AP Course:

AP GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Dennis Randall

CONSULTANT: Dennis Randall

I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I have lived in Utah all my life, other than a two-year period in London, England.  I am married to Jacque Randall.  I married way above myself.  We have been married for 48 years. I taught in the Jordan School District in Salt Lake County for 40 years retiring in June of 2015. 

I taught at Copper Hills High for 20 years.  I retired in 2015.  I taught U.S. History, AP United States Government and Politics, Model United Nations, Sociology, U.S. Government, and AP European History. In addition, that that I was Social Studies Department Chairman, Faculty PTA Rep., AP Committee Chairman, Accreditation Committee member, Sterling Scholar Advisor and Student Government Advisor (18 years)

Prior to that I taught for 12 years at Alta High School.  I taught AP European History, You and the Law, World History, Honors World History, Honors 9th Grade Social Studies and AP United States Government and Politics.

Prior to that I taught 5 years at Brighton High School and 3 years at Eastmont Middle School

Other Experiences:

  • I prepared guides and wrote the JTC tests in Social Studies, Problem Solving and other areas for the Jordan School District.

  • I assisted in writing the State Core Curriculum Guide for the Utah State Department of Education in the areas of World and U.S. History.

  • I have served as a Faculty Consultant for the College board for over 20 years.

  • I have scored the AP Essay’s in AP US Government and politics for over 20 years.

  • I have been a presenter at one day AP Workshops for the College Board for over 20 years.

  • I have taught for the Phoenix Desert AP Institute for over 20 years. 

  • I have taught the Pacific AP Institute for over 10 years.

  • I have taught institutes in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle

  • I served as Mayor for the City of West Jordan from 1982-86

  • I served as Vice President of the Salt Lake County Council of Governments in 1985

  • I served on the Sterling Scholar Advisory Committee for the Deseret News in 1996 and as a judge for several years.

  • I have served on the Board of Directors for the Utah Chapter of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge since 2015. 

  • I have served as President of the Board of Directors for the Utah Chapter of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley forge for the last 4 years. 

  • My greatest accomplishment is that Jacque and I have been married for 48 years.  We raised 5 wonderful children and now have 18 grandchildren. 

Course Description:

Welcome to the Phoenix APSI for UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT and POLITICS! I look forward to working and associating with each of you. In this time together we will cover all the requirements set by the College Board. We will do that in several ways.

We will discuss and learn about the required skills, and disciplines set by the College Board curriculum. We will look at the learning objectives and skills set by the College Board. That will include the skill necessary to write effective free response questions as well as the skills necessary to succeed on the multiple-choice exam. In addition to those skills, we will cover as extensively as possible the content of the curriculum students will be expected to know and understand.

Hopefully, each of you will leave with new skills, sample lessons and an excitement about teaching the most exciting course in the AP program.

INTRODUCTION TO A.P. U.S. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

  1. Our goal is to create political scientists!

    Questions: How is a political scientist different than a political ideologue? What tools does a political scientist use? How would a political scientist analyze an election? How would he predict an election? What tools are available to a political scientist?

  2. To accomplish our goal of creating political scientists we must prepare our students to do the following:

a.    Reason

b.    Analyze

c.     Structure an effective argument. Yet, know and understand opposing views.

d.    Critique events, arguments, issues and other things.

e.    Apply real world issues and events to our curriculum and our political system.

f.      Read and analyze what they have read.

g.    Anything else?