Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once upon a time....U.S. History was for 9th graders and AP Gov/NSL was for 10th graders. It seems like MCPS has changed it.

Is AP US History supposed to be more challenging than AP Gov?

When? Both of my kids, at different high schools, took AP NSL in 9th grade and AP USH in 10th grade, within the past 5 years.

When my '21 grad was in HS, the path was APUSH in 9th, AP Gov in 10th; now it is the opposite.

Again, this has differed by high school within MCPS for years. Every year a number of teachers come onto threads to argue against APUSH for 9th graders, although some can pass. Generally, though, the average scores are much higher for 10th graders and above.

APUSH is harder than APNSL which is why most schools don’t have it for 9th except in special circumstances or by recommendation. The thought process for allowinghigh achieving kids to take APUSH is 9th grade is that the just finished taking at least some part of US history in 8th grade. Thus they already have a basis of background knowledge from which to build upon.

But even with this background kids need to be ready for the reading, thinking, and time management required to balance a course like APUSH.