After facing criticism for removing topics including the Black Lives Matter and slavery reparations movements, the College Board announced it will be making changes to its new Advanced Placement African American studies course, the AP reports. The company did not say what the changes will be or when they will be made public. In a statement Monday, it said a development committee and experts charged with developing the course will “determine the details of those changes” over the next few months. “We are committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture,” the company said.
The course gained national attention this winter when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said he would ban the course in his state because he believed it pushed a political agenda. The official curriculum for the course, released after DeSantis' administration rejected it, downplayed some components that had drawn objections from the governor and other conservatives. The College Board faced an onslaught of criticism from activists and African American scholars who were outraged that the course changed because of political controversy.
The nonprofit testing company previously said revisions to the course were substantially complete and not shaped by political influence before DeSantis shared his objections. College Board officials said developers consulted with professors from more than 200 colleges, including several historically Black institutions, and took input from teachers piloting the class. But David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said he interpreted the College Board's announcement Monday as an admission that it had watered down the course. The course was launched in 60 schools and will be expanded this upcoming school year to reach 800 schools with 16,000 students.
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