There is a lot to consider when making the decision with your child about academic world history (a thematic and challenging high school class) or WHAP (a true college level course offering). Here are a few steps to making a good choice.
Ask your child which makes the most sense for them, and why.
Ask yourself, has your child demonstrated the maturity that would indicate the willingness to do college level work?
Read about WHAP on the "Parents & WHAP" page of this site.
Talk to the parents of former WHAP students.
Feel free to ask me what I think using the "Contact Me" form on this site.
In any case, sign up for email updates on the "Message List" form on this site.
I look forward to getting to know you and your child in the coming school year.

My apologies for the delay in getting this first email out. 
I know the kids are struggling a bit, and the new work load has been a shock. Even when you know it's coming, it can be daunting. This dip in grades and a feeling of being overwhelmed is common in a first AP class; but it gets better, and the harder students work, the sooner it gets better. 

Adjusting to the test format has been tough, and I've spent some time in class letting them see questions along with sample answers. They are really having to stretch to a conceptual thinking style that is a foundation of the way College Board designed this course.

I'm asking both you and your student to trust me. Things get better, study time shortens, grades go up. And the hard work pays off not just in great results on the AP Exam, but more importantly in opening up a new way of seeing the world, managing complex ideas, and communicating effectively in writing.

Here are the techniques that I know work. 
1. Scan the chapter first and determine how Strayer has organized the content.
2. Go through next and answer the margin questions in writing, by hand.
3. Read through section by section and stop after each one and write a summary and a "so what?" paragraph, by hand.
4. Interact with other students, and anyone who will hold still, about this weeks content, ideas, significance, etc. 
5. Share the work and reinforce your understanding on the class forum.

 I had an email exchange with a student earlier today that illustrates how this class is different.
The student wrote: I have a quick question. On the timeline one test, question 14 asks, "What is the significance of the reign of Hammurabi in the Babylonian Empire?" I put Code of Hammurabi, but it was counted wrong. Was the correct answer that the code showed emergence of class and gender inequality?
Thanks,

I wrote back: Yes, exactly. The Code is sort of, "way to go Captain Obvious". It's the "so what" that counts. In this case, demonstrating class and gender inequality is the "so what". You could have also gone with something like, it was one of the earliest known systems of codified law applied to all citizens. That's true too, and significant.

What's missing is rigor and teaching kids to think critically. Here are two interesting and recent articles about the state of American education.
The Economist.
ASCD

While my 4th and 5th period people know this already, I wanted to be sure everyone, including parents, know of a fantastic opportunity we have to boost our performance on the AP World History exam.

With the exam only 38 days away, we have added a highly effective tool to our preparation efforts: through a special arrangement with the publisher, all students enrolled in WHAP at HSPVA may set up an account with GetAFive.com at no charge! (Normally, the fee is $50.)

What’s that? It’s an online resource that allows students to take a diagnostic exam and then get a customized study plan that includes very targeted, easy to understand videos (70 of them) on World History topics, quizzes (255 AP style questions) and an online practice exam. This should be a huge relief for those students who are let’s say, “challenged” when it comes to reading motivation!

Simply go to the “Exam Review” page of BinghamsPlace.com and enter the password, “effort” (w/o the quotes). There you will find the link and the promo code that allows you to sign up for free. I’m so excited about this opportunity,  I’ll even make enrolling and taking the diagnostic a 100 for a reading check grade!

I am convinced that students who use this tool to supplement the work we are doing in class will substantially improve their chances of earning the HSPVA goal of a FIVE on the AP World History exam this year. Do it now!

Dear WHAP students and parents:

During the class the last two days, World History AP students took a diagnostic exam made available to me by the College Board©. These questions were as close to the actual exam questions - in terms of difficulty, topic and type - as available. The reason that matters to you is that it is our best predictor of how a particular student would score on the exam if it were administered today.

This information is available to you in the on-line grade book.  AP scores are distributed on a bell curve and I have applied that statistical analysis to this score distribution. You may convert the raw score found in the grade book using the following chart. With 56 days available in which to prepare, a focused student, committing the appropriate time, could easily expect to see improvement to the next highest score. Please join me in that effort. My experience has taught me that these are the critical weeks with regard to test performance. I’ve seen miracles! Success in AP classes is the most accurate predictor of college success.

Score range

AP score equivalent*

Comments

17 - 32

1

Unacceptable.

33 - 40

2

Not passing.

40 - 57

3

Passing; but unlikely to earn credit from most colleges. Roughly 68% of all testers earn this score each year.

58 - 68  4

Strong score; credit likely except for the most competitive programs; a significant addition to any college application.

69 + 5

Outstanding; credit very likely; extremely impressive on a university application, increasingly admissions officers regard such performance over class rank, GPA, and other factors.

You may purchase a prep  book such as Princeton Review; but I don’t think you need one. I have asked students to dedicate a new folder to this review process. We are in essence creating our own, more targeted prep book. This is a proven system and I’m asking all students to enthusiastically participate.

*Keep in mind a couple of problems with this analysis. 1.) This was scaled based on the small sample at HSPVA. One might assume that our students would outperform the nation as a whole, but I would not recommend making that assumption. 2.) While the objective (multiple choice) portion is highly predictive of overall outcomes, a strong or weak performance on the essays could move a score by at least a point.

High score: 83 Low score: 17 Range: 66 points (very high)   Mean: 52, scores were unusually clustered around the mean.

