Addressing Breadth of Coverage in AP U.S. History

This session component will highlight changes in the curriculum framework of AP U.S. History, addressing higher education expectations for the inclusion of skills and content related to pre-Columbian and post-1980 history as set against the secondary perspective on the breath-of-coverage issue.  The interaction of skills and themes with course content areas (e.g., Key Concept 9.1: A New conservatism Challenges Liberal Dominance) will serve to illustrate the greater flexibility high school teachers will have in designing their AP U.S. History course and preparing students  for a summative assessment that covers a greater span of time.  
Specific themes that touch on the content topic of contemporary conservatism include “American identity” and “ideas, beliefs, and culture.”  A greater focus on historical thinking skills (standardized for all three AP history courses) represents a pendulum shift away from a chronological/sequential approach to that of a conceptual/analytical model where students engage in “doing” history as opposed to memorizing disconnected facts and dates.  
Specific objectives of this part of the session focus on: 1) familiarizing teachers with the rationale behind creating a common set of historical thinking skills for all three AP history courses, 2) discussing how to use a skills approach to address the pedagogical coverage issue of teaching depth versus breadth, and 3) explaining how exam assessment items will reflect the interaction of skills, content and course themes. Samples of newly developed formative assessments and topic modules will be shared with participants, and the audience will be encouraged to ask questions to explore ways in which they can integrate skills and content into their own teaching of U.S. History.