Reflections from the 2024 AP US History Exam Reading

From June 1-9, I joined over a thousand other educators to participate in the 2024 AP US History Exam Reading in Kansas City, Missouri. While this was my 7th year of grading, I came away with new insights that I wanted to share with YOU! 

1. Students in AP US History are IMPRESSIVE!

I was astonished (once again) by the efforts of students. Despite not always hitting the bar needed to earn points, it was clear that students had put in significant work to prepare for this challenging exam. 

2. The Changes to the DBQ Rubric were EXCITING!

A. Thesis Point:

While there were no changes to the language of the thesis point, I believe more students earned this point due to the other changes. Since the overall rubric language was less complicated, I wonder if teachers had more time to dive deeper into writing satisfactory thesis statements.

B. Sourcing Documents + Complexity: 

-  One of the major changes was related to the sourcing of the documents. Students in 2024 needed to “source” (describe the point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience) of TWO documents instead of THREE. 

- Students could also earn the complexity point from sourcing FOUR documents. However, there is a very slight difference in the sourcing point and complexity point that I believe was missed by many students and teachers:

SOURCING:  For at least two documents, explains how or why the document’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience is relevant to an argument

COMPLEXITY

Explaining how the point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience of at least four documents supports an argument that responds to the prompt

Looking closely at the italics, you can see that in order to earn the Complexity point for sourcing four documents, a student needs to ensure that the explanation connects back to the prompt. While the Sourcing point just needs to be related to any argument within the essay. This is a very slight difference but does set the bar a little higher for Complexity than many teachers and students may have understood.

3. Professional Development + Connections are UNMATCHED!

While grading the same prompt (especially the DBQ!) for 56 hours isn’t exactly my idea of fun, I return year after year because of the people. Once again, this year, I was able to connect with incredible professionals. I have found friends across the country and the support that we give each other has been immeasurable. If you are curious about the day in the life of an AP US History Grader, check out my take on it on my IG or TikTok.

4. Kansas City v. Tampa

After spending years in Tampa for the reading, the location moved to Kansas City. Here are my thoughts on their differences:

I’ll be sharing additional insights and highlights from Kansas City on my social media channels in the coming days but I hope these top 3 takeaways give you a clearer picture of what the exam reading entails.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Annie

*Note: The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect those of the College Board.