Student: Jacob Horowitz Advisor: Holly Course: AP US History

Macy
Exam Grade: Not Trimester Grade: Engagement Grade: Exceeds Final Grade:
Applicable B+ Expectations B+

During the spring term, AP U.S. History students completed their study of the curriculum, focusing on
America in the 20th Century. Topics included the two world wars, the roaring 20s, the Great
Depression, the Cold War, Vietnam, and Watergate. The class also looked into the social turmoil and
struggles for equality during the century. As usual, there were regular homework assignments with
reading and guided questions, assessments to check understanding, and practice AP style exercises.
There was a week to review and do the final preparations for the exam. In the weeks after they took the
AP test, the students worked on a 5-7 page research paper, with proper MLA citations, on a topic of
their choice. Each student had to look at a broad area of history, narrow down to a specific moment or
event, ask a guiding question, locate sources, gather information, and create and sustain a historical
argument. This final project was designed to prepare them to write college level history papers.

Jacob continued to be an engaged and enthusiastic student, always ready to discuss and debate historical
questions. His curiosity and deep interest in the material set a wonderful tone in the classroom. He did
well with the AP preparation assessments, and I am confident that he would have aced the actual exam
if his injury had allowed him to complete it. That might be cold comfort for him, but I do want him to
know that his intellect and work ethic are first rate, and I want to encourage him to continue his
historical studies in the years ahead. Jacob wrote a strong research paper on the polling done before the
2016 election. He asked several critical questions: The vast majority of predictive models had Hillary
Clinton with above an 85% chance of winning and most mainstream media outlets discussed the coming
election with even more certainty. How could this happen? What brought about this gross error in
predictive confidence? And finally, why did she lose? My suggestion to Jacob was that he should give a
basic answer to the most compelling of these questions in his opening paragraph as a way of alerting the
reader to his thesis. Eventually he did offer his ideas in the body of his paper, and his research and prose
were both excellent. I enjoyed teaching Jacob this year.

Lindsay Brown

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