The College Board has announced revisions to its new Advanced Placement African American Studies course.
This is not the first time the course has undergone major changes. The initial version of the course was rejected by the Florida Department of Education. According to Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr., the pilot contained “Critical Race Theory and other obvious violations of Florida law.” Diaz specifically took issue with the inclusion of topics like reparations, intersectionality and the Black Lives Matter movement.
When the College Board released a revised framework of the course that seemingly omitted the topics in question, critics were quick to accuse the organization of yielding to political pressure. The College Board denied that any changes were dictated by Florida’s rejection, but in their latest statement seemingly acknowledged that some states may choose not to offer the course.
“In embarking on this effort, access was our driving principle—both access to a discipline that has not been widely available to high school students, and access for as many of those students as possible. Regrettably, along the way those dual access goals have come into conflict,” said College Board in a statement. “The updated framework, shaped by the development committee and subject matter experts from AP, will ensure that those students who do take this course will get the most holistic possible introduction to African American Studies.”
Florida, for its part, has also not backed down. Florida Governor and presumed presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, alluded to “reevaluating” the state’s relationship with College Board altogether. New legislation, House Bill 1537, hints at doing just that by creating a state-based alternative to Advanced Placement courses and allowing schools to use an alternative entrance exam to the SAT, which is also administered by the College Board.
Schools have become a political battleground as conservatives have pushed back against curriculum they perceive as “indoctrination” or “woke.” After Florida took issue with the AP African American Studies course, several other conservative states did the same.
Advanced Placement courses generally are designed to give high school students exposure to college level coursework. Last year 1,166,311 students took at least one Advance Placement exam. The Advanced Placement African American Studies course is still in its infancy, but according to the College Board, the pilot has grown to 800 schools and 16,000 students.
Contact Indy Kids Winning Reporter Andrew Pillow at andrewp@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewPillow.
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