Troubleshooting AP World and AP US History

11.24.25 04:51 PM - By Claire B.

AP history classes can be frustrating. Really, for everyone involved. It's hard to be a student struggling through a challenging class, and it's hard to be a parent watching your child struggle.

I don't think that AP World or AP US History has to be characterized by endless struggle. I truly believe that most students can succeed with the right skills, knowledge, and habits. But it's not always clear how to go about supporting your child's and their teacher's efforts to improve those things. So I put together this troubleshooting guide to help you out.

The best part? All of these strategies require zero history knowledge.

A Note

Step 1: Fundamentals and Notes

Spotting the Problem

Solving the Problem

Step 2: Memorization and Studying

Spotting the Problem

Solving the Problem

Step 3: Word Worries and Comprehension

When to Call an Expert

A Note

Before we dive in, I have a few notes about how to use this guide well.

First, I've designed this guide for parents to use with their children. If you've landed here as a student, I would encourage you to find an adult to work through this with. It doesn't have to be your parents. In addition, if you're a grandparent, godparent, aunt, older sibling, coach, or some other important adult in a student's life, welcome! I will use parent and child for consistency and clarity, but I appreciate your efforts.

Second, I've kept this guide to issue I think a reasonable adult could spot without knowing a lot about history or AP classes. Unfortunately, not all problems are separate from historical knowledge or knowledge of the exam. If you feel like an expert's help would be beneficial, I'm always happy to meet. You can learn more about how I help students here.

Third, just because you can spot a problem doesn't mean you can fix it without understanding history or the exam. Sorry, it's a bummer. However, I will share, wherever possible, links to helpful resources from myself and others.

Fourth, please do these steps in order. I have written this so that the most common problems are earlier in the list, and the less common ones are later. In addition, the earlier steps relate to foundational skills. Skipping to test prep skills is like building a house the proverbial sand. It may help with this exam, but the foundation will erode and your child will be stressed out again in the future. That's not ideal.

Fifth, you do NOT need to do all of these steps in one go. When I work with students, this process may unfold over the course of several lessons. It can be overwhelming, for both you and your child, to do all of these steps at once. Feel free to put it down for an hour or day and then pick it back up. Obviously, you don't want to put it off, but you can work on it in stages and make real progress. Similarly, once you identify the step that's tripping up your child, work on that for awhile before addressing further steps.

Okay, let's go!

Step 1: The Fundamentals and Notes

Spotting the Problem

Ask your child to bring all of their notes and assignments for the class. Also, pull up the grade book for the class. The first step is simply skimming through them together.

There are some signs of trouble that you can spot with even a cursory review.

First, any zeros in the grade book or half-completed assignments are a bad sign. AP US History goes rapidly through the topics, and it's very easy to fall behind. The first priority always completing the assigned tasks. Second, check for lecture notes and textbook notes. I'm seeing more and more students opt not to take notes, and this inevitably bites students later on in the semester. It's also a little harder to spot because the only sign may be an empty notebook. That's not exactly a smoking gun. Third, look for an organizational system. Are all the notes shuffled together like a deck of cards? That's not great.

I would also encourage asking neutral, open-ended questions about the things you're seeing. If they're not taking notes, ask them why. If they have zeros in the grade book, ask them what their plan is to get caught up. Sometimes, these are stunningly insightful, and you can use that information to point them in a better direction.

You can proceed straight to the next step if your child's notes and assignments are all complete, submitted, and organized. It's also a good sign if your child can explain how they organize papers, take notes, and track due dates.

Solving the Problem

If your child has missing assignment, get those completed and turned in. In my experience, a lot of missing assignments may only take 20-30 minutes to complete. But students will procrastinate on them because it feels intimidating to tackle the whole pile of missed work. If that's the case, help them break that task down into smaller tasks, like completing a single assignment every day until you're caught up. It's also worth considering why they got behind in the first place. If they were ill or injured, then this may be a one-off event. If not, they may need additional support with study skills.

Second, encourage your child to take notes during all class lectures and when reading the textbook. This is not optional to do well in AP US History. Again, listen to their reasoning and help them troubleshoot better solutions. Also, you should be aware that most schools do not teach note-taking skills. So if your child says they don't know how, there's a good chance their not just yanking your leg. If you take notes for work or you took notes in high school or college, you can give them some pointers.

Step 2: Memorization and Studying

Spotting the Problem

Ask your child how they prepare for exams. Alternatively, you may think back to your observations of how they prepared for the last one.

There are several common signs of trouble here. First, cramming everything into the night before the exam is not ideal. AP US History has a lot of content, and it takes a long time to thoroughly review it all. We also need that information to be available during the exam in May, and cramming weakens the foundation that students need for exam review. Another sign of trouble is if your child says they spend most of their time doing any of the following: rereading the textbook, rereading their notes, highlighting, making flashcards, or summarizing information. Ask for clarification if they say they say they "go over" or "review" their notes. That often means rereading. Finally, it's not ideal to study in a place with distractions, including the TV, video games, or their phone.

