Evolution, Not Revolution: What's Changing on the AP® US History Exam?
We take a look at the most recent changes to the AP US History exam and how they will impact the writing portion. Changes in all three writing sections of the exam will be discussed and opportunities to create original content and dissect existing content will be provided. Our goal is to help APUSH teachers understand that they do not have to change much, if any, of their approach to instruction or pace even with the evolving nature of the exam.
RSVP for December 2, 2026
Facilitator: Matt Cone
Matt Cone is the Department Chair for Social Studies at Plano Senior High School in Plano, TX, where he has been teaching since 1997. He is a College Board-endorsed consultant who has presented at Best Practices Night at the AP® Reading, the AP® Annual Conference, and at numerous AP® Summer Institutes. He has worked at the AP® Reading since 2002, most recently serving as a Question Leader for the Long Essay Question.
Facilitator: John Stewart
John Stewart began teaching AP® US History for the Springdale School District in Springdale, AR in 2001. He began participating in the AP® Reading for College Board in 2006 and has done so ever since. John has served as a Reader applying the standards developed by College Board to score students’ responses. He currently serves as an Early Table Leader for the reading, helping to select student samples and develop standards that create the scoring rubrics for student responses. John has worked as a consultant for Applied Practice since 2017 helping develop testing materials such as mock exams that include stimulus-based multiple-choice questions, DBQ prompts and documents, and LEQ prompts along with all scoring guideline materials that accompany the mock exams.