This session with Malcolm Reed is offered during Event 1: June 17-20 and again in Event 2: June 23-26

Meet the College Board Endorsed Consultant for AP African American Studies, Malcolm Reed

Malcolm Reed is a Certified Teacher in Social Studies-History who has been teaching Social Studies in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan area in Louisiana since 2015. He created his own African American Studies curriculum, at McKinley High school, the first school in Louisiana for black students, before moving to his current job at St Amant High school, the second largest school in the state. Malcolm was one of the original 63 teachers nationwide and only 3 in the state of Louisiana 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, Malcolm 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. 

Malcolm also served as a Reader scoring Projects at the inaugural AP African American Studies Exam Reading for the pilot exam in 2023. From 2016-2019mMalcolm was a member a program called Humanities Amped where he was the lead Social Studies teacher, co-teaching ELA and social studies in a project based learning environment that also focused on the art of critical literacy and social emotional learning, culminating that experience by facilitating research conferences for those students held on LSU’s campus. This was all done while holding the title of Head baseball and assistant football coach. After spending one season as head football coach at McKinley, he left that position to become an assistant football coach and Social Studies teacher at St Amant High School.

Course Description: 

This workshop is designed for teachers of AP African American Studies. We will focus on examining the diversity of African American experiences through the course’s direct encounters with authentic and varied sources. This APSI workshop will demonstrate how students will explore key topics that extend from early African kingdoms to the ongoing challenges and achievements of the contemporary moment.

This interdisciplinary course foregrounds a study of the diversity of Black communities in the United States within the broader context of Africa and the African diaspora. Our workshop will explore lessons proven to effectively teach the main skills required for success in the course: applying disciplinary knowledge, source analysis, and argumentation.
Because AP African American Studies students need many opportunities to discuss complex texts in multiple genres, participants will gain hands-on experience with evaluative and analytical reading approaches to historical documents, literary texts, music lyrics, works of art, material culture, maps, tables, charts, graphs, and surveys.

If available, we will conduct simulated readings of recent Free-Response exam questions and APAAS project essays to inform teaching and learning. Please bring a laptop or tablet for immediate access to multiple digital resources. 

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
  • Unit 1 Overview
  • Reflections
Day Two Exam Format, Sample Questions, and Resources

  • AP Exam Content/Format: Multiple Choice and Free Response Question (FRQ) sections
  • Sample Free Response Questions and scoring
  • Unit 2 Overview and Resources
  • Sample Lesson
  • College Board Resources for teaching AP African American Studies
Day Three Course Project, Assessments, and Pacing

  • Project overview and rubric
  • Unit 3 Overview and Resources
  • Formative and Summative Assessments
  • Best practices for planning your course
  • Creating your course pacing guide
Day Four Lesson Planning and Collaboration

  • Community Reflections
  • Unit 4 Overview and Resources
  • Create a Unit 1 lesson 
  • Course and pacing planning work
  • Lesson presentations
  • Final remarks and reflections