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Marsha Greco is a National Board Certified Teacher in Social Studies-History who has been teaching in San Diego, California since 2009 and is the Social Studies Department Chair at The Preuss School UC San Diego, where she has taught since 2014. She was one of the original 63 teachers nationwide and only four in the state of California that taught AP African American Studies in Pilot Year 1 (2022-2023) and was selected to be part of the first cohort of College Board endorsed AP African American Studies Workshop Consultants in 2023 to train teachers in Pilot Year 2 and beyond. Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, Marsha provided support to Pilot Year 2 teachers as a co-facilitator of monthly Office Hour sessions and a leader for extra support sessions hosted by the College Board. During the summer of 2024, she led several AP Summer Institutes in both in-person and online formats.
Marsha is also involved in assessment development for the AP African American Studies course and served as a Reader scoring Free Response Questions at the AP African American Studies Exam Reading in both 2023 and 2024. She has also taught AP United States History since 2015 and taught AP European History for eight years, and served as an AP Reader for both subjects at various times. Marsha has also led professional development sessions on teaching strategies and resources for AP African American Studies and AP US History at numerous national and statewide conferences. In 2024, Marsha was honored with the Outstanding High School Teacher of the Year Award from the California Council for the Social Studies. |
MARSHA GRECO
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COLLEGE BOARD COURSE DESIGN- AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
Drawing from the expertise and experience of college faculty and teachers across the country, the course is designed to offer high school students an evidence-based introduction to African American studies.
The interdisciplinary course reaches into a variety of fields—literature, the arts and humanities, political science, geography, and science—to explore the vital contributions and experiences of African Americans.
Course Development Timeline
APSI COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Description:
The AP African American Studies course is a transformative journey that places Black voices and experiences at its core as students delve into a rich variety of topics spanning from ancient African kingdoms to the contemporary world. Participants in this workshop will explore the interdisciplinary nature of AP African American Studies that examines the diversity of African American experiences through direct encounters with authentic and varied sources.
In this four-day online workshop, participants will engage in an in-depth examination of the course framework and components of the AP Exam, including the culminating Project. Participants will leave the workshop with resources, instructional strategies, and sample lessons and activities to design meaningful learning experiences for students.
The goals for the week are:
Agenda:
Day One
Understanding the Course Framework, Content, and Skills; Forming a Supportive and Collaborative Community
Day Two
Exam Format, Sample Questions, and Resources
Day Three
Course Project, Assessments, and Pacing
Day Four
Lesson Planning and Collaboration
Drawing from the expertise and experience of college faculty and teachers across the country, the course is designed to offer high school students an evidence-based introduction to African American studies.
The interdisciplinary course reaches into a variety of fields—literature, the arts and humanities, political science, geography, and science—to explore the vital contributions and experiences of African Americans.
Course Development Timeline
- 2023-24 Pilot expands to hundreds of additional high schools. Pilot students took the first AP African American Studies Exams in spring of 2024.
- 2024-25 All schools can begin offering AP African American Studies.
- Spring 2025 AP African American Studies Exams available to all students.
APSI COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Description:
The AP African American Studies course is a transformative journey that places Black voices and experiences at its core as students delve into a rich variety of topics spanning from ancient African kingdoms to the contemporary world. Participants in this workshop will explore the interdisciplinary nature of AP African American Studies that examines the diversity of African American experiences through direct encounters with authentic and varied sources.
In this four-day online workshop, participants will engage in an in-depth examination of the course framework and components of the AP Exam, including the culminating Project. Participants will leave the workshop with resources, instructional strategies, and sample lessons and activities to design meaningful learning experiences for students.
The goals for the week are:
- To achieve an understanding of the AP African American Studies course framework and the required sources
- To create a course pacing guide to incorporate the full scope of the course content as well as the Project
- To design, share, and explore lesson plans, resources, strategies, and assessments that provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the content, skills, and materials in AP African American Studies
- To understand the content and structure of the AP African American Studies exam and Project, and to develop appropriate strategies for maximizing student scores
- To connect with a large network of people to support transition into teaching the course
- To feel empowered to teach this groundbreaking course as it enters its first operational year and continue blazing the trail set in the two years of the pilot!
Agenda:
Day One
Understanding the Course Framework, Content, and Skills; Forming a Supportive and Collaborative Community
- Introductions and community building
- Equity and Access in AP
- AP African American Studies course overview
- Sample Lesson
- Course Framework overview
- Understanding Course Skills
- Course Framework deep dive
- AP Course Audit
- Reflections
Day Two
Exam Format, Sample Questions, and Resources
- Sample Activities
- AP Exam Overview
- Multiple Choice Questions
- Short Answer Questions (SAQ)
- Sample Short Answer Questions and scoring
- Digital Exam and AP Classroom Overview
- Reflections
- Homework: Create multiple choice questions to share
Day Three
Course Project, Assessments, and Pacing
- Project overview and rubric
- Teacher Manual, Submission, and Rubric
- Oral Defense, Exam Day Validation, Plagiarism/AI Policy
- Approaches to the Project
- Explore the Project Manual
- How to do the DBQ
- Sample DBQ scoring
- Instructional Planning Report Overview
- Best practices for planning your course
- Creating your course pacing guide
- Homework: Design a sample lesson to share
Day Four
Lesson Planning and Collaboration
- Multiple Choice Questions Feedback
- Teaching a Studies Course
- Sample Lessons and Activities
- Further Exploration
- Lesson presentations
- Final reflections and farewell