The history department has recently changed their requirements to reflect the College Board’s new standards. AP United States History (APUSH) is currently changing the curriculum because the information taught was too vast to cover all in one year. APUSH intends to change the material with a new book and slightly different approach to testing the material. APUSH and IB History of the Americas 1 (IB HOTA 1) will begin to undergo changes that will influence testing material as well as switch the structuring of former methods. APUSH will be beginning periodization, combining U.S. and Canadian History.

This year IB HOTA 1 is combining U.S. History with Canadian History and Latin American History. Even though the standards have been the same since 2010, IB has never taught a history course that involves any type of Canadian or Latin history.

“Last year, I taught a combo of U.S. and IB history, and it is an intensive look at different topics. In APUSH, you would break up your year in chronological categories reconstruction unit and divide up the past in different ways and themes,” IB HOTA 1 teacher, Molly Arboleda said.

Students that are in these classes have expressed excitement regarding the expanding curriculum. Former APUSH student, and current IB HOTA 2 student, senior Michelle Hines, has enjoyed the class so far and hopes to learn new things.
“IB is really interesting; for example, we are currently learning about the interwar period between World War I and World War II, which is something that I have never seen before, and it’s really unique and amazing to view different cultures,” Hines said. “I love how IB focuses on more of an international cultural concept because I’m interested in cultural affairs of the world around me.”

IB offers a very different and unique perspective of all cultures which makes the new curriculum very exciting. IB focuses on how different cultures function in the world, which is a leading reason why the curriculum was changed.
Linda Saeta, the current IB Coordinator, knows that IB HOTA 1 is currently changing and was able to explain why the changes were needed.

“What caused the change for IB was to make sure that the two courses do not overlap each other as much as they used to,” Saeta said.

Regarding APUSH, there are many changes that will affect the AP U.S. History test. For starters, regarding the free-response sections of the exam, there will be a smaller amount of free-response questions being asked. In regards to the document based question (DBQ), there will be a smaller number of documents used. In the previous years, there would be almost eight or nine documents to incorporate into an essay, but this will be reduced. The AP exam will be scored differently, in addition to the free response portion.

The materials and knowledge that may be tested for the AP test will not change, but a new method of teaching the material to students is underway. Periodization has been one change that has greatly impacted APUSH and IB HOTA 1 because it divides the material into nine periods. History teachers have also started to use PERSIA (Political Economical Religious Social Intellectual Artistic) as one way of teaching in which the teacher helps students connect like themes. PERSIA has been helping many students learn more information and apply the material on tests and essays, but the College Board is still considering if periodization should be permanently integrated into the curriculum.
The College Board, which is currently running APUSH, is continuing to calculate how to improve the curriculum. As a major transition year, everything will be changed to benefit students.

APUSH teacher Michael Callahan believes that even though the changes will be hard to adjust to, CHS history teachers will be able to figure out the new curriculum.

“My perception is that the teachers still don’t quite know what they are looking at yet, so everything will either take a turn for the worse or the better,” Callahan said.

With both classes adjusting to the new standards, IB HOTA 1 and APUSH will continue to progress through these changes and help students learn a large amount of material. The College Board will continue to calculate on what they can improve and what to remove from the course. As for IB HOTA 1, the course will unravel as students will experience the new course with a new take on history. Regardless, the new plans for both APUSH and IB HOTA 1 will offer students an innovative look on history. The IB HOTA 1 and APUSH teachers will attempt to find a way to prepare students for the IB and AP exams in May. With the new curricula still changing, students and teachers will try to make the course exciting and a great learning experience for all.