These are the classic blunders of test review. All of these "methods" of study (or not studying) feel good in the moment, but ultimately don't support true knowledge formation. Repetitively looking at information makes it familiar, and that familiarity makes it seem like it is known. That feels good to students, but it does not test whether they have stored the information away in their brain.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what the test does. Your child gets the test, and then searches their brain for the information. They find it isn't there, and then their mind goes "blank." That information wasn't ever there, it's just impossible to know that until it happens.

You can cruise on to the next section if your child studies well in advance of the test, actively tests themselves on their knowledge, and studies in a quiet place without their phone.

Solving the Problem

Good news! There are some concrete steps to take here.

First, a word on mindset. Many students tell me that they have bad memories or that they are "just not good at remembering things." In fairness, there are health conditions and disabilities that negatively affect memory. That's not what I'm talking about here. Memory is not a fixed trait, it is a skill that can be improved. It can improve with practice.

In 2017, researchers trained ordinary people to use the same techniques that memory athletes use to memorize hundreds of digits of pi. The researchers found that changing how a person memorizes information changed neural connections between parts of the brain that are involved in memory. This process did not take years, it took six weeks! Even better, the new brain patterns predicted long-term improvements in memory.

In other words, memory is not a fixed trait. It can be trained, like your child can train to be a better athlete, musician, writer, or speaker.

Encourage your child to think of memory (and their own memory in particular) as something that is flexible and can change. Otherwise, this whole project can quickly become a self-defeating exercise. They don't believe they can improve, so they don't change their behavior, and then they don't do better on tests and quizzes. This confirms their assumption that they can't change. All of that is hard to unravel, so this is key step.

Other things to consider:

If your child crams the night before a test, encourage them to start studying one day earlier than the used to. Overtime, you may wish to work on more, but one day makes a huge difference.

If your child is studying by rereading, highlighting, or summarizing, talk to them about why their method isn't going to help. Jettisoning these methods can free up time that's needed for more effective study. It's critical that they don't simply add a new strategy on, but rather that we make this whole process easier by using time effectively. Instead of these ineffective methods, encourage them to use active recall strategies. You can Google that phrase for many good tips, but my favorite active recall strategy is the blurting method. You can read about it here.

If your child does not have a designated, quiet study area, help them find one. This may be easier or harder depending on your home. Sometimes, a simple set of earplugs or white noise can drown out extra sound. Other students may have better luck studying outside your house. This could be at a library, friend's house, or school.

Step 3: Word Worries and Comprehension

Spotting the Problem

For this step, we're going to need some words. You can usually find a list of vocabulary words at the beginning of each chapter or section. These words are what we call subject-specific vocabulary words. They are terms that are used in history, and rare in other subjects or in every day speech. Pick a section that they've already completed or discussed in class. Ask them what these words mean. If they can answer them quickly and with about 90 percent accuracy, then subject-specific vocabulary is not a concern.

Next, we'll take a look at academic vocabulary words. Academic vocabulary words are words that are used in several school subjects (academics), but not in every day speech. If you had to memorize word definitions for the SAT, well, it's back to haunt you. I have a list of academic vocabulary words here from past AP history exams. You can also find lists on the internet for general terms. Pick about 20 of these words, and ask your child to define them. Again, you're looking for about 90 percent accuracy.

Finally, have your child read a paragraph from their textbook. Ask them to translate the text into their own words. Ideally, they can do this accurately and smoothly.

Trouble with vocabulary or with translating the textbook likely points to trouble with reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is the ability to read text and understand what it means. One model of reading comprehension is Scarborough's Reading Rope. It posits that skilled reading requires many aspects of language comprehension, including background knowledge (Step 2) and vocabulary (Step 3). There's a nice diagram and article at this link. (You may notice that there are other items under language comprehension, like language structure and verbal reasoning. In my experience, those are less of a pressing issue for most AP US History students.)

Other research suggests this is even more important in history classes. First, some studies estimate that a reader needs to know 98 percent of the words in a text to comprehend it. The same study found a positive correlation between knowing words and reading comprehension. When we combine that with a major study done that showed that history classes often have more vocabulary than other subjects, well, you can see where this could be a problem.

Finally, if your child struggles with the stimulus-based multiple choice questions (MCQs) AND the Document Based Question, but is doing well otherwise, comprehension may tripping them up. These two portions of the exam are the two parts that require the most in terms of interpreting other people's words.

Solving the Problem

Unfortunately, this is rarely an area that improves overnight. It takes small, consistent action to build vocabulary and master the complexities of the English language.

That being said, it is absolutely worth working on this area. If your child intends to go to college, work in a technical field, take other AP courses, or take the ACT/SAT, they will absolutely see these words again. This is one of those skills that pays a lifetime of dividends. Even if it's not immediately apparent that things are improving, it's worth making the effort to improve.

