AP World History: A History

As more students enroll in Advanced Placement classes, the College Board is bound to make changes to the curriculums of their courses either to more accurately represent college-level classes or to make them easier for students. The outline and exam for the AP World History course have changed many times since its introduction in 2001, but have these changes actually made the course easier for students? I will explore the most notable changes that the College Board has made to the AP World History curriculum over the past 20+ years and look at the exam data to determine how these changes have affected the performance of the test-takers.

A green highlight indicates a change or addition from the previous year's curriculum

Original 2002 Curriculum

AP World History was introduced in the 2001-2002 school year, 46 years after AP US History was introduced. Its first exam was taken by over 20,000 students, with an average score of 2.94. (For comparison, the most recent 2023 exam was taken by over 350,000 students, and had an average score of 3.04)

Time Periods

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

• 70 non-stimulus-based questions (questions that do not include responding to a primary or secondary source)
• 55 minutes
• ~47 seconds per question
• 50% of exam score
• 1/4 of a point was deducted from the overall MCQ score for each incorrect question

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

• 4 - 10 documents
• 50 minutes with a 10-minute built-in reading period
• 16.6% of exam score
• Rubric:

  Description	Points (9)
  An acceptable thesis	1
  Uses at least all but one of the documents	1
  Supports thesis with evidence from documents	1
  Understands the purpose of at least all but one of the documents	1
  Analyzes bias or point of view in at least 2 documents	1
  Groups documents in 1, 2, or 3 different ways depending on the prompt	1
  Identifies one type of appropriate additional document	1
  Expanded Core: expands beyond the basic core (can only earn points in the expanded core after earning all 7 previous points). This can be earned in several different ways, including: A clear, analytical, and comprehensive thesis Analyzes the bias or point of view of multiple documents Analyzes document in additional ways: groupings, comparisons, synthesis Uses evidence not found in the documents Identifies more than one type of appropriate additional document	2

Change-Over-Time Essay

• 40 minutes
• 16.6% of exam score
• Rubric:

  Description	Points (9)
  An acceptable thesis that addresses the global issues and time periods specified	1
  Addresses all parts of the prompt(or only addresses most parts of the prompt)	2(1)
  Supports thesis with appropriate evidence(or only partially supports thesis with appropriate evidence)	2(1)
  Uses historical context to show change over time and/or continuities	1
  Expanded Core: expands beyond the basic core (can only earn points in the expanded core after earning all 6 previous points). This can be earned in several different ways, including: A clear, analytical, and comprehensive thesis Addresses all parts of the prompt: global issues, chronology, causation, continuity, change, content Addresses all parts of the prompt evenly Provides links with relevant ideas, events, or trends in an innovative way	3

Comparative Essay

• 40 minutes
• 16.6% of exam score
• Rubric:

  Description	Points (9)
  An acceptable thesis that addresses the global issues and time periods specified	1
  Addresses all parts of the prompt(or only addresses most parts of the prompt)	2(1)
  Supports thesis with appropriate evidence(or only partially supports thesis with appropriate evidence)	2(1)
  Makes at least one or two relevant, direct comparisons between societies	1
  Expanded Core: expands beyond the basic core (can only earn points in the expanded core after earning all 6 previous points). This can be earned in several different ways, including: A clear, analytical, and comprehensive thesis Addresses all parts of the prompt: comparisons, chronology, causation, connections, themes, interactions, content Relates comparisons to a larger global context Makes direct comparisons consistently between societies	3

2012 Changes

In 2012, the main point of the changes made was to make the exam easier and the curriculum more straightforward. Date ranges and exam weights of some time periods were updated, and each period was given a unique title. The requirements for the DBQ were further specified in the rubric. The MCQ was made easier by reducing the number of possible answers and getting rid of the 1/4 point penalty for each incorrect answer.

Time Periods

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

• Points are no longer deducted for incorrect answers
• Questions now have four possible answers instead of five

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

• Rubric:

  Description	Points (9)
  An acceptable thesis	1
  Addresses all documents and demonstrates an understanding of at least all but one of the documents	1
  Supports thesis with evidence from at least all but one of the documents(or only supports thesis with evidence from at least all but two of the documents)	2(1)
  Analyzes bias or point of view in at least 2 documents	1
  Groups documents in 2 or 3 different ways depending on the prompt	1
  Identifies one type of appropriate additional document	1
  Expanded Core: expands beyond the basic core (can only earn points in the expanded core after earning all 7 previous points). This can be earned in several different ways, including: A clear, analytical, and comprehensive thesis Analyzes the bias or point of view of multiple documents Analyzes document in additional ways: groupings, comparisons, synthesis Uses evidence not found in the documents Explains why additional types of documents are needed	2

2017 Changes

The AP World History exam was completely overhauled in 2017. The new Short Answer Questions (SAQ) and Long Essay Question (LEQ) replaced the comparative and change-over-time essays. More time was given to complete the DBQ, and the number of documents was set to always be seven. The number of multiple choice questions was reduced to 55 and were changed to be about responding to a passage, image, or piece of data, instead of recalling and answering specific facts.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

• 55 stimulus-based questions (questions that include responding to a primary or secondary source)
• 55 minutes
• 60 seconds per question
• 40% of exam score

Short Answer Questions (SAQ)

• 50 minutes
• 4 stimulus-based questions
• 12 minutes and 30 seconds per question
• 20% of exam score

