The College Board has altered rubrics for some of their AP History courses. Statistically speaking, the AP History courses are some of the most difficult AP courses to take. AP United States History (APUSH) had just a 48.2 percent pass rate this past year, being one of just three AP exams whose pass rates were deemed below 50 percent. In order to pass any AP exam, the test taker must receive a score of three or higher on a five-point scale. Among the multiple social studies courses the College Board offers, three courses require a Document-Based Question (DBQ) to be written as part of the exam: APUSH, AP European History (Euro), and AP World History (World). The DBQ is a long essay response the student must write using seven historical documents provided. They then must include the historical documents as evidence in their response.
The DBQ is graded on a seven-point scale. After taking AP World during my freshmen year, as well as APUSH last year as a junior, the hardest parts of writing a DBQ for me were incorporating six out of seven of the provided historical documents, which can potentially earn you up to two points on the evidence section. I remember scrambling to finish because I was trying to incorporate all seven of the documents by the end of the period. Besides just mentioning the documents, students also have to make sure they are correctly incorporated into the essay.
This year, the College Board has altered the rubric to where only four documents are needed in order to obtain full evidence points. This adjustment greatly changes the atmosphere of the DBQ because not only is it easier to get a better score, but I’d argue that now, fewer students will run out of time. Previously, thoroughly reading and correctly incorporating at least six documents took a lot of time, but now, I’d estimate that students will use only two-thirds of the time to correctly incorporate the minimum number of required documents. This change cuts down the quantity and variety of readings, while also awarding students more time to focus on their writing.
It was also extremely difficult to obtain the complexity point, which is the last point on the Long Essay Question (LEQ) and the DBQ. I remember being so drained and tired by the end of my unit tests and AP exams that it was difficult to even remember all of the numerous ways to obtain the complexity point, but now, even this has been simplified. The College Board has added numerous ways in addition to the methods already present in order to obtain the complexity point, one of them being correctly using all seven documents as a part of the essay.
To be very honest, the fact that a student can now earn the complexity point, also referred to as the unicorn point, by just using all of the documents given to them in their essay shocks me and makes me feel a little salty. I regularly included all of the documents in my essay just so I could guarantee myself all of the evidence points. I never gave much thought to the complexity point because I deemed it unattainable in the time span I was given. But, to know that if I was just a year younger, receiving a five on my APUSH exam would’ve been immensely easier than it was for me last year makes me a little frustrated. I understand that AP World and APUSH are extremely hard courses, but if there are a number of students who can receive fives on the exams, then I don’t see the point in changing the rubric. It could just be that understanding the requirements for the exam is what differentiates the fives from the fours and the threes.
Now, I’m not totally complaining about this rubric change. The College Board is always switching things up, as they changed the rubric for the AP English exams just a couple of years ago as well, lowering it to a six-point scale from a nine-point one. At the end of the day, it is much easier for students who are taking any of the three AP courses with DBQs to obtain a higher grade and pass with a five on their exam. I guess I’m just a little bitter that it would’ve been much easier for me to obtain the complexity point last year because I always made sure to incorporate all seven documents for the essay anyway. In addition to this, I would’ve saved myself a lot of stress if I knew I only was required to incorporate four out of seven of the documents, instead of six.
