College Board revises AP course African American Studies after criticism : NPR

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration rejected the initial curriculum for the African American studies course in January.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration rejected the initial curriculum for the African American studies course in January.

Scott Olson/Getty photo

The College Board released the official curriculum for its new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies on Wednesday, the first day of Black History Month. But people are divided over some of the changes announced in the weeks of the curriculum after the state of Florida banned the course.

inside NotificationCollege Board CEO David Coleman called the newly revised course where high school students can earn college credit “an unflinching encounter with facts and evidence of history and African American culture.”

But critics point out that the latest iteration of the course is now missing some of the themes and voices of Black scholars that were originally presented in a test program has been taught in dozens of schools this year across the country. Others say the curriculum changes were made to appease Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after his administration. declined an initial repeat of the course last month.

The state’s Department of Education did not immediately respond to NPR’s requests for comment.

College board rejects claims from one New York Times article that it removed all mentions of Black feminism or the “gay experience” from its curriculum or that some amendments were made to appease the DeSantis administration.

The College Board also said that the revisions were “basically completed … weeks before Florida’s objections were shared.”

Duke University professor Kerry Haynie, who helped develop the AP course, also called time‘ claims “extremely misleading, at best.”

“We reject any claim that our work is either indoctrinating students or otherwise succumbing to political pressure,” Haynie said in a statement. declare issued by the College Board on Wednesday.

What the College Board has changed on the course

Although the nonprofit insists that it does not “purge” the curriculum for key lessons related to “Black feminism” and “gay black Americans,” it also acknowledge the reduction of the “width” of the new framework.

Among the units that appeared in the pilot course, those on intersectionality and activism, black feminist literary thought, and Black Gay Studies were not included in the curriculum. last teach.

The framework also neglects to explore the origins, mission, and global influence of the Black Movement. Instead, Black Lives Matter is listed alongside black conservatism as a sample course project, labeled “For illustration purposes only”.

With these revisions, the works of scholars including Roderick Ferguson, professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University, have now been removed from the curriculum entirely.

“This ‘culture war’ targeting intellectuals, artists and academics has a long and painful history,” Ferguson wrote in an article. op-ed inside Chronicles of higher educationconnects Florida’s criticisms with his removal before the revisions were made public.

What Florida Officials Find Offensive Of Course

The changes to the AP course come after weeks of tension between the College Board and the DeSantis government. Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. called the course “awakening the education propaganda masquerading as education.”

Diaz also labeled as relevant a list of topics covered in the original course curriculum, including black gay studies and feminist thought. It is noteworthy that some of these topics are absent from the newly revised curriculum released by the College Board.

The state’s refusal of the AP course resulted in Criticize the whole country from state legislators and other civil rights organizations. Three Florida high school students announced that they will file a lawsuit against the governor if the state does not change its mind. More than 200 African-American history professors also signed an open letter denounce the changes.

In response, the College Board announced that it would be releasing the “official framework” for the course on February 1. Revision.

“No state or school district has seen the framework officially released, much less provide feedback on it,” the College Board said in Monday’s announcement. “This course is shaped solely by expert input and longstanding AP principles and practices.”

Groups blasting College Board amendments are political

But civil rights groups, educators and the labor unions that represent them have criticized the new amendments to the AP course.

David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights organization that advocates for black LGBT people, asked the College Board to “consider withdrawing all AP classes from the State of Florida if Governor DeSantis continues. try to bring his political agenda into our classrooms.”

“We urge the College Board to rethink our curriculum censorship and educate our young people in response to the request of a Governor with a radical political agenda and upholding the faith.” believes that Black history with its beautiful diversity is American History,” Johns said in a statement on Wednesday.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a labor union, said she was “disappointed” with the changes to the curriculum.

“Politics often interfere with education, which is exactly what DeSantis was trying to do here,” Weingarten tweeted on Wednesday. “Despite this rewrite, we remain firmly convinced that AP African American Studies should be available to every high school student nationally.”

At the beginning of the school year, Marlon Williams-Clark shares her excitement with NPR teach the original version of the course as part of a pilot program. Williams-Clark will teach the class at a high school in Tallahassee, Florida’s capital.

Williams-Clark says it’s not his place to discuss how some issues of course fit with the state governor.

“I make it clear to them that there can be some confusing topics and we’re going to have to be careful about how we talk about some things and how we approach some topics,” he told NPR. “I can’t lead any conversations.”