My APUSH Students’ Stunning P1-P3 Exam Scores

And why the success

During the first nine weeks of the 2019–2020 school year, I gave my 127 APUSH students three major exams: the Period 1 Exam (1491–1607); the Period 2 Exam (1607–1754); and the Period 3 Exam (1754–1800.)

Each exam consisted of thirty APUSH exam style multiple choice questions and one APUSH exam style short answer question.

The results are by far the best ever and certainly much better than last years.

• The average test score increased by 6.8% over last years’ average, with the Period 1 and Period 2 scores increasing by 7%, and the Period 3 score increasing by 6%. And all this despite the fact that last year, I asked the school to “open-the-door” and allow into my APUSH classes any students expressing an interest, special education and ESL included.
• The average number of students scoring 50% or better on each of these three exams increased by 4% over last year’s number and thus significantly increased the number of students “on track” to earn a 3 or better on the May exam.

And to what do I attribute this success? Three things: (1) I teach to the binder, (2) I employ a cutting-edge content delivery system, and (3) I make use of the progress check questions.

THE BINDER

This year, more than ever, I have taught to the binder. In fact everything I put before my students this past quarter was called for in College Boards 2019 AP US History Course and Exam Description. I taught nothing more. There was no supersizing the course for me or placing it on academic steroids, and there was certainly no short shrifting the prescribed curriculum. I even aligned my pacing guide to the pacing guide found in the binder.

THE CONTENT DELIVERY SYSTEM

From the first day of school, I have used an innovative and cutting-edge content delivery system that I developed two years ago with the help of an extremely talented team of educators. This content delivery system, described in an open letter that I wrote this past August and addressed to all APUSH teachers, is essentially framed in the form of a slideshow presentation but with numerous built-in “bells and whistles.” The beauty of it all is that it puts all the content and related high-quality resources into one easily accessible place. This allows students who are unable to come to class — or who are unable to fully concentrate while in class — to learn all the content on their own and at a place and time of their choosing. It’s also a great exam review tool. https://medium.com/@ppaccone/open-letter-to-any-all-ap-us-history-teachers-aaa941f5a663

THE PROGRESS CHECK QUESTIONS

This past summer, CB launched what it calls AP Classroom (a number of free online instructional resources.) By far the coolest new resource are the ‘progress check questions.’ CB describes the progress check questions this way:

“Made up of formative AP questions, (the) progress check (questions) are meant to measure student progress through each unit and throughout the year. They measure content and skills in each unit through:

• Multiple-choice questions that are scored automatically and include rationales to explain correct and incorrect answers
• Free-response questions with AP scoring guidelines teachers can use to evaluate student answers.”

Two days before the Period 1 exam, I gave my students time in class to answer the Period 1 progress check questions. I did the same thing two days before the Period 2 and Period 3 exams.

When answering the thirty three (Period 3) multiple choice progress check questions, most students needed no more than 45-minutes though I permitted them to take as much time as they wanted. And yes, I did allow them to use their notes and/or textbook. I also allowed them to work collaboratively. When done, I entered a completion grade into my gradebook.

The following day, we went over the questions paying particular attention to the questions most students missed.

Then came the stunning test scores. Because we tackled the progress check questions this year and didn’t have them last year, I believe this year’s success, above all else, can be attributed to the progress check questions. But don’t take my word for it: test out the claim for yourself in your classes!

SOME BOLD PREDICTIONS

Down the road, I predict that CB’s 2019 APUSH Course and Exam Description (binder), and its AP Classroom online instructional resources (the progress check questions in particular) will be viewed as game-changers, the equivalent of Henry Ford’s Model T on the horse and buggy landscape of 1908.

In other words, I believe that CB’s APUSH binder and related online resources are a major attempt to change significantly the way APUSH teachers teach, APUSH students learn, and APUSH students are assessed.

I also believe that any APUSH teacher who teaches to the binder and makes use of the progress check questions (and other related resources) is likely to see a significant increase in:

• The number of APUSH students scoring a 3 or better on the May APUSH exam.
• The number of students who should be permitted to enroll in and benefit from all that an APUSH course has to offer.
• The number of “free” 45-minute class periods that can be used to put before the students one or more long-term, high-end, super engaging project based learning opportunities.

And if what I’m predicticting here holds true for APUSH, then it should also hold true for nearly every one of CB’s other advanced placement offerings and if that’s true, then the educational equivalent of the Model T has indeed arrived and consequently the age of the horse and buggy approach to teaching and learning has come to an end.