Free for teachers

DBQ grader

Paste a student's DBQ and attach the documents and the College Board scoring guidelines. Sparky drafts a score for every row of the 7-point rubric, quoting the essay, and marks the close calls for you to decide.

Grade a DBQ
A teacher pastes a student's AP U.S. History DBQ on slavery from 1783 to 1840 into the chat with the 2024 scoring guidelines attached. Sparky replies with a draft score for each rubric row, 5 out of 7

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How the DBQ grader works

  1. Paste the essay

    Paste the student's DBQ with the prompt, or attach it as a Word file, a PDF or a photo of handwritten pages.

  2. Attach the documents and guidelines

    For a released prompt, attach the College Board's question and scoring guidelines. For a DBQ you wrote, attach your documents and rubric.

  3. Decide the close calls

    Sparky drafts every row and marks the borderline ones. Tell it what you'd give, and it updates the total.

What Sparky checks

  • Thesis and context

    Whether the thesis takes a position and sets up a line of reasoning, and whether the context is more than a passing phrase.

  • Which documents it uses

    Sparky lists each document the essay uses and the argument it supports, so you can see whether it reaches four.

  • Quotes checked against the documents

    With the documents attached, Sparky checks the essay's quotes and details and points out any that don't match.

  • Evidence beyond the documents

    Outside evidence, like the cotton gin, earns the point only when the essay explains it. Sparky says which piece did.

  • Sourcing, document by document

    Sparky quotes each sentence that explains a source's purpose, audience or situation, and names the documents the essay only labels.

  • A note to the student

    Feedback written to the student: the sentence that worked best, and what to add for the next point.

The College Board DBQ rubric

AP U.S. History, AP World History: Modern and AP European History all score the DBQ out of 7 on these four rows. The College Board revised the AP U.S. History DBQ and LEQ rubrics for 2023-24, and its 2024 scoring guidelines for all three courses ask for four documents for the second evidence point. The changes to the AP history exams starting in May 2027 leave the scoring rubrics the same.

  • Thesis/claim: 1 point

    A historically defensible claim that sets up a line of reasoning, in the introduction or the conclusion. Restating the prompt earns nothing.

  • Contextualization: 1 point

    Broader events before, during or after the period that bear on the prompt. A passing phrase doesn't count.

  • Evidence: 3 points

    One point for using the content of three documents, a second for supporting an argument with four, and a third for specific evidence beyond the documents.

  • Analysis and reasoning: 2 points

    One point for explaining why the point of view, purpose, situation or audience of two documents matters to the argument, and one for complexity.

A made-up DBQ, graded

The demo at the top of this page grades a made-up student essay on the 2024 AP U.S. History DBQ: "Evaluate the extent to which the institution of slavery shaped United States society between 1783 and 1840." The essay argues that slavery split North from South, made money for both, and split religious Americans. It uses five of the seven documents, brings in the cotton gin and the Missouri Compromise from outside them, and explains why Garrison wrote his 1829 article in Document 5.

Sparky drafted 5 out of 7: full marks for thesis, context and evidence, and nothing yet for sourcing or complexity, with both marked borderline. Sourcing needs a second document explained the way Garrison's is. Complexity needs the three arguments connected instead of listed side by side. The teacher counted the Document 1 paragraph as sourcing. Sparky raised the draft to 6 and noted that it was a lenient reading of a thin sentence. The chat in the demo is shortened.

Ways teachers use it

  • APUSH DBQs

    Grade a DBQ from a released exam or one you wrote, with its documents attached so the evidence row can be checked.

    Grade an APUSH DBQ

  • AP World and AP Euro

    The same 7-point rubric scores DBQs in both courses. Attach that exam's documents and scoring guidelines.

    Grade a World DBQ

  • LEQs

    The long essay drops the documents and scores out of 6, with two points each for evidence and for analysis and reasoning.

    Grade an LEQ

  • Sourcing practice

    Students write a sourcing sentence for two documents. Sparky says which sentences explain why the source matters and which only name it.

    Check sourcing

Data privacy

Safe to use with student work

What happens to the files you upload and what your students write in Flint.

Read our security page

  • Not used to train AI

    Student data in Flint is never used to train AI models.

  • Not shared

    Flint does not share student data, or any other user data, with third parties.

  • Kept separate

    Each school's data is kept apart from every other school's, and the AI providers Flint runs on can't reach it.

  • Signed agreements, on request

    Flint signs a data processing agreement with any school that needs one, written to US state law and EU GDPR.

What teachers say about Flint

  • "I use Flint to build DBQ and LEQ exercises for my students to progress through and monitor their growth. I build activities as we go so students can self-pace and get immediate feedback on parameters that I set within Flint. It's a wonderful tool."

    David Jacobson headshot

    David Jacobson

    History Teacher at Shanghai American School

  • "Flint allows me to see trends in student performance, identify areas where multiple students may need additional support, and set up small groups to focus on specific skills."

    Bonnie-Jean Chudzinski headshot

    Bonnie-Jean Chudzinski

    US History Teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory

  • "I have used Flint as an intro to a new unit, assessment mid-unit, aide in the writing process, and practice/prep for assessments. I find that my colleagues and I get more nuanced and successful in building activities the more we practice. :)"

    Jenny Carlson-Pietraszek headshot

    Jenny Carlson-Pietraszek

    History & Social Sciences Teacher at Noble and Greenough School

Frequently asked questions

Is the DBQ grader free?

Yes. It's free for teachers. The button opens Flint's AI Essay Grader, and there's no cap on how many DBQs you grade.

Does Sparky use the current College Board rubric?

It does when you attach the scoring guidelines for the prompt you assigned. The College Board revised the DBQ and LEQ rubrics for 2023-24, and without the guidelines Sparky can score on the older version, so attach them every time.

Can it grade LEQs?

Yes. Attach the LEQ's scoring guidelines and Sparky scores its 6 points: thesis, contextualization, two for evidence and two for analysis and reasoning.

Can it check a student's quotes against the documents?

Yes, if you attach the document set. Sparky compares each quote and detail with the documents and tells you which ones don't match. Without the documents it can't check them, and it says so.

Who decides the borderline points?

You do. Sparky marks a row as borderline when the essay is close, says what's missing, and changes the score when you tell it how you read the essay.

Can it read handwritten DBQs?

Yes. Attach a photo, a scan or a PDF of the pages and Flint reads the handwriting. Compare a few with the paper before you rely on it for a class set.

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