College Board Exam
The Major Components of the Advanced Placement United
States History College Board Exam (adminstered nation-wide in May)
http://www.collegeboard.com/splash
* Multiple Choice: there are 80 multiple choice questions on the exam.
All of the questions are college-level, and have 5 options (a,b,c,d,e).
Many questions are about maps, documents, charts, etc. If a student
is serious about doing well on this segment, he or she will need to take
several practice multiple choice exams (whether buying their own, or
borrowing what I have at school). This part of the exam is worth roughly
half of the overall value of the test. In my opinion (and the opinion of
nearly every other A.P. U.S. History teacher I've talked to over the years)
this part of the test is by far the most difficult. It is paramount that the
student has an outstanding over all base of knowledge in U.S. History
before he or she enters this class; this is the leading variable that comes
into play as far as how well a student will do in this part of the exam.
(Sample Multiple Choice questions from past exams)
* The Document-Based Question: this is an essay response in which the
student has 15 minutes to scan the documents and plan a response for
the question, and 45 minutes in which to write his or her response. This
tends to be the most intimidating part of the test, so starting early in the
2nd Quarter, I have all students work with a DBQ in order to see if they
can at least "hold their own". I make every effort to make sure that each
student has the necessary opportunities to improve their writing over the
school year, in terms of content and style. (Sample DBQ Questions)
* Free Response Essay Questions: there are two essay questions in this
section; for each, the student has 5 minutes to plan a response, and 30
minutes in which to write. There is a Section A where the student can
pick one of the two questions in which to respond, and a Section B, where
again the student can select one of the two questions. Typically, Section A
has questions that are before the Civil War, and Section B has questions
that are after the Civil War. The unit tests that I administer in this class
have APHIST level essay questions, so each student will have repeated
exposure to what it takes to write a successful response to this type
of question. (Sample Essay Questions)
To sum up, If a student has a strong background in
U.S. History before he or she takes APHIST, and feels
comfortable with all 3 of the parts of the Advanced Placement
United States History College Board Exam, then he or she
has the potential to do well on the test, and perhaps earn
college credit!
Return to APHIST
District 145 Public Schools
and
Educational Service Unit #6, Milford, Nebraska
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