Explore PT References

The AP Guidelines for the Explore task state that:
“At least two of the sources must have been created after the end of the previous academic year”

What does the College Board consider the end of the previous school year? My school finished our previous school year around June 13 last year. One of my students wants to use a source from June 23, 2017. Would he be able to use that source?

Thanks!

@ryapchan that certainly feels good to me. From what I have seen, the academic year ends in May, so June 23, 2017 seems well-within the “safe” zone.

What if a website article/post has no date. Can it be counted as current if the copyright date is 2018 for the website?

I would be reluctant to bank on that for the Explore - the “has 2 ‘recent’ sources” point should be an easy point to get, I would hate for students to miss it because of the date on an article.

I would suggest going to the College Board teacher site for the official answer, but like I said, I would be reluctant to use that as my “recent” article.

My student just asked if the Privacy Policy of the app he is writing about for his Explore Task which was last updated November 2018 is considered a recent source for 2018-19. I’m leaning towards no. Thoughts?

Hi @p00057079 Great question! I actually think it would/should count - I am thinking for a different reference that maybe has been updated several times (like Darwin’s Origin of the Species), I think you would take the most recent date.

That being said, I think the safe answer is “no”. I would encourage the student to choose another source just to be safe.