by the associated press: The College Board said changes would be made to its new AP African-American Studies curriculum, with critics saying the agency succumbed to political pressure and removed several topics from the framework, including Black Lives Matter, reparations for slavery and queer lives.
In a statement on Monday (local time), the College Board said the development committee and the experts authoring the Advanced Placement curriculum “will determine the details of those changes over the next few months.”
“We are committed to providing an uninhibited encounter with the facts and evidence of African-American history and culture,” the company said.
It’s not clear what the changes are or when they will be made public.
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The course drew national attention this winter after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said he would ban the course in his state because it furthers a political agenda.
“In the state of Florida, our education standards not only forbid, but require them to teach Black history, all important things. It’s part of our core curriculum,” DeSantis previously said. “We want education, not indigenization.”
But the official curriculum for the course, released after it was rejected by DeSantis’ administration, removed some components, which drew objections from the governor and other conservatives. The College Board faced criticism from activists and African-American scholars who resented the notion that the curriculum was changed because of political controversy.
The course was launched in 60 schools in the US and will be expanded to 800 schools and 16,000 students this upcoming school year.
The nonprofit testing company previously said the curriculum revision was largely completed before DeSantis shared his objections and was not shaped by political influence. College Board officials said the developers consulted with professors from more than 200 colleges, including many historically black institutions, and took input from teachers who administer the class.
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The company said Monday that the creation of the curriculum prioritized access to a discipline that is not widely available to high schools, as well as making that content accessible to as many students as possible — including students in states run by conservatives. A possible reference to. “Sadly,” said the nonprofit testing company, those two goals “have come into conflict.”
The College Board offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including math, science, social studies, foreign languages and fine arts. The courses are elective and taught at the college level. Students who score high enough on final exams usually earn course credit at their university.