The final framework for the high school African American Studies course was released by the college board on Wednesday, making the content of the Black Lives Matter movement optional while also including new topics on housing discrimination and American football players kneeling during the national anthem, as the organization continues to walk a political tightrope following Florida officials’ earlier rejection of the course this year.
Key Facts
The course is divided into four required units covering a wide range of topics, but sensitive subjects such as the Black Lives Matter movement and the debate over reparations for slavery are still listed as optional topics for teachers to address in a flexible “Additional Explorations” unit at the end of the course, which will start in schools in the 2024-2025 academic year.
The Black Lives Matter movement and reparations were originally listed as required study materials in the first draft of the curriculum, which was criticized earlier this year by 2024 presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. However, the topics became optional when the first official framework was released in February.
Final Framework and Changes
The final framework also leaves out courses on the experiences of Black LGBTQ individuals, which had been included in previous drafts and previously highlighted by DeSantis.
However, the new framework also includes material on “intersections” that had been excluded from the February version, which is one of many exclusions that sparked backlash from education advocates and Black scholars who believe that the curriculum committee bowed to political pressure from conservatives like DeSantis.
The framework also introduces new required lessons on topics like housing discrimination, racial violence, and Black art and culture, and includes new courses on Colin Kaepernick and his controversial decision to kneel during the national anthem in protest of police violence in 2016.
Curriculum Decisions and Assurances
The college board has maintained throughout this process that its decisions regarding the curriculum were not driven by politics, and in a statement released on Wednesday, it insisted that “in light of the intense public debate surrounding this course, the curriculum committee sought input from subject matter experts in the AP program, as well as experienced AP educators” to help shape the final framework.
Forbes reached out to the Florida Department of Education for comment.
Background
After the college board piloted the new African American Studies course with a draft framework earlier this year, the Florida Department of Education announced in January that the state would not teach the course in schools, claiming it “unlawfully contravenes Florida law and lacks significant educational value.” DeSantis continued to criticize the course for including topics like critical race theory, the Black Lives Matter movement, and reparations.
In February, the college board released a new framework that notably excluded Black queer theory, made teaching the Black Lives Matter movement a suggested topic for a paper rather than a required lesson, and excluded sources from several scholars criticized by DeSantis. The framework drew fresh criticism from education advocates and Black scholars, who believed the organization bowed to DeSantis’s political pressures. However, the college board denied this, telling the media that key decisions about the framework were made before DeSantis’s criticisms. The few changes did not appease Florida officials – after its release, DeSantis hinted that Florida could sever ties with the college board altogether. In April, the college board committed to reviewing the course again, promising to “confront head-on the facts and evidence of African American history and culture.” Wednesday’s curriculum is the product of that review. The battle over the high school African American Studies course is just one of many attacks in DeSantis’s war against what he considers “woke education initiatives.” He previously sought to ban “critical race theory” from schools with his “Stop WOKE Act” legislation in 2022.
Number
The Big Picture
More than 200. That is the number of colleges and universities from which the faculty who worked on the new framework came, according to the college committee. The study committee states that this number includes “dozens of historically black colleges and universities, as well as dedicated high school teachers across the country.”
Critical Quote
“This is the material I wish I had studied in high school,” said Dr. Brandi Waters, Executive Director and Director of the African American Studies Program at the Advanced Placement Program, in a statement.
Main Critics
“It is sad and shameful that scholars allow ideological bullies to take control,” said Florida Democratic Representative Ashley Grant on Wednesday regarding the new framework, adding that the study committee has lost “its credibility and academic integrity.”
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