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A College Professor Reflects on the AP U.S. History Reading
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by Jeffrey W. Coker
Belmont University
Nashville, Tennessee
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| | Introduction
When I attended my first Reading for the AP United States History Exams in 2000, I was somewhat hesitant about the entire process. Although I had taught the college-level U.S. history survey several times, I had never taught in a high school classroom, knew little about the Advanced Placement Program, and even less about the exam itself. Following a crash course in the AP Exam and the AP U.S. History course, I arrived in San Antonio, Texas, for a week of reading and scoring. After meeting many AP teachers with years of experience in the high school classroom, I really wondered whether my experiences were appropriate to the task.
I very quickly realized, however, that many of the issues I confront in my courses also appear on the AP Exam. Now, after three years as a Reader, I would like to share my impressions of how the Reading reflects common problems facing both high school and college-level teachers of the U.S. history survey course.
Scoring and Grading
Perhaps the most visible difference between reading AP Exams and grading midterm and final exams in a college-level survey course is the difference between "scoring" and "grading." The distinction is slight but worth noting. The AP U.S. History Exam rubric of scoring essays on a nine-point scale allows for less flexibility than when grading student exams in a typical class setting. The standardization of the AP Exam is also, for good reason, very much a "public" exercise.
The early stages of a scoring session consist of a group of Readers establishing clear standards. Both a table leader and the entire group of Readers at a particular table monitor these standards throughout the week. Students can rest assured that the scoring process consists of much more than a single Reader making arbitrary decisions about a particular essay. Rather, each Reader is part of a team that constantly reviews, refines, and clarifies scoring standards.
That said, the similarities between my college grading and scoring the AP Exam are notable. Of the several criteria on which essays are scored, establishing a clear thesis and developing it throughout an essay present perhaps the greatest challenge to AP students ¿ and this is true for college students as well. A student who effectively develops a thesis is, from the outset, ahead of the game. We tend to teach students (in both college and high school) that a thesis statement should usually occur in an introductory paragraph, but this structure often results in a weak thesis and an essay lacking cohesion and clarity. Many students establish a thesis by restating the essay question in the opening paragraph, then launch into a narrative that may touch on the thesis at times but often strays from the major point of the piece.
Not surprisingly, students often see AP essays as a process of "dropping" as many names, events, or other historical facts as possible -- often leading to a laundry list of historical details. The art of developing a thesis throughout a piece is one that requires a great deal of practice; students would do well to work on this skill throughout their preparation for the exam -- perhaps as much as preparing content for the essays.
Details, Details...
Of course, these are historical essays, and details are critical to support a thesis. My experience has been that college students taking a midterm exam are at an advantage here, because a midterm usually covers between five and eight weeks of course material, rather than an entire year's worth of study. Students who obtain high scores on the AP U.S. History Exam provide evidence to support general points, and the best ones do so impressively.
Interestingly, evidence is usually a bit less of a problem on free-response questions than on document-based questions, at least in my experience. The reason may be that having at their disposal the fragments of evidence offered in a DBQ provides students with a sense that their essays are indeed detailed and evidentiary. The requirement of "outside information" is crucial for a DBQ. Even some Readers can be misled by an essay that effectively weaves the included documents together in a well-organized piece. However, as most AP teachers are quite aware, high scores on a DBQ depend on a student's ability to bring historical details and evidence to bear on a group of documents, in order to clarify, bolster, and refine the information provided in the documents. Again, these skills develop through practice, as the highest-scoring essays indicate an ability to blend details from the documents with details provided by the student.
The Role of Historiography
Finally, the question of historiography deserves consideration. High school exam-takers, like first-year college students, often have a great deal of difficulty blending historical details with particular approaches to historical study. Occasionally, a student opens or closes an essay with a quotation or general idea from an individual historian -- most often to illustrate a single point. This understandable desire to "name drop" usually has little impact on the overall score.
Although the AP U.S. History Exam does not intend to test various approaches to history, some of the very best essays do indicate sensitivity to historiography by speaking to the strengths and limitations of various types of historical evidence. In the DBQs, for example, an essay might not only explain the historical documents provided as part of a larger narrative, but also offer some analysis as to the advantages and disadvantages of understanding a historical issue or period using a particular type of document.
Overall, students taking the AP Exam resemble quite closely college students in my first-year history class, especially with respect to these issues of essay structure, use of evidence, and analytical sophistication. If anything, my experiences with the AP Exam have convinced me of the need for more interaction between high school teachers and college instructors -- a dialogue that proves rewarding for both groups and, most importantly, their students.
Jeffrey W. Coker is an assistant professor of history at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
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