In a 2004 Gallup survey, history and social studies ranked as the least popular subject for teenagers. Why is this? Many adults recount history class as being forced to memorize names, dates, and events without a connection to one another. Acronyms like SOAPStone (Speaker, Occasion, Audience,...
One of the most common tasks I see in the social studies classroom is the use of primary sources. The power of letting people choose their own story and bringing diverse perspectives to the historical narrative is essential and worthy work. After all, teaching with textbooks, for a wide variety of...
In 2021, the College Board® added a new section to the AP® U.S Government and Politics Exam: quantitative analysis. This counts for four raw points on the exam. Along with the data project, students are asked to evaluate data and use their critical thinking skills to connect data to political...
The Free-Response Question (FRQ) portion of the Advanced Placement® exam provides test takers with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge on a vast array of topics in a concise manner. In many instances, each bullet can be answered in one to three sentences if students are able to...
One of the more perplexing topics for students on the AP exam is federalism, due to the complex nature of the federal-state relationship. Most students will grasp that there is a clear division of power between the states and the federal government with each having authority in their own sphere and...
One of the most critical skills students will need on the AP® United States Government Exam is data literacy. Not only will there always be a quantitative question on the exam, but the ability to swiftly process data is essential when trying to discern meaning in complex news stories and public...
The Supreme Court of the United States is often seen as the most distant and befuddling branch for my students. Whether it is misunderstanding their unelected status, difficulty in discerning legal language, or simply confusion about how the federal courts function, students are often left with a...
One of the most vexing problems facing students and teachers alike is the teaching of Federalist #10. Federalist #10 and the issue of factions is critical to understanding the Madisonian model, and the complexities of the design scheme of the United States’ federal system. While students generally...
One of the most important goals of civics education is to get students to understand the imperfections of the constitutional system of the United States. The system, webbed together through a series of compromises, reflects the values of the authors, largely based upon Judeo-Christian values,...
