​Dan Devitt


​"Dan was great and amazingly understanding. Very relevant and helped us to dig deeper in our thoughts and methodology for teaching this great subject."
DAN DEVITT
Daniel Devitt graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1988, receiving a degree in American History with a minor in Political Science. In 1994 he received his MA in Political Science from San Francisco State University. He has taught AP US Government for over twenty five years at Lowell High School in San Francisco and in Atherton at Menlo School. He currently teaches at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory School in San Francisco. As a College Board faculty consultant, Daniel has conducted numerous AP* teacher workshops and summer institutes, including a workshop at the AP* National Conference. He has worked as an AP* Government reader and table leader for nine years and served on the AP* Government Test Development Committee from 2000-2004. He is also a current AP Mentor with the College Board for Experienced AP teachers. He has also consulted extensively with McGraw-Hill regarding teacher manuals and test preparation guides, including online resources.
 
You can e-mail Dan Devitt at [email protected] 
  •  COURSE DESCRIPTION
 Welcome! This year’s AP summer institute will be either online or in person and provide a great chance to find out more about the latest updates to the AP Government and Politics course and exam, meet colleagues around the country, and learn how to incorporate new lesson plans and resources into the course. This institute will provide many practical resources and ideas for organizing the recently updated AP Government and Politics course and will help both experienced and new teachers prepare to confidently teach the curricular, thematic, and skill components necessary to help your students master the 2022 AP exam. We will be spending the week sharing good pedagogical skills, interesting and fun curricular ideas, all with the latest College Board materials and test samples. 


The following are some of the goals for the week: 
1. To understand some of the basic elements involved with teaching the AP Government and Politics course: 
● AP US Government and Politics Curriculum, Themes, and Skills (CED) ● Understanding the Course Requirements 
  • Mapping out the Year—Pacing the AP Government Course and Outlining the instructional plan by Unit and Topic in your academic calendar (semester and year) 
  • AP Classroom Instructional Resources 
● Using MY AP for formative instruction 
● Instructional Strategies and Tools to teach the Content and Skills in the CED ○ Becoming a Reader and Grading AP

​Exams 
● The AP Audit 
● Test Taking Strategies 
● Stimulus Based Multiple Choice Questions 
● Free Response Questions 
● Student Enrollment 
● Textbook Selection
● Supplemental Readers 
● Resources 
  • Test Development 
  • Equity and Access 
2. To understand the content and structure of the AP Government and Politics exam, and to develop appropriate strategies for maximizing student scores and to examine ways to provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the content, skills, and materials in AP US Government and Politics. 
3. To achieve an understanding of necessary course content for the course curriculum and exam by looking at sample questions provided by the College Board, examining the latest AP reading samples released by the College Board, and analyzing the rubrics for all parts of the exam. 
4. To examine a variety of ways to structure the course so that students will be prepared to score well on the AP exam. 
5. To acquire many resources from the instructor and from other participants to help make the teaching of the course more manageable. These will include: 

● Sample test questions for the exam provided by the College Board ● Available samples from the most recent AP Reading 
● College Board information concerning the themes and skills in AP US Government and Politics 
● Free Response Rubrics from all 4 questions 
● Instructional Handouts- Provided via Google Drive 
● Classroom Resources posted on Google Classroom and Google drive ○ Online access to materials provided by publishers 
  • Materials provided by College Board 
University Credit: Those wishing to earn university credit for the workshop will complete a unit of study in one of the content focus area. The unit can address a theme throughout the course or a chronological era and may include objectives, materials, lesson plans, and assessments.
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