AP U.S. Government and Politics
Course Description:
Within AP U.S. Government and Politics, students develop and use disciplinary practices and reasoning processes to explore political concepts, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States. Students examine core principles, theories, and processes through direct study of U.S. foundational documents and Supreme Court opinions. They also participate in a civic project in which they research, study, and compile data on a political science topic and create a presentation that exhibits their findings and experiences. The AP U.S. Government and Politics course is structured around five big ideas outlined within the College Board Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics Course Framework. Each big idea is aligned to enduring understanding statements and learning objectives that focus on key concepts and essential knowledge about foundations of American democracy, civil liberties and civil rights, interactions among branches of government, American political participation, ideologies, and beliefs.
Course Details:
Course Title (District): |
AP U.S. Government and Politics |
Course Title (NCES SCED) : |
AP U.S. Government and Politics |
Course Provider : |
Michigan Virtual |
Content Provided By : |
Florida Virtual School |
Online Instructor Provided By : |
Michigan Virtual |
Standards Addressed : |
National Collegiate Athletic Association, CollegeBoard |
Alignment Document : |
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cjX75bJ5ELO1GYe_Pj4f0lZBXcErxrtp |
Academic Terms : |
Semester |
NCES SCED Code : |
Subject Area : |
Social Sciences and History |
Course Identifier : |
AP U.S. Government and Politics |
Course Level : |
High School (Secondary) |
Available Credit : |
0.5 |
Sequence : |
1 of 1 |
|
How To Enroll:
Students and Parents: It is important to work closely with your local school counselor or
registrar to follow the school's enrollment procedures. By clicking the "Start Registration
Request" button below, you will be able to notify the school of your interest in registering for
the online course. However, it is the responsibility of the district or school to review the
registration request and approve or deny the request. Please make a note to follow up with
your school after submitting a registration request.
Start Registration Request
Additional Course Information:
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: (888) 889-2840
Additional Cost: $55.0
Additional Cost Description:
A textbook must be acquired for this course: Ginsberg, B., Lowi, T. J., Weir, M., Tolbert, C. J., & Spitzer, R.J. We the People, Essentials Twelfth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2019 (ISBN: 978-03936796700). Purchases may be made by students through Amazon.com, Textbooks.com, or other book retailers; Schools may purchase digital access on behalf of students by contacting W.W. Norton's High School Division - contact Michigan Virtual Customer Care for details.
Upon the completion of this one-semester course, students will be able to...
• describe the constitutional underpinning of the US Government;
• describe and discuss political beliefs and behaviors;
• describe the various types of campaigns and elections;
• be able to compare and contrast all the various institutions of the national government such as Congress and the Federal Budget, the Executive Branch and the Bureaucracy and the Judicial Branch;
• and consider various components and examples of civil liberties, civil rights, and public policy.
iNACOL National Standards for Quality Online Courses
Academic Content Standards and Assessments |
Rating
|
Comments |
The goals and objectives clearly state what the participants will know or be able to do at the end of the course. The goals and objectives are measurable in multiple ways. |
Fully Met
|
|
The course content and assignments are aligned with the state’s content standards, Common Core curriculum, or other accepted content standards set for Advanced Placement® courses, technology, computer science, or other courses whose content is not included in the state standards. |
Fully Met
|
Aligned to College Board standards |
The course content and assignments are of sufficient rigor, depth and breadth to teach the standards being addressed. |
Fully Met
|
|
Information literacy and communication skills are incorporated and taught as an integral part of the curriculum. |
Fully Met
|
|
Multiple learning resources and materials to increase student success are available to students before the course begins. |
Fully Met
|
|
Course Overview and Introduction |
Rating
|
Comments |
Clear, complete course overview and syllabus are included in the course. |
Fully Met
|
|
Course requirements are consistent with course goals, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
|
|
Information is provided to students, parents and mentors on how to communicate with the online instructor and course provider. |
Fully Met
|
Provided in the Michigan Virtual School (MVS) Blackboard learning management system (LMS). |
Legal and Acceptable Use Policies |
Rating
|
Comments |
