Connecting giftedness and AP history

Social Studies Review, Spring 2002 by Brug, Linda

"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

This quote by Theodore Roosevelt greets my Advanced Placement U.S. history students as they enter my classroom. I truly believe that what we do in this classroom is "work worth doing." I am convinced that as these Advanced Placement students tackle the challenges of a rigorous course, many of their needs as gifted students are met.

Many critics of Advanced Placement (AP) programs claim that these courses rely only on low-level memorization of material. In my opinion, students cannot pass the Advanced Placement exam given at the end of the year with mere memorization of material. Much of the AP material is complex and performance based, and requires students to exhibit analytical, interpretative, evaluative, and synthesizing skills to perform tasks at a high level. In this article I will address the needs of gifted learners that I believe can be met through AP courses and also share some challenges of this program. I will use examples from my AP U.S. history course since that is the course with which I am most familiar, though many AP courses share the same characteristics and expectations.

Even though the AP course outline is established nationally, teachers are responsible for deciding which concepts are crucial and which ideas can be investigated further as time permits. Because the AP U.S. history course is intensive, teacher guidance is important. Some material can be compacted to allow for depth and complexity in other important areas. For example, while studying the imperialism period at the turn of the century, my students participate in a Congressional hearing in which they call historical witnesses and determine the fate of the Philippines. Students study the concept of imperialism in depth as well as the complex issues that go into making a real historical decision. Because this congressional hearing actually occurred, students can compare their reasoning with that of the members of the turn-of-the-century Congress. The process of this activity will be connected later to other examples of imperialism in history; students will then have a real foundation for understanding the basic concept and I can spend less time constructing that learning. As a result, students will have an opportunity to investigate other facets of that time period.

We know that gifted students need to learn and practice leadership skills within a discipline. Last year AP students in my class wanted to share some of their recently completed independent research projects. Out of that idea was born our school's first "History Day." Students chose a leadership team that coordinated the event in which groups of students created interactive stations based on their research to share with 6th grade students. The students decided to send out invitations to the public and begin the activity with a local speaker. A Civil War puppet show, a power point presentation of Ventura County during World War II, and a visit to the White House were just a few of the station exhibits. In addition, Manny Eneriz, a Bataan Death March survivor, presented a keynote speech to the community and students to begin this celebration of history. Students were so motivated by the success of History Day that the event continued this year with new ideas built on the foundation laid last year. This was an important leadership activity and students learned how historians teach their material to others.

In order to pass the AP exam, students are expected to take a comprehensive exam in May. This exam consists of 80 multiple-choice questions, two essays, and a document-based question. Many people believe that multiple choice questions are designed for low-level thinking. In the case of the AP U.S. history exam this is not true. Consider this question:

The assembly line production of Henry Ford's Model T automobiles resulted in which of the following by the end of the 1920's?

A. A sharp decrease in the railroad passenger traffic

B. The federal government's abandonment of research on air travel

C. The development of a large international market for automobiles

D. Widespread purchase of automobiles by average American families

E. Construction of the federal interstate highway system Students must understand the impact of the assembly line far beyond the definition of the Model T. They must also understand the significance of the Model T to the general public (The answer is D).

Students' academic skills vary in every classroom but I am constantly amazed at the multiple levels in my AP classrooms. We often erroneously believe that gifted learners have developed the skills to be good students on their own. The teaching of writing skills is especially challenging. Astonishing as it may sound, many gifted students do not know what a thesis sentence is and I must assess where my students are in terms of those skills. Analyzing documents to integrate into an essay is crucial to an acceptable essay on the AP test. It is not enough to make a "laundry list" of documents; students must stretch to achieve excellence in their writing. Many gifted students were allowed to become "lazy" in their writing because it was superior to that of other students in their heterogeneous classes. In an AP class, their essays are scored according to a challenging rubric. It is exciting to see students work through their writing frustrations and challenge themselves to work their way up the rubric. In their AP courses they know what is expected and they work toward a defined goal.