Advanced Placement Classes at Risk
Advanced Placement classes are usually considered assets in school districts. These classes, referred to as AP classes, allow students the opportunity to earn college credits before graduating high school, saving future college tuition costs. Additionally, since these classes are regulated nationally and are regarded as academically rigorous, college admissions departments look at these classes as an indication that a student will be able to handle the demands of the work on that particular campus. Read more about how AP classes help students here.
Recent Critical Race Theory (CRT) bans have placed some districts and states at risk for losing their AP status for certain courses. These policies are used to ban “divisive” or “controversial” topics. On March 2, 2022, the College Board - the organization that runs the AP program - sent all AP teachers a letter reminding them of the principles they must adhere to to retain their AP status. Not only is it against their policy to censure ideas, there are specific topics and sources required to be used in some courses. Omitting any of these, or censuring teachers, places that class at risk of losing their AP designation.
The Board has stated students in such classes will have their transcripts altered to remove the AP designation. In September 2022, the College Board issued another letter to Texas that their AP classes were at risk of losing their designation after new legislation limited the teaching of race. Read more here.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has taken things one step further and recently rejected an AP class on African American Studies. DeSantis claimed the course went against Florida state law and had no academic value. Shortly after this announcement, the College Board released the official framework for this course, and many topics DeSantis had criticized had been omitted. Critics have accused the College Board of caving to political pressure.
To address these allegations, the College Board posted a response that the changes made to the course were not in response to Florida’s demands. However, a statement made by the College Board two days later clarified that they did keep in mind the laws being passed across more than 18 states restricting topics that are taught. The statement read: “We recognize that in some states teachers and students will be able to draw more widely on Black Studies scholarship than in others….By filling the course with concrete examples of the foundational concepts in this discipline, we have given teachers the flexibility to teach the essential content without putting their livelihoods at risk.” Read the full story here.