Exam Overview
The AP African American Studies Exam assesses student understanding of the skills and learning objectives outlined in the course framework. The end of course exam is 2 hours 30 minutes long and includes 60 multiple-choice questions and 4 free-response questions. In addition to the end of course exam, the course includes a project that students will submit prior to the end of course exam. Students submit the project in May alongside their AP exam for scoring by professors and teachers at the annual AP Reading. The project score and the exam score are combined to generate an AP score of 1-5 for college credit and placement.
Project Overview
Students will embark on a three-week project in their AP African American Studies course during which they will define a research topic and line of inquiry, conduct independent research to analyze authentic sources from multiple disciplines, and develop and deliver a presentation about their selected topic. The Individual Student Project will contribute to the student's AP Exam Score.
The project aims to deepen student understanding of content and skills within the discipline of African American Studies. Projects can take a variety of forms. Each project must be anchored in at least four sources from any combination of the following:
Primary text-based sources
Secondary text-based sources
Artwork and photography
Literature (e.g. poems, short stories)
Data sets and maps
Music lyrics
Performances (e.g. plays, music, musicals, exhibits)
Oral histories
Events (e.g. debates, public hearings, speeches, or testimonies)
Students will analyze and compare the four sources, develop their own perspective on their topic, and support their perspective with details or other evidence from the four sources. Students will then create and deliver a presentation to their class, enabling all students in the class to learn from each other's projects. The presentation is not a report but is instead an argument in which students support a claim or perspective with evidence or details from the sources they studied.