Okay, time for the action steps!

First, encourage your child to look up words instead of guessing or "inferring" what they mean. They may have been encouraged to do this in the past. So, they may need to hear you say this directly. Unfortunately, guessing is slower and prone to errors. It takes seconds to look up a word with phones, and this ensures they get the right answer. Every unknown word is an opportunity to either compound knowledge or compound errors. The only time your child should be guessing at what words mean is when they literally cannot look up words (like during an exam).

Second, use flashcard decks or vocabulary lists to help your child learn academic and subject-specific vocabulary. I have several Anki flashcard decks available that are tailored to AP students and the words they are likely to encounter. You can access those decks here. A related strategy is called pre-learning vocabulary. This is when your child studies the key words in a text before they read it. By separating and front-loading learning vocabulary, your child has to do less work to interpret the meaning of the text. I have a deep dive on this strategy here.

Finally, encourage your child to read. Books, newspapers, magazines, and other materials help expose children to varied and diverse ways of writing. In addition, this strategy builds background knowledge. This type of extensive knowledge about the world is critical for earning top scores on the Long Essay Question and Document Based Question.

Step 4: Test-Taking

Spotting the Problem

This step comes last! Test-taking strategies are useful, but they move the needle the least. They can also mask problems that you would otherwise uncover in the first three steps. That may get you the results you want in the short-term, but those issues will continue to fester. Best to tackle this holistically. In addition, this is also a section that can be harder to tackle if you have not taken a lot of exams in your life.

Find a small set of practice questions for a recent unit. If there is a section of the test that is challenging, start with that style of question. Otherwise, MCQs are a good option. You can find all types of questions in review books like Barron's or the Princeton Review. Khan Academy has excellent stimulus-based multiple choice questions for AP US History. Unfortunately, they do not have great AP World History multiple choice questions.

Ask your child to answer the questions and observe how they work through them. You can ask them questions about how they work through them. You can also ask about their subjective experience of testing. For example, what makes it challenging? Are they able to finish the section on time?

When I do this with students, how many questions they get right is not the focus. Instead, consider how your student is approaching the questions. Most of test taking is about having a viable, consistent process. If students don't, then their process (or lack of one) prevents them from showing what they can do. In particular, note if your student uses the same process for all of the questions in a set and if they approach questions strategically. Test taking strategies include things like skipping questions they don't know, brainstorming before writing essays, and reading the question and source before reading a historical document. If they do these things, you're on to the next section.

If not, let's check in.

Solving the Problem

Encourage good exam strategies. That includes things like skipping questions that they can't answer and returning to them at the end. Writing outlines and brainstorming evidence for essays is critical. Finally, I've seen many students improve their scores on MCQs just by reading the questions and answers before the actual stimulus. Counter-intuitive, but it works!

Encourage your child to approach questions not just strategically, but systematically as well. This means that each time they answer a question, they should work through the question in the same way. I am also a big advocate of "touching" each part of the question one to two times. That means your child needs to read each part, but only once (or twice in a pinch). If you're familiar with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), this is related.

Encourage managing time during an exam. An easy strategy to implement is that when the exam starts, take the total amount of time and halve it. So, if your child gets 40 minutes to write an LEQ, they'd halve 40 to get 20 minutes. Add that to the current time. This gives your child a halfway point. When they get halfway through the exam, they should check the clock. If they're past the halfway time, they need to speedup, but they can slow down if they get half done before that time.

When to Call an Expert

Unfortunately, not all problems can be fixed with this process. Such is life. I can change my car's battery, but not the transmission. There is wisdom in knowing when to ask for help. Some problems may stem from misconceptions your child has about the exam or niche areas of history. An expert on the exam and the content it covers will understand those nuances. In addition, if you suspect that a health condition or disability is affecting your child's progress, it's best to check in with a pediatrician, case manager, psychologist, or other expert.

I once tried to replace a taillight that went out, which I've done dozens of times. But on my current car, I couldn't get the plastic cover off. After three hours of intense frustration, I finally gave up and took it in. The mechanic had the whole thing done in 15 minutes. I could have just died. Yes, in theory, this was a task I could do. But I wasted a lot of time and effort trying to do it myself.

I work on all of these steps with my students. If you'd like more information about tutoring, you can find that here.

Troubleshooting AP World and AP US History

Table of Contents

A Note

Step 1: The Fundamentals and Notes ​

Spotting the Problem

Solving the Problem

Step 2: Memorization and Studying ​

Spotting the Problem

Solving the Problem

Step 3: Word Worries and Comprehension ​

Spotting the Problem

Solving the Problem

Step 4: Test-Taking ​

Spotting the Problem

Solving the Problem

When to Call an Expert

Step 1: The Fundamentals and Notes

Step 2: Memorization and Studying

Step 3: Word Worries and Comprehension

Step 4: Test-Taking