As long as Homestead has been offering Advanced Placement (AP) United States History students and teachers alike have been working to improve the class as a whole.
Mr. Nicholas Schueller, social studies teacher, has been working with AP United States History classes for multiple years. Over that time, many changes have altered the AP US History course, from class sizes and grades to the AP test itself.
One major change has been class sizes. In fact, this is the first year two Homestead teachers will teach AP US History classes to accommodate the increased number of students. Both Ms. Abbie Gerczak, social studies teacher, and Mr. Schueller will teach AP US History sections.
“We’ve opened it up and really pushed more and more kids to do it because it’s a class that I think 99% of kids at homestead can do, especially if they’re willing to put in the work,” Schueller said.
Additionally, average class scores on in-school assessments have been steadily increasing.
“[The scores] have been getting better. So far this class coming though, the sophomores and some juniors,.. have had some of the best scores we’ve ever had,” Schueller said.
An increase in class sizes and testing scores is certainly positive, but Homestead’s AP Us History class did not become what it currently is overnight. Both changes to the nationwide AP test format and Homestead’s changes to how students approach that test have contributed to this improvement. Specifically, in the AP test the Document Based question, or DBQ for short, was previously formatted with a less clear rubric.
“There used to be this thing called the complication point,” Schueller said.
He further described the difficulty of the complication point was that teachers were unsure how to instruct students on it.
Furthermore, changes to the DBQ are far from the only class update; how homestead teachers teach the material has also undergone serious changes over the years.
“The first year of kids in AP US History saw the checklist (a framework for writing well organized and high-scoring DBQ’s) and they were like, ‘where was this for us?’ and I was like, ‘I didn’t know what we were doing. Now I know,’” Schueller said.
Johana Kim, sophomore, is one of many students taking AP US History after hearing about its supposed trials from an older student.
“I thought it would be super difficult and super not fun, but it’s actually the opposite. I realized that there are teachers that can really help me, and that they don’t want to see me struggle. All I need to do is ask for help and they will help me,” Kim said.
Additionally, past students such as Emily Taylor, senior, have noted how AP US History aids students interested in taking other AP classes in the future.
“It really helps with reading comprehension, and being able to do things under a time crunch,” Taylor said.
Over all, a few crucial factors make AP US History at Homestead as successful as it is. Consistent efforts by teachers to improve the class, and a willingness by past and present students have allowed for this marked growth in a notoriously difficult class.
“The discipline of history over all has gone from a lot of facts and dates, knowing exact things, to more of a skill-based course looking at primary sources, comparing and contrasting, all of that,” Gerzack said.
The curriculum created by Homestead’s AP US History teachers certainly aims to instruct in skills rather than hundreds of years worth of specific dates and persons.
“This class is really all about you learning to become a better student,” Gerzack said.
