Here are some sample questions in the newest version of the Advanced Placement U.S. History course:
1) Which of the following contributed most directly to the change in the number of Africans transported to the New World after 1800?
a) the emergence of a more industrial economy in Great Britain and the United States
b) the outlawing of the international slave trade by Great Britain and the United States
c) the increased resistance to slavery within African nations
d) the influence of major slave rebellions in Haiti and elsewhere
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2) Briefly explain why ONE of the following options most clearly marks the beginning of the sectional crisis that led to the outbreak of the Civil War.
- Northwest Ordinance (1787)
- Missouri Compromise (1820)
- Acquisition of Mexican territory (1848)
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3) Long essay question: Some historians have argued that the American Revolution was not revolutionary in nature. Support, modify or refute this interpretation, providing specific evidence to justify your answer.
The answer to the first question is b.
College Board officials announced Thursday some changes to the Advanced Placement U.S. History course, which had been criticized some Georgians, state lawmakers and Georgia’s school superintendent for omitting some historical figures and presenting information with what they said was a left-leaning bias.
The changes include explicitly mentioning historical figures like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the sacrifices of U.S. servicemen and women during World War I and II and including statements that are “more historically precise and less open to misinterpretation of perceptions of imbalance.” Nearly 18,000 Georgia students took the elective course in 2014, College Board officials said.
The changes will take effect this school year.
Georgia school Superintendent Richard Woods called the changes “a big step in the right direction.”
College Board officials made some revisions to the course last year to give teachers more flexibility. Those changes angered conservative activists across the nation, who said the altered course had a revisionist viewpoint that diminishes U.S. history. The Republican National Committee quickly passed a resolution demanding the College Board delay implementing the changes. Many teachers and historians, though, supported the changes and disputed claims of bias.
The criticism soon grew in Georgia, particularly in Gwinnett County, where a handful of residents made monthly presentations to school board members decrying the revisions. The Georgia Senate adopted a resolution earlier this year by a two-thirds margin asking the state's education department to demand the College Board return to a course framework, or guideline for teaching, that is more compatible with the state's performance standards.
Critics like Gwinnett resident Ken Craft are pleased some changes were made, but said other A.P. courses need revisions.
Jane Robbins, a prominent critic of last year’s revisions, said she has glanced at the changes and is still concerned. Robbins, a senior fellow at the American Principles Project, a conservative think tank, said the changes must be made to textbooks, not just the course guidelines, to be effective.
“The students don’t know what’s in the framework. They know what’s in the textbooks,” said Robbins, who hopes other organizations besides the College Board will offer such courses.
Fulton County teacher Chad Hoge, who testified in support of the course at a state Legislature joint education committee meeting in February, countered that he encourages teachers to use a variety of materials to teach the class. He said the changes better explain what should be taught in a balanced way. Hoge, who teaches the course at Centennial High School, hopes the revisions will allay student concerns that the course is seriously flawed or that it may go away.
“It’s really been a distraction to our students,” Hoge said.
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