Please contact me if you have any questions. Much is available on the class web site.

Dear World History Devotee!

A quick reminder, in case we're feeling a bit muddled from the break and all that good cheer and relaxing time, there is a reading check over chapter 11 of Strayer, first thing, first day! Please make sure you (or your student) is well prepared. As always, close reading, using the strategies we've discussed, is required in order to reasonably expect success.  

Looking ahead to Spring semester, we'll wrap up the "3rd Wave Societies" unit with this chapter taking a good look at Islam, the pastoral moment in history (chap 12) and a snapshot of  the "worlds" as they stood in the 15th century (chap 13) on the eve of the staggering changes that were soon to impact lives everywhere in the 16th century. Assessments for those will follow the familiar pastern of a reading check on Tues/Wed and an open ended assessment (sometimes essay) on Thursday/Friday.

Then, I'm going to present the next period, the "early modern" era differently. Together we will digest these three centuries (1450 - 1750) in two weeks, using a combination of shorter, more frequent reads followed by reading checks, lectures and in-class document studies. Much of this material is familiar (Exploration, Colombian Exchange, The Great Dying, Slave Trade, the spread of Christianity) so I expect to move quickly in order to buy us an additional week of review before the AP exam.

Then, back to that old familiar pattern, we'll tackle the complex "long nineteenth century" 1750 - 1900 in four weeks spanning four chapters from Strayer; which will bring us to Spring Break having read almost all of the most targeted and comprehensive book relative to the AP Exam!

I mention this not only to help you plan and prepare your time, but also because it connects to grades in a critical way. Looking at a semester holistically  and it's the semester grade that ends up on a transcript, you should note that there are many more assessments - more rigorous assessments, in the weeks from returning in January to Spring Break than in the period after Spring Break to the end of the semester. (I have good reasons for this, but I won't bore you further.) The point is that performance in the next nine weeks will have a disproportionately larger impact on the semester grade than subsequent weeks. Please refer to the class calendar on the website to look ahead.

I'm looking forward to collaborating with my students as you all make quantum leaps forward in your content knowledge, historical thinking, and writing skills. I'm engaged, excited and ready, are you? Well, you have two more days to get there!

Greetings WHAP Family!

I want to be as straightforward as possible with you today, but I’m concerned that tone can often be misunderstood in an email. So allow me to begin by saying that there is no anger or frustration behind what I am going to say, only concern for the academic welfare of your child and a need to express my desire to help and move your student in a positive direction. Your student is aware of my strident style and knows to take me with a few grains of salt, but you don’t know me quite as well as your child does!

I’ve heard from many of you and you have several understandable concerns. I’d like to address some of those among all of us and to make you aware of a new strategy I’m employing this weekend to support your efforts and especially those of your child.

While I understand the importance of grades (I have four children of my own) my primary concern as an educator is student learning. I work hard to make sure that grades are a reflection of a student’s learning –that is their function. World History Advanced Placement is a very rigorous class, and it is therefore reasonable to see a drop in student’s grades. Now, at the end of the first marking period, the issue of grades rises more than ever in the minds of students and parents.

I want you to understand that I cannot lower the standards of this course for several reasons.

· Foremost, I am an educator because I am deeply committed to a personal mission to develop the intellectual, aesthetic, ethical and empathetic lives of children. To lower those standards because of grades would run contrary to my mission.

· I have submitted to the College Board the syllabus from which I am teaching this class. It was approved by College Board because it meets the standards of rigor established by them. Ethically, I am bound to that syllabus.

· Many students are taking this course with the intention of earning a maximum 5 on the exam in May so that they may earn college credit and thereby save time and money in college. Any lowering of standards effectively cheats those students out of that opportunity. I have had several former students go off to college effectively as sophomores because of the AP credit they earned in High School.

So the challenge for you, your child and I is to rise to the standards of the Advanced Placement curriculum. We can do that, but it will likely not be a painless process.

At this point, as best I can discern, the WHAP students fall into three groups, of fairly equal size. There are students who are managing the work, earning reasonable scores on the assessments and showing an improving trend. Other students have not yet internalized the amount of work required and the personal skill growth needed to succeed. They need motivation, but they are not going to get it in the form of an artificial grade. The third group is of the most concern to me.

These are people who are working hard, but still struggling to manage the assessments. In class this week, I presented (or more accurately, re-presented) a wide-ranging menu of study strategies. You may want to ask your child about that conversation and the hand-out that accompanied it. The idea is for students to find a strategy that works for them. If old strategies are not working or consuming large amounts of time, then they need to try new ones until their hard work pays off.

Last weekend, I engaged many students in an on-line forum on the class web site about the Strayer text. As a result, I did see scores improve, and so that is an encouraging trend. I am doing that again this weekend, but I’ve also taken one more step.

This morning I essentially put myself in the role of a WHAP student and tackled chapter 23 of Strayer as I have been directing your child to do. The result is on the 20th century page of the web site. My intention was not to do the work for students, but to model the work. I want your student to do their own work and then compare it to mine. Did he or she miss a key point from a margin question? In what ways did he or she organize the data? Are the note thourough? (This should be unique to each student’s personal learning style.) My study notes are intended to move your student in the right direction, in the direction of a workable strategy they can utilize for the rest of the year, and likely beyond.

If your child wants to succeed in his or her learning in this class, then they deserve every effort on my part and your to help them get there. In the end though, it’s up to them. I sincerely hope this helps us come to a greater understanding in our shared mission,