Merion Mercy Academy Back to School Night Tuesday, 9/16/14 AP US History Mr. Paul Clementi Code 3, 7 AP US History AP US History Welcome to …..

5 Questions in under 10 minutes 1. Who is this guy? 2. What’s the content? 3. How does he teach it? 4. How does he grade? 5. Does he see my child?

My Background  I’m a dad too!  3 children (13, 16, & 18)  Parishioner, St. Thomas of Villanova  Education  B.S. Economics, Villanova University  J.D., Seton Hall Law School  PA Teacher Cert., Eastern Univ.  Previous Career with ExxonMobil

Teaching Assignments  Adjunct Professor (2005 to present)  Villanova, Eastern, Immaculata and West Chester Universities  Merion Mercy (Seventh year) Other Courses: Modern US History, Introduction to Law, US Government and Psychology (World Cultures???)  Other Courses: Modern US History, Introduction to Law, US Government and Psychology (World Cultures???)  Mock Trial Program Coordinator

Why take an AP course? Do college level work and earn….  a +0.4 GPA bump (i.e. B+ = 3.9 not 3.5) a +0.4 GPA bump (i.e. B+ = 3.9 not 3.5)  “props” on the MMA transcript for the college resume  potentially college credit ($$)  an opportunity to develop critical thinking skills necessary for college success

College Credit?  Successfully complete the class  Take the standardized AP Exam (yes, produced by the College Board : the same folks that torture you with the SAT )  Exam scored on a 1 to 5 scale  Scores of 5, 4 or 3 may earn earn credit but it is at each college’s discretion

Sound easy enough???? Statistics from the 2014 exam to consider  2.3 million total AP exams / avg. score 2.83  383,000 APUSH exams / avg. score 2.92  APUSH Scores  11% Scored 5  21% Scored 4  21% Scored 3  27 % Scored 2  20% Scored 1

The rigor of APUSH Content  Over 400 years of history (breath)  Detail historical analysis demanding (depth)  interpretation  contextualization  analysis  synthesis  argumentation

The Redesign’s Approach  Concepts  Concepts …. are stressed over rote memorization; “depth” over “breath.”  Themes  Themes …. “package” the content covered in the nine time periods so it can be studied conceptually.  Thinking Skills … are to be the focus of the class. Different sections of the APUSH exam will explicitly or implicitly test each of these nine skills.

The 2015 Exam The 2015 Exam ( 3hrs 15 minutes : D-day(5/8/15)  Part 1: Multiple choice 55 questions, 55 minutes = 40% of exam  Part 2: Short Answers 4 questions in 45 minutes = 20%  Part 3: DBQ (Documents Based Question) 1 question in 60 minutes = 25%  Part 4: Long Essay 1 of 2 questions in 55 minutes = 15% 1 of 2 questions in 55 minutes = 15%

Class Assessments  Formal Assessments 90% (Quizzes, test, papers etc)  Daily Assessments 10% (Class participation etc)  Mid Term but No Final  APUSH Exam May 8 th

Quizzes, Tests and Projects  Key Points …. 1. “Nothing should be a surprise.” 2. Quizzes may be given on any day and may be announced or unannounced. However, unannounced quizzes if homework / class work is collectively unsatisfactory. 3. Test and projects will be announced ahead of schedule and given/due only on the assigned testing dates (day 2 and 5). 4. On particularly longer units, a comprehensive test may be given that draws on information prior to the previous test.

Class Participation From the syllabus “…. [T]o achieve our academic goals active participation of the students in class is vital. The development of interpersonal and communication skills is an important part of any social studies class. This grade is a good faith effort grade; students will not be scored on the correctness of your answers, but the on the quality of your commitment to the learning process…”

But the big question… Does he see my child?