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

• Only 7 documents
• 55 minutes with a 15-minute built-in reading period
• 25% of exam score
• Rubric:

  Description	Points (7)
  A historically defensible thesis that responds to all parts of the prompt	1
  Describes broader historical context relevant to the prompt	1
  Supports an argument using contradiction, corroboration, or qualification with evidence	1
  Supports an argument in response to the prompt using at least 6 documents	1
  Explains how the document's point of view, purpose, historical context, or audience is relevant to an argument for at least 4 documents	1
  Uses at least one additional piece of evidence not found in the documents and that is relevant to the prompt	1
  Synthesis: Explains a connection between an argument and a development in one of the following: Different historical period Geographical period Course theme that is not the focus of the essay Different discipline	1

Long Essay Question (LEQ)

• 35 minutes
• Choose from one of two prompts
• 15% of exam score
• Rubric:

  Description	Points (6)
  A historically defensible thesis that responds to all parts of the prompt	1
  Describes and explains reasons for the historical continuity and change(or only describes the historical continuity and change)	2(1)
  Supports an argument in response to the prompt using specific and relevant pieces of evidence(or only provides pieces of evidence relevant to the topic of the prompt)	2(1)
  Synthesis: Explains a connection between an argument and a development in one of the following: Different historical period Geographical period Course theme that is not the focus of the essay Different discipline	1

2018 Changes

In response to students struggling with the previous exam's free response questions, the SAQ, DBQ, and LEQ were majorly changed once again. The Synthesis point on the DBQ and LEQ was replaced with the less-specific Complexity point. The SAQ was changed to require only three out of the four questions to be answered, with the last two not including stimulus, and 10 minutes were taken from the SAQ and added to the DBQ and LEQ.

Short Answer Questions (SAQ)

• 40 minutes
• 3 required questions
  • Question 1:
    • Only asks about periods 3-6
    • Given stimulus from a secondary source
  • Question 2:
    • Only asks about periods 3-6
    • Given stimulus from a primary source or image
  • Choose between:
    • Question 3:
      • Only asks about periods 1-3
      • No stimulus
    • Question 4:
      • Only asks about periods 4-6
      • No stimulus
• 13 minutes and 20 seconds per question

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

• 60 minutes with a 15-minute built-in reading period
• The prompt can now only ask about content from periods 3 to 6
• Rubric:

  Description	Points (7)
  A historically defensible thesis that responds to the prompt and establishes a line of reasoning	1
  Describes broader historical context relevant to the prompt	1
  Supports an argument in response to the prompt using at least 6 documents(or only addresses the topic of the prompt using at least 3 documents)	2(1)
  Uses at least one additional piece of evidence not found in the documents and that is relevant to the prompt	1
  Explains how the document's point of view, purpose, historical situation, or audience is relevant to an argument for at least 3 documents	1
  Complexity: Demonstrates a complex understanding of the historical development of the prompt using evidence to corroborate, qualify, or modify an argument	1

Long Essay Question (LEQ)

• 40 minutes
• Choose from one of three prompts that correspond to periods 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6
• Rubric:

  Description	Points (6)
  A historically defensible thesis that responds to the prompt and establishes a line of reasoning	1
  Describes broader historical context relevant to the prompt	1
  Supports an argument in response to the prompt using specific and relevant pieces of evidence(or only provides pieces of evidence relevant to the topic of the prompt)	2(1)
  Complexity: Demonstrates a complex understanding of the historical development of the prompt using evidence to corroborate, qualify, or modify an argument(or only uses comparison, causation, or CCOT to structure an argument that addresses the prompt)	2(1)

2020 Changes

The course outline was reorganized into units that cover the same time periods, but exclude all content before 1200 AD, in preparation for a potential AP Ancient World History course that will cover content from 8000 BC - 1450 AD. No other information regarding this future course is known.

Units

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

• The prompt can now only ask about content from units 3 to 9

2024 Changes

Likely in response to declining AP US History scores, minor changes were made to all AP history DBQ rubrics, with a few even smaller changes made to the LEQ rubric, mainly making it easier to earn the complexity point.

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

• Rubric:

  Description	Points (7)
  A historically defensible thesis that responds to the prompt and establishes a line of reasoning	1
  Describes broader historical context relevant to the prompt	1
  Supports an argument in response to the prompt using at least 4 documents(or only addresses the topic of the prompt using at least 3 documents)	2(1)
  Uses at least one additional piece of evidence not found in the documents and that is relevant to the prompt	1
  Explains how the document's point of view, purpose, historical situation, or audience is relevant to an argument for at least 2 documents	1
  Complexity: Demonstrates a complex understanding of the historical development of the prompt using evidence to corroborate, qualify, or modify an argument; can now also be earned by using seven documents or analyzing four documents	1

Exam Data

Percentages of Scores 2002-2023

Mean Score 2002-2023

Significant increases and decreases in the percentages of scores can be seen in the years of curriculum and exam changes, especially during 2011 and 2017. There was also a significant increase in the percentage of 1's and 2's and a decrease in the percentage of 3's and 4's during 2021, likely due to COVID-19. For the first time in the course's history, the percentage of 5's overtook the percentage of 1's in the most recent 2023 exam. Additionally, the exams from the last two years, 2022 and 2023, have had the highest average scores since the introduction of the course in 2002.

References

Information is specified by the year that the first exam including those changes was administered.