The course reflects multi-cultural education, and the content is accurate, current and free of bias or advertising. |
Fully Met
|
|
Expectations for academic integrity, use of copyrighted materials, plagiarism and netiquette (Internet etiquette) regarding lesson activities, discussions, and e-mail communications are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
|
Provided in the MVS Blackboard LMS. |
Privacy policies are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
|
Provided in the MVS Blackboard LMS. |
Instructor Resources |
Rating
|
Comments |
Online instructor resources and notes are included. |
Fully Met
|
|
Assessment and assignment answers and explanations are included. |
Fully Met
|
|
Accessing Course Effectiveness |
Rating
|
Comments |
The course provider uses multiple ways of assessing course effectiveness. |
Fully Met
|
Students have the ability to rate the lesson as completed, student evaluation at end of course. Michigan Virtual also has access to additional data regarding student success and satisfaction with courses. |
The course is evaluated using a continuous improvement cycle for effectiveness and the findings used as a basis for improvement. |
Fully Met
|
Publisher's website states a course release date of 2018 |
Course Updates |
Rating
|
Comments |
The course is updated periodically to ensure that the content is current. |
Fully Met
|
Website says 2018; this course would have to be updated periodically per College Board requirements. Lessons look like they include recent historical events. |
Certification |
Rating
|
Comments |
Course instructors, whether faceto-face or virtual, are certificated and “highly qualified.” The online course teacher possesses a teaching credential from a state-licensing agency and is “highly qualified” as defined under ESEA. |
Fully Met
|
All MVS instructors are certified in the state of Michigan, endorsed within their assigned content areas and grade levels, and highly qualified under state and federal guidelines. |
Instructor and Student Support |
Rating
|
Comments |
Professional development about the online course delivery system is offered by the provider to assure effective use of the courseware and various instructional media available. |
Fully Met
|
MVS instructors complete an onboarding course prior to teaching, annual professional development and conference attendance, participate in monthly department meetings, and are provided online resources for various instructional media. |
The course provider offers technical support and course management assistance to students, the course instructor, and the school coordinator. |
Fully Met
|
MVS instructors have access to the Michigan Virtual Knowledge Base with tutorials to assist them as well as the Course Issue Tracker to request additional support for technical issues in a course. Students also have a Customer Care center that offers technical support and course management assistance. |
Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, have been provided professional development in the behavioral, social, and when necessary, emotional, aspects of the learning environment. |
Fully Met
|
|
Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, receive instructor professional development, which includes the support and use of a variety of communication modes to stimulate student engagement online. |
Fully Met
|
|
The provider assures that course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, are provided support, as needed, to ensure their effectiveness and success in meeting the needs of online students. |
Fully Met
|
|
Students are offered an orientation for taking an online course before starting the coursework. |
Fully Met
|
Students are offered MVS-specific orientation lessons and activites within all courses in addition to the Online Learning Orientation Tool (OLOT) located on the LMS homepage for students with no prior experience in taking an online course. |
Instructional and Audience Analysis |
Rating
|
Comments |
Course design reflects a clear understanding of all students’ needs and incorporates varied ways to learn and master the curriculum. |
Fully Met
|
|
Course, Unit and Lesson Design |
Rating
|
Comments |
The course is organized by units and lessons that fall into a logical sequence. Each unit and lesson includes an overview describing objectives, activities, assignments, assessments, and resources to provide multiple learning opportunities for students to master the content. |
Fully Met
|
|
Instructional Strategies and Activities |
Rating
|
Comments |
The course instruction includes activities that engage students in active learning. |
Fully Met
|
|
The course and course instructor provide students with multiple learning paths, based on student needs that engage students in a variety of ways. |
Partially Met
|
Alternative assignments and assessments are limited. |
The course provides opportunities for students to engage in higher-order thinking, critical reasoning activities and thinking in increasingly complex ways. |
Fully Met
|
|
The course provides options for the instructor to adapt learning activities to accommodate students’ needs. |
Fully Met
|
|
