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Dear AP U. S. History Teacher:
We want to thank you again for all that you do to help your students be successful. AP students owe much to the expertise and commitment you bring to your classroom every day. As you prepare your students for this last half of the year and for the AP Exam in May, we wish you all the best, and hope you find the information in this newsletter helpful.
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January 2–5, 2009: American Historical Association (AHA) Annual Meeting, New York City. The theme is "Globalizing Historiography." The topic "Reform and Religion in the U.S. History Survey: A Global Perspective" will be presented by Suzanne Sinke, Florida State University, panel chair; Daniel Rodgers, Princeton University; J.D. Bowers, Northern Illinois University; and Michael Grossberg, Indiana University. |
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March 26–29, 2009: Organization of American Historians (OAH) Annual Meeting, Seattle. The theme is "History without Boundaries." The College Board Breakfast Panel (March 28) will be led by Tim Thurber, Virginia Commonwealth University. The AP Round Table: 2008 AP U.S. History Exam Questions (March 28) will be presented by Bill Tinkler, College Board; Jason George, Bryn Mawr School; Chris Olsen, Indiana University; and Uma Venkateswaran, ETS. |
Register Now for the 2009 AP Annual Conference and take advantage of the Early Bird Savings.
This conference is the centerpiece of the AP Program's professional development efforts. The AP Annual Conference is our annual opportunity to come together from across the world to share our experiences. Each year, more than 3,000 AP professionals attend, taking advantage of relevant and engaging sessions for teachers of all AP courses, including AP U.S. History. The conference also offers sessions in Pre-AP® strategies.
The AP Program is now accepting applications for AP teachers to serve as Readers at the annual AP U. S. History Reading to be held June 5–11, 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky. Click here to apply today!
The AP Reading is an energizing opportunity—an intensive collegial exchange with over 10,000 highly skilled AP teachers and college faculty. AP Readers consistently tell us that the time spent reading, discussing, and evaluating student work alongside accomplished educators at the Reading represents the best professional development experience of their teaching careers.
Readers are paid an honorarium of $1,555, provided with housing and meals, and reimbursed for travel expenses. Readers who teach at the high school level also receive certificates awarding professional development hours and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for their participation in the AP Reading.
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Update on the AP Course Audit
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Administrators at your school are responsible for renewing any courses that were authorized last year through the AP Course Audit process and are being offered again this year. If your course was authorized in 2007–08, and you are teaching the course in 2008–09 but it has yet to be renewed, alert your school administrators immediately. If you are new to teaching the AP course at your school, and haven't yet submitted your course audit materials, you must do so no later than January 31, 2009. The AP Course Ledger now includes courses authorized for the 2008–09 academic year.
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Resources for AP U. S. History Teachers
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Visit the AP U.S. History course home page for a variety of free resources related to teaching the course, including:
From the College Board's, online store AP teachers can purchase the following materials:
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2006 AP United States History Released Exam and its corresponding packet of 10 exams |
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The 2008, 2009 AP United States History Course Description |
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2007 AP United States History Literature Teacher's Guide |
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Professional Development Opportunities
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The College Board offers IACET-certified professional development in hundreds of locations across the United States and around the world. All participants in AP U.S. History workshops for experienced teachers will receive materials focused on a specific instructional theme, "Special Focus: Antebellum Reform."
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AP Course and Exam Review |
Every five to seven years, the College Board reviews the content of AP courses and exams to ensure their continued alignment with the standards and expectations of colleges and universities, which in turn grant credit for qualifying AP scores. Currently, the suite of AP science, history, and world language courses is undergoing such a review. The AP Program has conducted dozens of committee meetings, presentations, and conversations with educators in each discipline to determine how best to keep the AP courses and exams up to date and supportive of best practices.
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For science, the discussion has focused on ways to reduce breadth, increase depth, and foster increased emphasis on inquiry-based laboratory experiences. The conversations have encouraged us to focus exam questions on the integration and application of knowledge and skills, rather than simple recall of memorized facts.
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For history, the conversation has emphasized the importance of changing the exam so that teachers have greater flexibility to teach topics of their choice in depth. The input we have received has also stressed the need to help students develop historical thinking skills and enduring understanding of key concepts in history (skills measured by exam items like Document-Based Questions (DBQs)), rather than memorization, so that students enter further college history coursework with the skills and abilities essential to further historical scholarship.
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For world languages, we have revised the curricula to align with 21st century practices focused on the three modes of communication: Interpersonal, Interpretive and Presentational. Also, we are seeking consistency across the suite of AP Exams with regard to the types of assessment tasks.
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AP teachers deserve much appreciation for participating in surveys, focus groups, and committee meetings that have helped define possible changes to AP courses and exams. Now our task is to listen to that feedback and to structure the launch of any changes so that we are focusing on the highest needs for change first, recognizing that it would not be wise to change all AP science, history, and world language courses in the exact same year, as doing so would limit our ability to focus resources and support on each subject area.
We will be ready by September 2009 to announce the 3–4 AP subjects that we'll be focusing on enhancing for the 2011–12 academic year. In September, the AP Program will also provide teachers with a wide array of information about how to structure the revised courses, what knowledge, skills, and abilities students will be expected to demonstrate on the AP Exam, and the types of professional development and instructional resources that will be available prior to the changes. We anticipate announcing several other courses' changes in September 2010 for a 2012–13 academic year implementation. As a matter of practice moving forward, the AP Program will announce any changes, updates, or enhancements to AP courses in the September two years preceding any changes taking effect.
The AP Program applauds the tremendous work classroom teachers do to create powerful curricula that prepare your students for placement and further university studies in your discipline, and we thank you for your ongoing contributions to AP's future.
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