Beyond Breadth-Speed-Test: Toward Deeper Knowing and Engagement in an Advanced Placement Course Walter C. Parker Jane Lo Angeline Jude Yeo Sheila W. Valencia Diem Nguyen Robert D. Abbott Susan B. Nolen John D. Bransford Nancy J. Vye University of Washington We report a mixed-methods design experiment that aims to achieve deeper learning in a breadth-oriented, college-preparatory course—AP U.S. Government and Politics. The study was conducted with 289 students in 12 classrooms across four schools and in an ‘‘excellence for all’’ context of expanding enrollments in AP courses. Contributions include its investigation of a model of deeper learning, development of a test to assess it, and fusion of project-based learning with a traditional curriculum. Findings suggest that a course of quasi-repetitive projects can lead to higher scores on the AP test but a floor effect on the assessment of deeper learning. Implications are drawn for assessing deeper learning and helping students adapt to shifts in the grammar of schooling. KEYWORDS: high school, curriculum development, project based learning, design-based research, civic education, social studies A dvanced high school courses take many forms around the world but often lag behind contemporary research on how people learn and what learning is. Broad coverage combined with a fast pace and a high- stakes summative exam typically count for ‘‘rigor.’’ This breadth-speed-test formula, while efficient for some purposes, may exacerbate the problem it attempts to solve; it may drain advanced courses of the kinds of intellectual work they require if they are to be considered ‘‘advanced.’’ Here we report findings from the second year of an iterative, mixed-methods design American Educational Research Journal December 2013, Vol. 50, No. 6, pp. 1424–1459 DOI: 10.3102/0002831213504237 Ó 2013 AERA. http://aerj.aera.net at UNIV WASHINGTON LIBRARIES on November 13, 2013 http://aerj.aera.net Downloaded from