Georgia DOE AP SymposiumU.S. History

Mike Nance, Alpharetta HSJenny Snoddy, Walton HSAndrew Adams, Walton HS

Introductions

Mike Nance, Alpharetta HS nance@fultonschools.org 404-435-5687 (cell)

Alpharetta High School 2004-Present Druid Hills High School 1983-2004 AP U.S. History Instructor, 1989-Present AP U.S. Exam Reader, 2001-Present AP U.S. Exam Table Leader, 2007-2009

2009 AP Exam Scores

Nation AHS Walton

(346,641) (130) (275)

5 11.1% 5 46.9% 5 21.8%

4 19.4% 4 26.1% 4 32.7%3 22.2% 3 19.2% 3 27.3%2 25.2% 2 6.9% 2 15.6%1 22% 1 .7% 1 2.5%

The 2009 AP U.S. Reading Why become a Reader?

Readers are paid Exchanging ideas among faculty and AP

Development committee members Establishing friendships and a countrywide

network of faculty members Grading the exam responses of the world's

brightest students (and others!) Practicing how to use a rubric consistently,

(which can make them better at scoring their own students' essays)

Earning Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and professional development hours.

The Exam and the 2008 AP U.S. Reading

Exam Format 80 item multiple choice exam A Document Based Essay (DBQ) Two “Free Response” essays, one of two

questions in two parts

The Free Response Section

Part II is likely what both you and the students dread most

Let’s use the 2009 exam to see what the College Board (ETS, actually) was thinking…

And what your students were thinking!

The 2009 DBQ

1775 to 1830 Explain why BOTH changes took

place. Analyze the ways that BOTH free

African Americans and enslaved African Americans responded to the challenges confronting them.

4 components

What was the Intent of this Question?

Explain the rise in the number of free African Americans during a period where the institution of slavery was also expanding.

Analyze the ways African Americans, free and slave, responded to the challenges they faced.

1775-1830

How Did Students Perform?

It’s a relative thing Average score was 3.22 out of 9 Used most of the documents and mostly

well. Many connected Doc. A and B Common misinterpretations of Doc. I and J

How Did Students Perform?

Students spent more time on responses to challenges than expansion of both groups Documents lent themselves to this: Only

Doc. C was exclusively on expansion Doc. A, B and F have application, but few

students saw this.

How Did Students Perform?

There was little outside information, hence the “low” average score

Students often quoted the documents, or merely summarized them.

Students found it challenging to address all four parts of the question (Duh!)

Lessons from the AP Reading “Synthesizing” rather than

quoting/summarizing “Some altruistically-minded white Americans,

particularly in the north, supported a back-to-Africa movement (Doc. H)”.

“Also in Doc. E it states of how some African Americans would buy their freedom from their owner and the African American had to work and pay the master money.”

Lessons from the AP Reading

Teach students to use the documents as clues to trigger outside information. Doc. B and manumission, post-

Revolution anti-slavery societies, gradual emancipation laws in northern states.

Doc. C: all the expansion facts most kids knew (I thought): cotton gin, NW Ordinance, Missouri Compromise, etc.

Lessons from the AP Reading

Timelines and chronological sequencing

Explicitly address the parts and terms of the question

Kids say the darndest things…

“The growing number of slaves created a geological separation of the U.S.”

“Harriet Tubman helped slaves escape through the Underground Tunnel, following the stars north”.

FRQ Part B

2. British imperial policies between 1763 and 1776 intensified resistance to British rule and commitment to republican values.

3. Social, political, and economic forces of the 1840s and early 1850s that led to the emergence of the Republican Party.

Intent of Q2

Connect specific British imperial policies to resistance and to a reinforced commitment to republican values

Change over time

How did students respond?

3.74 out of 9: Better than most years Most were familiar with the period Especially well on imperial policies

and resistance Message to teachers

Pre-writing Timeline Critical thinking

Q3: What was the intent?

Mastery of interlocking forces during the 1840’s and 1850’s

Analysis of the collapse of the second party system and emergence of the Republican Party

Straightforward

How did students perform?

Most did not… 1.64 out of 9 Often lacked understanding of the

question – much outside the time period: Ronald Reagan!

Too much association with abolitionists

Political over social and economic

Message to Teachers

Emphasize themes that cover longer periods of time

Teach political party systems Social and economic forces as well as

political Have students pay closer attention to

time periods: 1840’s and early 1850’s

Q 4: Intent?

TWO organizations and explain their strategies for advancing the interests of workers/extent of success.

Compound thesis Change over time

How did students perform

2.95 out of 9 Knights and AFL overwhelmingly Often no comprehensive thesis Uneven treatment of

organization/extent of success Often confused composition, leaders,

objectives of the organizations Concentrated on late 19th century

Message to Teachers

Labor history outside the late 19th century

Emphasize themes (note that this time period has been used before).

Recognize change over time, esp. when the period is long.

Thesis that addresses all parts of the question

Q 5: Intent

Impact of WWII on ethnic/racial groups on the home front

War as a catalyst for social change, security v. civil liberties

How did students perform?

3.03 out of 9 Mostly description and generalization,

not analysis of specific data. Imbalance between groups We could see regional groups in the

responses Weak on chronology

Kids say the …

“As for the Japanese experience, it can literally be described as ‘going to camp for the summer’, the only difference being summer lasted three years. As for the Jews, they benefitted in that there is a National Holocaust Museum.”

And again…

“The McCarthy scare ended with accusations of the army being infiltrated by Japanese Americans.”

Message to teachers

What does “analyze” mean Pre-writing Address all parts of the question Social/cultural history

Questions??

Becoming an AP Reader? What’s the Reading like?