ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) GOVERNMENT
FALL 2015
Teacher: Dr. Margaret East, margaret.east@apsva.us
Room: desk is in Rm. 3222, will be there 6th and 7th and before and after school (otherwise look
for me in 3011 or 3010 where I teach some classes)
Planning Blocks: 5th Pd. and 6th Pd
School Phone & Address: 703-228-6200, 1301 N. Stafford St., Arlington, VA 22201
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This is a course in American national politics and government and it follows the
Advanced Placement Government and Politics curriculum established by the College Board. At
the end of this course, students will have the opportunity to take the College Board’s Advanced
Placement US Government and Politics Exam. In this class, we will:
 discuss the methods our founding fathers used to create order out of chaos by closely
examining our founding documents and the structure of our government;
 critically question our political beliefs about the nature of people, the rights of people, and
the role of government in representing and acting on the behalf of people;
 investigate how we choose our leadership and debate whether or not they represent the best
interests of most US citizens and residents; and
 critically analyze public opinion polling data, campaign finance and elections data, and the
provision of government services via data on government budgets and expenditures.
Our main goal in this class is to help you understand how government leadership
and actions impacts you, the world, and our future. Your active participation in this class
will give you a firm intellectual and factual grounding to become a more effective and
empowered member of our American community. Specific topics covered in this class are
described in the last few pages of this syllabus. These are college-level intellectual topics, but
you need not be scared about whether or not you can handle the content. You can do this
because we’ll be talking (and reading, writing, drawing, role-playing, acting, debating,
presenting, etc.) about things that directly impact you, your life, your family, your friends,
and your community. YOU WILL HAVE FUN!
Classes will often begin with
current events discussions and then
we’ll then proceed to learn about an
aspect of government that affects life
here in America. In so doing, we’ll:
 interpret primary source documents
like the “Federalist Papers”;
 create political cartoons like the
example shown to the right;
 critically examine supreme court
cases like Brown v. the Board of
Education (whose outcome
integrated public schools);
 analyze videos of debates and
campaign advertisements;
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perform web crawls for research about American political beliefs and current events;
analyze tables, charts, graphs, and maps of political campaign expenditures and election
results;
analyze tables, charts, graphs, and maps of public opinion polling data; and
analyze tables, charts, and graphs of government budget and expenditures by departments,
agencies, and programs.
CLASS RESOURCES, TEXTS, AND WEB MATERIALS:
School Website: This course syllabus, contact information, and course materials can be found on
Dr. East’s school webpage. Click on Academics, then Social Studies, and Margaret East.
Click on AP Government on the left side of the page. Here is the url., if you’d like to go there
directly from this document: http://www.apsva.us/Page/22585. This page section includes lecture
materials, study resources, links to news sources, and a course due date calendar.
Course Textbooks and Access on the Blackboard Site:
The primary textbook for this class is American Government: Roots and Reform, by Karen
O’Connor and Larry J. Sabato. 10th Ed. I also suggest that you purchase an AP Review
book called AP U.S. Government & Politics 2015 published by Kaplan. We have a class set
of both books, but provide 24/7 online access to the O’Connor and Sabato book via Blackboard.
You may access the school’s Blackboard site by using any computer/device that has a connection
to the Internet and a supported Web browser (Internet Explorer 7 or 8 and Firefox 3.X.) The
URL is http://apsva.blackboard.com/. A direct link to Blackboard can be found on the right
hand navigation of each school's website. You will need to know your W-L login id before
logging in, so please contact the IT resource officer, Craig Spraggins, if you cannot login to
Blackboard.
MATERIALS NEEDED FOR CLASS:
1. 2” or 3” three-ring binder used to hold AP Gov. materials only and to be left at school
2. a Pocket File folder or ½” binder to carry materials between home and school (get a sturdy
one as you’ll use this all year)
3. Loose leaf paper for use in binder (buy a package, put some in your binder, and bring the rest
to class so that we can create one communal set that all can use here in class)
4. Divider pages and tabs for your binders
5. Pencils (mechanical is preferred since the pencil sharpener is always breaking)
6. Highlighter (yellow preferred)
7. 1 box of colored pencils (at least a box of 8) you will need this periodically, so get one to use
for the year.
8. Optional. AP U.S. Government and Politics by Kaplan, get the 2015 version.
9. Optional. 3 x 5 or 4 x 6 (if you write large) notecards and some kind of pouch to keep and
store your cards
METHODS OF ASSESSMENT:
Student assessment in this class includes both summative and formative assessments.
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Formative assessments are those types of activities that monitor student learning during the
presentation of new instructional units. They are zero value or low point value assessment
activities that help students and teachers identify student strengths and weaknesses in
understanding concepts or utilizing certain skills. Examples of these activities include in-class
practice preview or review activities that appear in student notebooks, quizzes, short homework
exercises, or worksheet/practice assignments.