Readability levels, written language assignments and mathematical requirements are appropriate for the course content and grade-level expectations. |
Fully Met
|
|
Communication and Interaction |
Rating
|
Comments |
The course design provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student interaction, including opportunities for timely and frequent feedback about student progress. |
Fully Met
|
|
The course design includes explicit communication/activities (both before and during the first week of the course) that confirms whether students are engaged and are progressing through the course. The instructor will follow program guidelines to address non-responsive students. |
Fully Met
|
Michigan Virtual School (MVS) instructor guidelines ensure such interaction through welcome letters, instructor introductions, and regular progress reporting. |
The course provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student and student-student interaction to foster mastery and application of the material. |
Fully Met
|
|
Resources and Materials |
Rating
|
Comments |
Students have access to resources that enrich the course content. |
Fully Met
|
|
Evaluation Strategies |
Rating
|
Comments |
Student evaluation strategies are consistent with course goals and objectives, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated. |
Fully Met
|
|
The course structure includes adequate and appropriate methods and procedures to assess students’ mastery of content. |
Fully Met
|
|
Feedback |
Rating
|
Comments |
Ongoing, varied, and frequent assessments are conducted throughout the course to inform instruction. |
Fully Met
|
|
Assessment strategies and tools make the student continuously aware of his/her progress in class and mastery of the content. |
Fully Met
|
|
Assessment Resources and Materials |
Rating
|
Comments |
Assessment materials provide the instructor with the flexibility to assess students in a variety of ways. |
Fully Met
|
|
Grading rubrics are provided to the instructor and may be shared with students. |
Fully Met
|
|
The grading policy and practices are easy to understand. |
Fully Met
|
To be implemented in Bb shell with Michigan Virtual grading and AP policy. |
Course Architecture |
Rating
|
Comments |
The course architecture permits the online instructor to add content, activities and assessments to extend learning opportunities. |
Partially Met
|
Instructors cannot alter content provided by the course vendor, but MVS instructors are permitted to add supplemental materials as needed via the Blackboard LMS. |
The course accommodates multiple school calendars; e.g., block, 4X4 and traditional schedules. |
Fully Met
|
The calendar within the learning management system permits adjustments to the pacing guides, though MVS has established start and end dates for fall, spring, summer, and trimester enrollment terms. |
User Interface |
Rating
|
Comments |
Clear and consistent navigation is present throughout the course. |
Fully Met
|
|
Rich media are provided in multiple formats for ease of use and access in order to address diverse student needs. |
Fully Met
|
|
Technology Requirements and Interoperability |
Rating
|
Comments |
All technology requirements (including hardware, browser, software, etc...) are specified. |
Fully Met
|
Communicated in the syllabus, the MIchigan Virtual website, and the Blackboard LMS. |
Prerequisite skills in the use of technology are identified. |
Fully Met
|
|
The course uses content-specific tools and software appropriately. |
Fully Met
|
|
The course is designed to meet internationally recognized interoperability standards. |
Fully Met
|
|
Copyright and licensing status, including permission to share where applicable, is clearly stated and easily found. |
Fully Met
|
Communicated within the Michigan Virtual Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) through the website and the LMS. |
Accessibility |
Rating
|
Comments |
Course materials and activities are designed to provide appropriate access to all students. The course, developed with universal design principles in mind, conforms to the U.S. Section 504 and Section 508 provisions for electronic and information technology as well as the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility guidelines (WCAg 2.0). |
Fully Met
|
This rating is based upon limited testing of select WCAG 2.0 principles and guidelines. Further testing may be necessary to ensure full compliance. |
Data Security |
Rating
|
Comments |
Student information remains confidential, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). |
Fully Met
|
Course is password protected; the privacy policy is communicated in the Blackboard LMS. |
Review Conducted By: Michigan Virtual
Date of Review:
08/09/2018
Module 1 - Constitutional Democracy
Module 2 - Civil Liberties, Civil Rights
Module 3 - Interactions Among Branches
Module 4 - Political Culture and Participation
AP Practice Exam
Term Type |
Enrollment Opens |
Enrollment Ends |
Random Draw Date |
Enrollment Drop Date |
Course Starts |
Course Ends |
# of Seats |
Course Fee |
Potential Additional Costs |
Drop Policy |
Completion Policy |
Term Type |
Enrollment Opens |
Enrollment Ends |
Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.