Heritage as a Resource for Enhancing and Assessing Historical Thinking Reflections from the Netherlands

The College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams are unique in providing a uniform assessment experience to American and international high school students in the fields of United States, European, and World History. This chapter describes how recently announced changes to these courses and exams could affect the way millions of high school students and teachers experience the study of the past. The exam questions follow the scope and content of the AP Course Description, which outlines the topics that students expect to study. The effort to redesign AP history had to begin with a curriculum framework that explained at what depth students needed to learn about historical facts, while making clear how students should articulate skills and habits of mind that show evidence of authentic historical understanding. In order for teachers to have the instructional flexibility needed to improve student's understanding depth and historical thinking skills, the structure and nature of the AP exam had to change.