Summative assessments are those types of activities that evaluate student mastery of skills or
content knowledge at the end of a lesson or instructional unit. These assessments can include
final group mini-projects, quizzes, quarter exams, final drafts of research papers, self-directed
study assignments, or processing assignments that are taken up for formal grading (processing
assignments are those assignments that show that a student has developed a working
understanding of the lesson’s essential content).
Specific assessments used in this class: *** Grades reflect student achievement not student
behavior.
Students and parents will be able to view all course grades online via the school’s Synergy
grading site. PLEASE see your counselor if you cannot access your grades via Studentvue.

15% Homework and Current Events Quizzes – these are short quizzes of the important
current events that we have previously discussed and/or the content of readings that I have
assigned. You will start each class with a short quiz so be prepared.

10% Binder Organization and Class Participation – you should keep neat, well-organized
binders that includes work organized into 4 sections. If you loose this binder, you will get
zeros for binder grades during the quarter.
Required Binder Organization:
o 1) a section for daily review/preview question work, daily notes, handouts, and
returned class work. All should be organized by date with the first page in the
binder being first page of the syllabus and the last page of the section being the
most recent work.
o 2) a section for returned quizzes and exams. Organized by date with the most
recent quiz last in the section.
o 3) a separate section for your current events log. ** take notes during current
events discussions and this will help you with quizzes. Organized by date with
the most recent day’s log last in the section.
o 4) ** optional, pocket for flashcards/notecards/personal study materials/personal
notes from homework readings
Grades will be given for binder organization and note taking at least 2 times per quarter
(binders maybe evaluated without notice).
Grades will be given for participation at least 2 times per quarter. Evidence of excellent
class participation includes your active participation in whole class or small group
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discussions, regular attendance, promptness, and respectful interaction with others during all
activities.

20% In-Class Work – these are daily or mini-project activities (like self-guided study
questions, reflection questions, video summary questions, web research, short answer essay
questions that have previously appeared on the AP tests, or concept processing activities,
etc.). These activities are taken up individually for formal grading and evaluation. This may
be individual work, partnered, or team work. Some of this work is completed daily; some of
this work may need a few in-class days to prepare and/or may be graded in parts. Partners
and group members may not always share the same grade, if I feel like someone is not
putting in their fair share of effort!

25% Unit Tests -- these are tests that check for recall, recognition, understanding, and/or
synthesis of instructional content. Check course calendars and the website for up-coming
assigned unit tests. All will have short answer questions as some part of the test. You may
have 2 – 3 unit tests per term.
o For the unit tests, I will allow you to use up to 5 personally prepared one-word or
one-topic flashcards on the test. You must staple these to the test when you turn the
test in. You may not use another person’s flashcards.

30% Qtr. Exam – This is one exam at the end of each quarter and will cover all material in
the quarter plus some material comprehensive from previous quarters. All tests will include
sections of fill-in-the-blank questions, multiple-choice questions, and short-answer questions
(the AP Test calls these Free Response Essay questions, but they are simply short responses
that can be completed in 1 – 3 paragraphs). The very last quarter exam will have two
main parts, with the second part being entirely cumulative of the year.
o You will not be allowed to use flashcards on this exam.
The Grading Scale:
Letter Grade
A
B+
B
C+
C
D+
D
E
GRADING SCALE
Percentages
90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98, 99, 100
87, 88, 89
80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86
77, 78, 79
70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76
67, 68, 69
60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66
0 – 59
Quality Points
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.0
AP & IB
Quality Points
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
0.0
Quarterly grades will be rounded up when the average yields a percentage point that is .5 or
higher. This grading scale is in accordance with the standards set by Arlington County Public
Schools.
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End of year exams: You have the opportunity and option of taking the AP exam for this class.
The exam is offered to you at no cost and you could earn college credit by earning a high enough
score on the exam. Students that elect to take the AP exam will not have to sit for the class final
exam. Students that take the exam will also automatically earn the GPA quality point you
achieved by your participation in this class. The tentative date for the AP Exam is May 10,
2016.
Students that do not take the AP exam must sit for a final cumulative exam and there is no
exemption for this exam for seniors, even those on senior experience.
AP Mock exam: this is an opportunity to practice taking the full exam AND change a bad
quiz grade into an A quiz grade for 3rd quarter. In the past, taking this practice exam proved
helpful for improving student exam scores prior to the actual test. The tentative date for the AP
mock exam is Saturday, April 9, 2016.
Final Grades:
*** You must pass a US government class to graduate in VA.
*** Student grades reflect student achievement and not behavior.
*** Your final course grade is determined by averaging your four quarter grades. If you do not
go on senior experience or take the AP exam, you will take a final exam, which weighs as an
additional grade (final average determined by QTR1 + QTR2 + QTR3 + QTR4 +final exam)
OTHER CLASS POLICIES: ** I strictly follow all APS grading procedures as stated in the APS
student and faculty handbooks. I mention just a few here.
