College Board Revising AP African American Studies Program Criticized by Ron DeSantis for Being Overly ‘Woke’
“A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education, Alex Lanfranconi, said the department is glad the College Board recognized that the originally submitted course curriculum is ‘problematic’ and was encouraged by the Board’s willingness to amend.”
The College Board is revising a proposed ‘African American Studies’ Advance Placement (AP) course evaluated and rejected by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis criticized the program for being too woke, embedding concepts like Critical Race Theory and other forms of progressive ideology, but his objections were not just about style. He suggested that the program could violate Florida law.
Guy Benson of Townhall wrote about this recently:
NEW: DeSantis Administration Defends Rejection of Proposed ‘African American Studies’ AP Curriculum
In response to our coverage on this issue yesterday, DeSantis administration officials reached out to Townhall to further defend Florida’s decision to reject the College Board’s proposed ‘African American Studies’ Advance Placement (AP) course. The new curriculum is being tested in a pilot program underway in several dozen unidentified high schools across the country, though its contents have been kept out of public view — even as states are being asked to approve it for wider introduction. Having reviewed it in depth, Florida informed the College Board that the course would not be permitted in Florida schools, barring significant changes…
“In the future, should College Board be willing to come back to the table with lawful, historically accurate content, FDOE will always be willing to reopen the discussion,” the letter concludes. When the state threw down a similar gauntlet to textbook publishers over content deemed inappropriate or politically charged last year, alterations were made and the texts were ultimately approved.
This is the letter sent by the DeSantis administration to the College Board, informing them that a proposed new African American Studies AP curriculum runs afoul of FL law & has been rejected in its current form. We wrote about this yesterday: https://t.co/2Qm5rjdYsz pic.twitter.com/GfiftuwWoD
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 20, 2023
We have obtained the syllabus of this curriculum, which has been kept out of public view, even as 60 high schools have introduced it in a pilot program. Much of it looks fascinating & worthwhile. But I’d guess Unit Four is likeliest to draw objections & create potential problems: pic.twitter.com/KM8n11JD16
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 20, 2023
In the same way, they did with the dishonest ‘don’t say gay’ campaign, Democrats and the media have repeatedly and dishonestly framed this story as DeSantis trying to prevent the teaching of African American history in schools.
But now the College Board has come around and is revising the program.
After all that outrage, College Board agrees to revise the course to remove elements such as intersectionality while maintaining essential topics related to African American history: https://t.co/1PwVDQ4nfC
— AG (@AGHamilton29) January 24, 2023
Florida’s Voice reports:
College Board to revise AP African American Studies course rejected by DeSantis administration
The College Board announced it would update the AP African American Studies course after the Florida Department of Education rejected the initial version due to lack of “educational value” and “historical accuracy.”
The College Board said it would release the course’s “official framework,” which has been in the works since March 2022 to replace the preliminary pilot course framework. The revised program framework is expected to be released Feb. 1, which is the first day of Black History Month.
“Before a new AP course is made broadly available, it is piloted in a small number of high schools to gather feedback from high schools and colleges. The official course framework incorporates this feedback and defines what students will encounter on the AP Exam for college credit and placement,” the College Board said. “We are grateful for the contributions of experts, teachers, and students and look forward to sharing the framework broadly.”
A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education, Alex Lanfranconi, said the department is glad the College Board recognized that the originally submitted course curriculum is “problematic” and was encouraged by the Board’s willingness to amend.
DeSantis is not trying to ‘ban’ the study of anything. He wants the program to be based on history and education rather than indoctrination.
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They’ll bend over and twerk it, rise up, and then declare with a loud voice, “it has been completely overhauled.”
This guy is making all the right noises for 2024.
He should 100% be the nominee but I fear Republicans will vote with Trump and hand the election to Democrats on a silver platter.
I fear the same but I think the more likely outcome is that DeSantis or another candidate will win the nomination but Trump will knowingly and willfully do everything in his power to damage the candidate so that he or she loses to the Democrat. The primary process is sick and needs reform. Romney would have made a good president, but he was severely weakened by the primary.
Trump is the type who would drag a key down the side of a nice car because he can’t afford it.
He’ll do a Ross PerROT and throw it to the communist party.
Let the downticks from the loyalists begin.
Romney was a shit governor, and would have been a shit president.
He was an OK governor. There is not that much an R gov can do in MA when the Ds have veto proof majorities in house and senate.
All those MA Rs who love to shit on Romney and Baker will now learn that those guys were the only thing standing in the way of MA becoming CA or OR.
It is just getting started but within a year or two you will long for the days of Baker and Romney.
Hope this is an antidote to anyone who still thinks we shouldn’t use government.
I am not aware of anyone who regularly posts at LI who disagrees with the notion that govt doesn’t have a role to play in reining in other objectionable aspects of govt. Heck our federal system was designed to have multiple checks and balances. Feds v States, House v Senate, Congress v Executive v Judiciary. Voters v politicians. Same basic outline for our State govt. A limited and constrained govt is less powerful, has less authority and is less intrusive b/c it is prohibited from some acts.
What exactly are arguing against?
Sorry. I still think government should keep its nose out of providing education. It’s dangerous enough to have it funding education.
Yes, government is the problem here, not the solution. Desantis is trying to prevent another government entity from doing harm; good on him, but the solution is for neither of them to be involved. If the college board didn’t have the power it does, then Desantis wouldn’t have to counter it.
Florida’s legislation requires the teaching of:
167 (h) The history of African Americans, including the history
168 of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to
169 the development of slavery, the passage to America, the
170 enslavement experience, abolition, and the contributions of
171 African Americans to society. Instructional materials shall
172 include the contributions of African Americans to American
173 society.
Queer theory is not a central point of Black History.
Queer theory is a central point of EVERYTHING.
Black history, white history, western civilization, health, economics, astronomy, geology, cosmology, tensor calculus, nuclear chemistry, and welding.
Now turn to the chapter on strangeness in quarks…
Controversial opinion: AP is largely a bad idea for most students. The effort to reward ratio is absolutely horrible when compared to simple alternatives like dual enrollment at a local university, at least for the sciences. I can’t speak to other subjects.
It is a great idea for students who are truly excellent and intent on a career in scientific research. Those are few and far between.
It served me well, passed 3 AP exams in HS and was accepted as a sophomore when I entered Boston College.
Yep. For a small percentage of students it is great. You do massively more work than you need to do to earn those college credits, but people that like learning for learning’s sake will enjoy them.
I hear that DeSantis and his legislature are working on a bill to be called the “Don’t Say My Momma So Fat” bill.
It doesn’t actually do anything, it’s just so they can enjoy listening to a month of liberals who feel they’re now honor bound to go around screaming, “My momma so fat…”
Is David Coleman still there?
He of horrible Common Core?
Problematic AP History changes?
Push to give points on SAT for equity?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2020/06/03/a-call-for-the-college-board-to-oust-david-coleman/?sh=7363e4aa38b3
I’ll accept Black AP History when the college board begins to offer White AP History. Obviously, I’m being sarcastic. AP US History currently includes all races, creeds and religions.