Disciplinary Practices and Reasoning Skills
AP History Disciplinary Practices

Practice 1: Analyzing Historical Evidence                                            Practice 2: Argument Development

                                                           Students will be assessed on their ability to…

Primary Sources
  • Describe historically relevant information and/or arguments within a source.
  • Explain how a source provides information about the broader historical setting within which it was created.
  • Explain how a source’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience might affect a source’s meaning.
  • Explain the relative historical significance of a source’s point of view, purpose, historical situation, and/or audience.
  • Evaluate a source’s credibility and/or limitations.

Where to Find Primary Sources:
1. Digital History
2. DPLA Primary Sets
3. Library of Congress Collections
4. National Archives

Secondary Sources
  • Describe the claim or argument of a secondary source, as well as the evidence used.
  • Describe a pattern or trend in quantitative data in non-text-based sources.
  • Explain how a historian’s claim or argument is supported with evidence.
  • Explain how a historian’s context influences the claim or argument.
  • Analyze patterns and trends in quantitative data in non-text-based sources.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of a historical claim or argument.
  • Make a historically defensible claim in the form of an evaluative thesis.
  • Support an argument using specific and relevant evidence.
  • Use historical reasoning to explain relationships among pieces of historical evidence.
  • Consider ways that diverse or alternative evidence could be used to qualify or modify an argument.
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AP History Reasoning Skills

Skill 1: Contextualization
  • Describe an accurate historical context for a specific historical development or process.
  • Explain how a relevant context influenced a specific historical development or process.
  • Use context to explain the relative historical significance of a specific historical development or process.

Skill 2: Comparison
  • Describe similarities and/or differences between different historical developments or processes.
  • Explain relevant similarities and/or differences between specific historical developments and processes.
  • Explain the relative historical significance of similarities and/or differences between different historical developments or processes.

Skill 3: Causation
  • Describe causes or effects of a specific historical development or process.
  • ​Explain the relationship between causes and effects of a specific historical development or process.
  • Explain the difference between primary and secondary causes, and between short- and long-term effects
  • Explain the relative historical significance of different causes and/or effects.

Skill 4: Continuity and Change Over Time
  • Describe patterns of continuity and/or change over time.
  • Explain patterns of continuity and/or change over time.
  • Explain the relative historical significance of specific historical developments in relation to a larger pattern of continuity and/or change
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