By this point in the school year my students have written four DBQs and are working on their second LEQ. After working with the new rubrics and giving them a chance, I have mixed feelings. They are not perfect, but neither were earlier iterations since it is impossible to create a rubric that makes everyone happy while also ensuring effective assessment of skills and differentiation of student scores.
DBQ Document Usage & Sourcing
The new standard of using evidence from only four documents to support an argument in order to gain both evidence points at first seems a little weak. Given the time constraints of the exam, I like that this allows students to focus on quality over quantity. Sure, they are not going to get the “complexity” point if they only go with the minimum requirement, but this change recognizes that time is a legitimate issue for many students; an issue often unrelated from their mastery of course skills.
I still push my students to use six or seven documents. In the first semester, I let them work on their DBQs for homework (and have a generous reassessment policy) in order to emphasize all the embedded skills. With some support and coaching, none of my students are accepting the bare minimum.
Even more so, I appreciate the change from requiring students to source three documents to now requiring two documents. Sourcing can be a difficult skill to do well on its own, let alone when it needs to support or extend an argument. I have had excellent students that went on to score 5s tell me they gave up on the sourcing point in order to pursue others they felt more confident with. This makes it easier to talk students into trying for sourcing instead of strategizing the exam and choosing to ignore it. This in turn helps me make practicing the skill more relevant in class.
“Complexity”
What has been known as the “complexity” point is now super achievable. Although I have taught the “old” way of earning complexity, I have not had any students attempt it successfully. Instead, most of my students have managed to earn it by using all seven documents to support an argument. A few have earned it by sourcing four documents. I like that the new rubric is clearer about how to earn this point; I am worried it is too easy. However, I am also willing to admit my perspective is slightly skewed by teaching a high-achieving international school with small class sizes. I can take for granted certain foundational skills that public school teachers cannot, and therefore, can more easily and quickly push my students to the more challenging points.
In previous years, I never held my students accountable for the “complexity” point on in-class DBQs. That is, earning a 6/7 represented a full score. While I maintained that policy this year in order to adjust to the new rubrics, I have decided to drop it in the future. I want students using all documents effectively. I will be very interested for the instructional reports for this year’s exam to see what percentage of students earned the point, both globally and my own.
As a student I took AP courses. I have spoken with colleagues about IB, A levels, and other options, but have not had the experience teaching them myself. I cannot argue AP is the best, but I also will not get on board with some of the criticism that rubric changes undermine course rigor. The historical thinking skills are still front-and-center and push students more than many undergraduate survey courses. The changes are likely to increase the “spread” between student scores, but also make certain points more likely in the face of extremely limited time. It has not drastically altered how I teach and I think it is a net positive for students.