AP United States History
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Advanced Placement United States History (also known as AP United States History, AP US History, or APUSH) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.
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[edit] The course
This course is for students desiring a freshman college-level course in United States history. The course is a survey of the nation's history from 1492 to the present using a college-level textbook such as The American Pageant, used by 40 percent of all AP US History classes, The National Experience, or The Enduring Vision. Students may select to use supplemental materials, such as review books, to prepare for the examination. Students are also required to write college-level essays and participate in class discussion in preparation for the exam.
[edit] The exam
The AP US History exam lasts 3 hours and 5 minutes. The first section is comprised of 80 multiple choice questions with each question containing five choices. Students have 55 minutes to complete this part of the exam. The questions cover American History from the Colonial Era to modern times (from 1607 until approximately 18 years prior to the administering of the exam.) However, there are usually few, if any, questions on the post-1970's era. In addition to traditional-style questions, there are often a few political cartoons, maps, and charts to interpret. The second half of the exam, the Free-Response Section, is composed of a Document Based Question (DBQ) and two thematic essays. While the DBQ is required, students can choose between one of two thematic essays in two separate sections (one spanning from 1607 until 1860, and the other from 1860 until the modern era.) There is a mandatory fifteen minute reading period before students can actually start writing their essays, and it is suggested, but not required, that they use this time to read and plan for the DBQ. However, students can also read and plan for the thematic essays at this time. After this, students can work on the three essays at their own pace for the remaining 115 minutes of the exam, but are urged to spend about 45 minutes on the DBQ and 35 minutes (5 for planning, 30 for writing), on each thematic essay.
[edit] Scoring
The multiple-choice section of the exam accounts for 50% of the final score, as does the free-response portion. For the former, each multiple-choice question answered correctly earns one point. Those answered incorrectly subtract 1/4 of a point, while questions omitted do not affect the multiple-choice score. A perfect raw score on the multiple-choice section is 80. As for the free-response, the DBQ is worth 55% of the section's total value, while the two thematic essays are each worth 22.5% (45% combined).
[edit] Grade distribution
In 2006, 311,000 students took the exam from 10,465 schools. The mean score was 2.74. This exam was the most widely taken AP exam in 2006.[1]
The grade distribution for 2006 was:
| Score | Percent |
|---|---|
| 5 | 11.0% |
| 4 | 19.9% |
| 3 | 22.2% |
| 2 | 26.1% |
| 1 | 20.8% |
In 2005, 285,368 students took the exam from 9,922 schools. The mean score was 2.66.
The grade distribution for 2005 was:
| Score | Percent |
|---|---|
| 5 | 9.2% |
| 4 | 19.8% |
| 3 | 21.4% |
| 2 | 27.3% |
| 1 | 22.3% |
[edit] External links
- AP United States History on CollegeBoard.com
- U.S. History for AP Students (note cards by era; outlines & summaries, too)
- Digital History (resources that include multimedia summaries)
- Historyteacher.net
