United States Government and Politics

July 11 - July 14

Instructor: Christopher Lundgren

Course Description:

The goal of this AP® United States Government and Politics Summer Institute is that on the first day of school in the fall, participants feel confident in guiding their students to success on the AP® Exam. To that end, teachers in the seminar will closely examine the fundamentals of the course, develop effective course outlines, master grading rubrics for the four types of FRQs, and explore several in-class activities and assignments for helping students master both the content of AP® United States Government and Politics and AP®-aligned skills.

To understand the fundamentals, teachers will work closely with the Course and Exam Description and AP® Classroom to ensure that they have a comprehensive understanding of what must be covered, and have access to AP®-aligned questions to prepare students for success on the exam. Because the course can be taught in a semester or a year, the facilitator and experienced teachers will share best practices either for effectively teaching the course in a semester or enriching each unit to create an engaging yearlong class. In order to support student success on the AP® exam, teachers in the APSI will use up-to-date rubrics for the four types of FRQs to score and discuss sample responses.

Teachers will also have the opportunity to create their own FRQs and receive feedback on them to increase their capacity for creating rigorous, AP®-aligned assessments for any part of the subject matter. Finally, participants will also have access to examples of many options for classroom engagement including interactive primary sources, guided practice activities, structured student-centered discussion, research projects, and formative assessments.

About the Instructor

Christopher Lundgren is the Social Science Department Chair and AP® United States Government and Politics and AP® Economics teacher at KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School. A classroom teacher for 16 years, including six with AP® United States Government and Politics, Christopher has taught five different AP® courses as well as history-focused resource classes for students who need additional support. He taught for eight years at private schools and is completing his eighth year at Collegiate, a charter school whose mission is to create a path to college for Nashville’s students of color. He holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Chicago and master’s degrees in religion and history from Yale and the University of Virginia, respectively.

Christopher has served the College Board® as an AP® United States Government and Politics mentor and consultant and as an exam reader since 2018. In 2020, he was part of a two-person team that wrote daily AP® United States Government and Politics lesson plans for the KIPP Foundation’s AP® For All Initiative that reaches teachers all across the country. The following year, Christopher revised those lessons to reflect best practices for culturally responsive teaching of the AP® United States Government and Politics curriculum. Additionally, he trained KIPP AP® United States Government and Politics teachers across the country in effective virtual instruction and serves as an instructional coach at Collegiate, helping social science teachers improve classroom management and their students’ academic achievement. Christopher has written assessment materials for several social science courses, including AP® United States Government and Politics for Albert.io, a test-prep website.

Christopher serves as the Youth Government advisor and Girls’ Soccer coach for KIPP Collegiate, as an instructor of Shotokan Karate, and serves on the board of the Tennessee Environmental Council. When not teaching or writing, Christopher spends time with his wife and three school-aged children and enjoys drinking espresso in order to keep up with them.

All participants need to agree that you will not make any video or audio recordings of any APSI sessions, for any use, including personal use, without the prior written consent of College Board.

College Board®, AP®, Advanced Placement Program® and Pre-AP® are registered trademarks of the College Board. Used with permission.