question. The matching section
reflects similar intentionality, with the descriptions on the left and items to be matched on the
right.
This assessment demonstrates competency #16 primarily by its understanding of the
rules for creating valid and reliable assessments. As I continue growing as a teacher, gaining
experience in test writing, and acquiring greater content knowledge, I will be able to apply the
principles for valid and reliable test construction that are exhibited here. With those skills, and
my future growth and experience, later assessments will be even more suitable representations
of student learning.