Absences, Late Work, Make-Up Work Policies:
All work is due at the start of class on the day of its assigned due date. When work is late
because of absences, it is your responsibility to make up those missed assignments. You may
find out missing info. in class upon your return, during General’s Period, and/or meet with me
before school or during my planning periods. Students with an excused absence, have one week
from the last day of the absence to submit make-up work assigned during their absence; work
assigned before their absence is due the day they return.
Full credit for make-up or late work is only given when the absence is excused. You will not be
allowed to make up any missed daily work, project work, quizzes or quarter exams, for
unexcused absences. You will receive a 0 for these types of important assignments if you miss
with unexcused absences. Project work that is incomplete at the time of its due date MAY be
accepted up to one period late, but a 10% penalty will be deducted from the final grade.
However, students must show up to class on the original project due date and they must discuss
with me the reasons for the incompleteness of their work. No late project work will be accepted
beyond the next class meeting.
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Only in a few cases will you get any credit for work that was missed because of unexcused
absences. I will accept previously assigned homework (work apart from readings quizzes),
vocabulary work, or perform binder checks at the start of class upon your first day of return.
However, a 10% penalty will be deducted from this type of work. I will not accept any late work
beyond the first returning class period. See the complete APS policy on Make-Up Work in the
Student Handbook
Retake Policy:
In the case of excused absences, students will be allowed to retake quizzes or exams up to one
week after the student returns. Arrange exam or quiz time with the teacher as this may have to
happen outside of class, either before school, after school, or during the General’s Period. I will
not allow you to re-take quarter exams or quizzes due to unexcused absences.
Attendance/Tardy Policy:
Three unexcused tardies (UC’s) during one quarter will result in a detention assigned by the
teacher. Parents will be notified. Each additional tardy will result in another detention. Five
unexcused tardies will result in a referral to the student’s administrator and may result in
Saturday School.
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism:
Students will be asked to sign an honor pledge for each major assignment turned in. By signing
the pledge, students will acknowledge their understanding of the honor policy as described in
their student handbook and that they have not violated that policy in any way.
“ON MY HONOR, I PLEDGE THAT I HAVE NEITHER GIVEN NOR RECEIVED INFORMATION ON THIS
ASSIGNMENT.”
Cell Phone and Electronic Device Policy:
In order to help maintain a classroom environment centered on learning, I have adopted a cell
phone policy similar to that from many of the math classrooms.
Students will not have cell phones (or other electronic devices) on their person, their desk, or
visible in any way. Cell phones (or other electronic devices) must be silenced and out of sight at
all times unless specifically permitted for instructional purposes.
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Upon the first offense the student will hand over their device until the end of class. If a
student refuses, administration will be notified.
Upon the second offense the device will be turned over to the main office for the student
to pick up at the end of the day.
Any offense beyond that will require a parent or legal guardian to come in and pick up
the device from the student’s administrator.
You and your parents/guardians will be asked to sign off indicating they understand this policy.
See the last page of this syllabus.
EXPECTATIONS FOR CLASS BEHAVIOR:
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This class will operate under four basic rules.
1. Everyone, including the teacher, will be treated with respect.
2. Putdowns and intentionally hurtful comments or actions will not be tolerated.
3. No one will be allowed to disrupt the learning process of anyone else.
4. Everyone, including the teacher, will be on time and prepared
It is the student's job to take responsibility for his or her own education. We will not hunt
you down to let you know what you missed while absent and we will not accept excuses.
Education is one of the most vital instruments in your life and you, as a student, must accept
responsibility for your own actions and decisions. As teachers, we will provide you with the raw
materials to gain a thorough understanding of the subject matter, but it is your job as a student to
dedicate the necessary time and effort to mastering this information. As you prepare for your
future, we hope you will take advantage of our offers to help you hone your study skills, critical
thinking skills, and content mastery. We can be a valuable resource for you, but it is ultimately
your decision to utilize us as a resource.
AP GOV. COURSE TOPICS OUTLINE:
 As we create them, class materials, assignments and due dates will be posted on Dr.
East’s school page.
 By the end of this year, all topics listed below will be discussed in this class.
 Supplemental resources are subject to change as current events, law-making activities,
and elections change.
Unit I. Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government
A.
Considerations that influenced the formulation and adoption of the
Constitution
B.
Separation of powers
C.
Checks and balances
D.
Federalism
E.
Theories of democratic government
Supplementary Resources:
Constitution: Excerpts from Second Treatise, Declaration of Independence, Articles of
Confederation, U.S. Constitution, Federalist #10 and #51.
