|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Letter from the Chief Reader
|
|
| | A New AP Course is Launched
When the College Board administered the AP World History Exam in 2002, it was the first new AP history exam introduced in half a century. The AP World History course was designed to reflect the latest trends in scholarship and pedagogy, with significant input and support from the World History Association. The course proved to be a tremendous success: more than doubling initial projections, 21,000 students took the exam in its introductory year. It was the largest launch of a new AP course ever!
Since that first year, AP World History has grown by more than thirty percent each year, with more than 85,000 students taking the exam in 2006. The teachers and scholars in the field of world history who created the course and had looked forward to its launch for many years have been extremely pleased. These ever-increasing numbers indicate that teachers, principals, curriculum specialists, school districts, and state boards of education recognize the benefits of a more global understanding of the human experience, especially for American students.
Professor Ken Curtis, from the History Department of California State University-Long Beach, served as Chief Reader during these first five years of exponential growth, and I will be taking over for him beginning in 2007. As the number of exams has grown, so has the number of readers, from 90 in 2002 to 440 in 2006, all gathering together to evaluate the free-response portion of the exam. The reading has outgrown its site at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and beginning in 2007 will be held on the campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Many readers will miss the friendly people and good food of Lincoln, though probably not the long, hot walk from the dorm to the reading, often made longer as hundred-car coal trains went by.
We have been generally pleased with student performance, particularly for a course in which three-quarters of the test-takers are 10th graders. In 2005, more than 10 percent of the students received a 5, and more than 52 percent a 3 or higher. There is always room for improvement, of course, and the College Board offers a variety of workshops for both novice and experienced teachers, providing them with innovative approaches and unique assessment ideas.
All indications point to continued steady growth in AP World History. This is cause for celebration, particularly given the complexities of today’s world, but it means that the more readers are needed every year. Even more than attending a College Board workshop, participating in the Reading is the best possible way to learn about the exam and the course from the inside out. It is also a chance to meet and work with some of the very best history teachers in the world. If you are now teaching the course, please think about becoming a reader. (Reader applications may be submitted via the link below in "See also.") In 2006, we had readers from 42 states and 10 countries outside the U.S. Since the course is so globally oriented, we are particularly interested in seeing participation increase in the international schools community.
I certainly hope that your school will investigate AP World History and consider adding it to your list of AP offerings. With the help of both domestic and international schools, AP World History can achieve its goal of offering a truly global history experience.
Merry Wiesner-Hanks
Chief Reader, AP World History
Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
|
|
|
|
|
|
Course Home Pages