Advanced Placement (AP) United States History (also known as AP U.S. History, APUSH (), or AP U.S.) is a college-level course and examination offered by

College Board The College Board, styled as CollegeBoard, is an American not-for-profit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an asso ...

as part of the

Advanced Placement Program Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewh ...

Course

The AP U.S. History course is designed to provide the same level of content and instruction that students would face in a freshman-level college survey class. It generally uses a college-level textbook as the foundation for the course and covers nine periods of U.S. history, spanning from the

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

to the present day. The percentage indicates the exam weighting of each content area:

Textbooks

Commonly used textbooks that meet the curriculum requirements include: *''America's History'' ( Henretta ''et al.'') *'' American History: A Survey'' (

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) *''American Passages'' ( Ayers ''et al.'') *''

The American Pageant ''The American Pageant'', initially published by Thomas A. Bailey in 1956, is an American high school history textbook often used for AP United States History, AICE American History as well as IB History of the Americas courses. Since Bailey's ...

'' ( Bailey ''et al.'') *'' The American People'' ( Nash ''et al.'') *''By the People'' (

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

) *''The Enduring Vision'' (

Boyer Boyer () is a French surname. In rarer cases, it can be a corruption or deliberate alteration of other names. Origins and statistics Boyer is found traditionally along the Mediterranean (Provence, Languedoc), the Rhône valley, Auvergne, Limou ...

''et al.'') *''Give Me Liberty!'' ( Foner) *''Liberty, Equality, Power'' (Murrin ''et al.'') *''Out of Many'' ( Faragher ''et al.'') *''A People and a Nation'' ( Norton ''et al.'') *''Fabric of a Nation'' ( Stacy ''et al.'')

Conservative criticism

American conservatives Conservatism in the United States is one of two major political ideologies in the United States, with the other being liberalism. Traditional American conservatism is characterized by a belief in individualism, traditionalism, capitalism, re ...

have criticized the course framework for downplaying

American exceptionalism American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is either distinctive, unique, or exemplary compared to other nations. Proponents argue that the Culture of the United States, values, Politics of the United States, political system ...

and failing to foster patriotism. In 2015, a bill to replace the course framework was passed by the

Oklahoma House The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...

Committee on Common Education, but later withdrawn. The course framework was revised in 2015 in response to the criticism. In 2014, student protests in Colorado were held over plans by the Jefferson County Public Schools district board to revise the AP U.S. History curriculum to emphasize citizenship, patriotism, and respect for authority.

Exam

The AP U.S. History exam lasts 3 hours and 15 minutes and consists of two sections, with the first (Section I) being divided into two parts. Section I part A includes 55 multiple-choice questions with each question containing four choices. The multiple choice questions cover American history from just before European contact with Native Americans to the present day. Questions are presented in sets of two to five questions organized around a primary source or an image (including, but not limited to, maps and

political cartoon A political cartoon, also known as an editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically co ...

s). Section I part B includes three short-answer questions. The first two questions are required, but students choose between the third and fourth questions. Students are given a total of 95 minutes (55 for the multiple-choice section and 40 for three short-answer questions) to complete Section I. Section II is the free-response section, in which examinees write two essays. Section II, part A, is a

document-based question In American Advanced Placement exams, a document-based question (DBQ), also known as data-based question, is an essay or series of short-answer questions that is constructed by students using one's own knowledge combined with support from several p ...

(DBQ), which provides an essay prompt and seven short primary sources or excerpts related to the prompt. Students are expected to write an essay responding to the prompt in which they use the sources in addition to outside information. Section II, part B, provides three thematic essay prompts. Students must respond to only one of the three essay prompts. However, in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AP exams were administered remotely as drastically shortened open-note exams, and the exam consisted of a single modified DBQ essay. Each long essay question on the exam may address any one of three possible historical reasoning processes: patterns of continuity and change, comparison, or causation. Each of the essay questions will address the same historical reasoning process. There is a fifteen-minute reading period for students to read the essay prompts, take notes, and brainstorm, but students may begin to write the essays before this period ends. Students will then have 100 minutes to write the two essays; 60 minutes are recommended for the DBQ and 40 minutes for the long essay, but students are free to work on the two essays as they see fit. In May 2011, the AP U.S. History exam was taken by 402,947 students worldwide, making it second in terms of number of examinees, behind the

AP English Language and Composition Advanced Placement (AP) English Language and Composition, (also known as AP English Language, APENG, AP Lang, ELAP, AP English III, or APEL) colloquially known as Lang, is an American course and examination offered by the College Board as part ...

exam.

Scoring

Section I is worth 60% of the total AP exam score, with 40% of the total exam score derived from the student's performance on the multiple choice section and 20% of the total exam score derived from the student's performance on the short answer questions. The remaining 40% of the total exam score is derived from section II; the document-based question is worth 25% of the total exam score, while the long essay question is worth 15% of the total exam score. Since 2007, the score distributions are:

Composite score range

The College Board has released information on the approximate composite score range (previously out of 180) required to obtain each grade. As of 2022, the total possible composite score is 130. Exact cutoffs are set annually by the Chief Reader only after the scoring of that year's examinations. The above composite score cut points from 1996 to 2006 reflect the pre-2011 grading formula, which deducted 0.25 points for every incorrect multiple choice answer.

References

External links

{{Spoken Wikipedia, APUSH.ogg, date=2024-03-24
AP United States History on CollegeBoard.com
Advanced Placement History education in the United States