Federalism: Articles of Confederation, U.S. Constitution, Federalist #39, Excerpts The Birth of
the Republic.
Current events – newspaper, website, and journal articles.
Unit II.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Beliefs citizens hold about their government and its leaders
Processes by which citizens learn about politics
The nature, sources, and consequences of public opinion
The ways in which citizens vote and otherwise participate in political
life
Factors that influence citizens to differ from one another in terms
of political beliefs and behaviors.
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Supplementary Resources:
Public Opinion Polls: tables, charts, and graphs from various internet sites, such as Gallup, etc.
that show opinions and voter participation by various segments of the US population.
Political Ideology Surveys: online ideology surveys from various sources, such as the Pew
Research Center, PBS, and Politico.
Political Participation: tables, charts, and graphs detailing political participation in various
elections.
Current events – newspaper, website, and journal articles regarding constitutional issues.
Unit III. Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media
A.
Political parties and elections
1.
Functions
2.
Organization
3.
Development
4.
Effects on the political process
5.
Electoral laws and systems
B.
Interest groups, including political action committees (PACs)
1.
The range of interests represented
2.
The activities of interest groups
3.
The effects of interest groups on the political process
4.
The unique characteristics and roles of PACs in the political process
C.
The mass media
1.
The functions and structures of the news media
2.
The impacts of the news media on politics
3.
The news media industry and its consequences
Supplementary Resources:
Political Parties: Various internet sites sponsored by political parties.
Elections and Campaigns: Various internet sites sponsored by candidates running for election
and sites that use tables, charts, graphs, and maps to analyze the results from recent elections.
Current events – newspaper, website, and journal articles.
Interest Groups: Various internet sites sponsored by interest groups.
The Media: Opinion in N.Y. Times v U.S. and All the President’s Men.
Supreme Court rulings on interest group participation in elections and campaigns.
Unit IV. Institutions of National Government: The Congress, the Presidency, the
Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts
A.
The major formal and informal institutional arrangements of power
B.
Relationships among these four institutions and varying balances
of power
C.
Linkages between institutions and the following:
1.
Public opinion and voters
2.
Interest groups
3.
Political parties
4.
The media
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5.
State and local governments
Supplementary Resources:
Congress: house.gov and senate.gov
Presidency: Federalist #70, various State of the Union and Inaugural addresses, and
whitehouse.gov.
Bureaucracy: Websites maintained by federal agencies and current events articles.
Judiciary: Storming the Court
Current events – newspaper, website, and journal articles.
Unit V. Public Policy
A.
Policymaking in a federal system
 Issue networks
 Reflection of policy goals in the federal budget process
B.
The formation of policy agendas
 New Deal, New Frontier, Great Society, New Conservatism and Contract with
America, Globalization
 Domestic, Economic, Foreign
C.
The role of institutions in the enactment of policy
 Executive and Legislative
 The Bureaucracy
D.
The role of the bureaucracy and the courts in policy implementation
and interpretation
 Significant Supreme Court decisions
 Trends/significant changes over time due to political environment
E.
Linkages between policy processes and the following:
 Political institutions and federalism
 Political parties
 Interest groups
 Public opinion
 Elections
 Policy networks
Supplementary Resource Materials:
Policymaking: State of the Union addresses and federal budgets.
Economic Policy: Various speeches by Federal Reserve Board Chairmen.
Office of Management and Budget: tables and charts of federal expenditures by programs,
agencies, and departments.
Domestic Policy: Contract with America
Global Policy: Banker to the Poor
Current events – newspaper, website, and journal articles.
Unit VI. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
A.
The development of civil liberties and civil rights by judicial
interpretation
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B.
C.
Knowledge of substantive rights and liberties
The impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional
development of rights and liberties
Supplementary Resource Materials:
Order & Civil Liberties: Various Court Opinions
Equality & Civil Rights: Letters from Birmingham Jail, Plessy v Ferguson Opinion, and Brown v
Board of Education Opinion.
Current events – newspaper, website, and journal articles, etc., perhaps events on voter id laws,
Supreme Court rulings involving civil liberties and rights, etc.
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Students: Please read this syllabus with your parents/guardians. Once you are finished, keep
the rest of the syllabus for your binder, but return this last page to Dr. East with signatures
affirming that all of you understand all of the classroom policies described within the syllabus.
** Just bring this last page. You should keep the rest of your syllabus in your class binder.
My parents/guardians and I have read, discussed and understand all of the procedures and
policies mentioned in Dr. East’s course syllabus.
_______________
Student’s Name
(print)
_______________
Student’s Signature
_______________
Class Period
_______________
Parent’s Name
(print)
_______________
Parent’s Signature
_______________
Date
Parent Information
Best time to call me is _____________________________________________________
Phone #s: Home______________
Work_______________
Email Address: ________________________________
Cell______________