AP African American Studies

Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies (also known as APAAS, APAFAM, or AP Afro) is a pilot college-level course and examination offered to a limited number of high school students in the United States through the College Board's Advanced Placement program. The course will be dedicated solely to learning about and researching the African diaspora and is designed to elevate African-American history and education.[1] [2]

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Starting in the 2023–2024 school year, the pilot course will expand to approximately 800 schools. The course is expected to launch worldwide beginning in August 2024.

History and development
A banner for AP African American Studies at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.

For decades, critics of the College Board and advanced placement programs have argued that curricula have focused too much on Euro-centric history.[3] Between 2017 and 2020, the College Board partnered with the University of Notre Dame and Tuskegee University to pre-pilot AP African American Studies in 11 selected schools.[3] In 2020, the College Board reshaped some curricula among history-based AP courses to further reflect the African diaspora.[4]

In 2021, the College Board announced that it would be officially piloting AP African American Studies course to begin in the 2022–2023 academic year. The course will be piloted in approximately 60 schools across the United States in its first year.[5] AP African American Studies will be the first ethnic studies course offered by College Board, and the first pilot course since 1952.[6]

According to a source at the College Board, topics in the pilot course will range from Queen Nzinga in northern Angola to the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Panthers.[7] Topics will include lesser-known activists like Valerie Thomas, the African American scientist who invented the Illusion transmitter at NASA.[6] Brandi Waters, the director of the AP African American Studies course development, stated, "this course will offer students across the country a rigorous and inspiring introduction to African American studies."[8]

Advocates of the launch of AP African American Studies argue the course will help attract more African American students to AP programs and will bolster minority scores. According to 2019 data, 32% of Black students passed their AP exams compared to 44% of White and Asian students.[1] Some information regarding the course's structure and exam have not been released; College Board will reveal more about the course as the pilot program progresses.[9] Additionally, the College Board described that AP African American Students would further "[attract] Black and Latinx [sic] high school teachers".[10]

Staff

Brandi Waters is the executive director of AP African American Studies for College Board. Leaders in the field of Black studies, such as Henry Louis Gates, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, and Robert Patterson assisted in the creation of the course.[10]

Reaction
The AP African American Studies Founding Group at Howard University, in Washington, DC

Dawn Williams, dean of Howard University's School of Education, said that AP African American Studies consists of a "curriculum that's been vetted for years by experts in the field." In 2022, Gates stated, "Nothing is more dramatic than having the College Board launch an AP course in a field—that signifies ultimate acceptance and ultimate academic legitimacy... AP African American Studies is not CRT. It's not the 1619 Project. It is a mainstream, rigorously vetted, academic approach to a vibrant field of study, one half a century old in the American academy, and much older, of course, in historically Black colleges and universities."[11] The ultimate goal of the course is to teach that Black history is not limited to slavery or the Civil Rights movement.[12][7]

In a September 2022 opinion column for The Wall Street Journal, Jason L. Riley claimed that the College Board would probably pander to Black students with political indoctrination.[13] College Board CEO David Coleman responded by stating, "There are no points ever awarded on [any] AP exam for agreeing with a point of view. Rather, students encounter evidence and make up their own minds."[14] Daniel Soderstrom, one of the teachers of the pilot course, stated in an interview with CNN, "we're teaching factual information, and everything is verifiable."[7]

The course was featured on America in Black, a television show that first aired on BET, VH1, and CBS February 19, 2023, where Soderstrom's class at Ridge View High School was interviewed.[15][16] The segment highlighted the push-back from conservatives like DeSantis in the implementation of the course, as well as positive reactions from community members and students.[17][18]

Florida controversy

Throughout 2022, under the administration of Republican governor Ron DeSantis, Florida state officials had repeated contact with the College Board, often discussing parts of the course found "objectionable."[19] On January 12, 2023, the Florida Department of Education's Office of Articulation sent a letter to College Board saying the course was "inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value."[20] The letter reportedly did not specify what was objectionable to the department, but a spokesperson for DeSantis indicated that the course left "large, ambiguous gaps that can be filled with additional ideological material."[20] According to The New York Times, the letter called the course "historically inaccurate" and a violation of Florida state law (likely referring to the Stop WOKE Act passed in Florida in 2022).[21]

DeSantis later gave his reason for the ban as the inclusion of queer theory and intersectionality in the course, as well as content regarding the role prisons play in systemic oppression, and stated that these topics were on “the wrong side of the line for Florida standards”.[22] College Board later revealed that no such forced lessons existed and that students must use evidence from conflicting viewpoints.[23][24]

The College Board, which finalized the official curriculum prior to the DeSantis announcement,[23] released the current curriculum on February 1, 2023. The work of numerous writers associated with Black feminism and critical race theory continues to be optional, and Black conservatism continues as a suggested research topic.[25] According to Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, one of the architects of the course, Florida's Department of Education saw "buzzwords" and falsely assumed that the material was required. Rather, Higginbotham maintained, students are expected to use sources from all sides of the political spectrum.[24]

In February 2023, in interviews with both CBS and NPR, the president of the College Board, David Coleman, and the senior director of the program, Brandi Waters, stated that students will still have access to materials of all political backgrounds and that College Board has not backed down or "watered down its curriculum" because of media attention.[26] Coleman also said that the curriculum was changed well before DeSantis announced the state's intent to ban the course in Florida and that College Board does not "bend to politics."[23]

Course development timeline
  • 2017–2020
    • Pre-pilot in 11 schools
  • February 2022:
    • Pilot schools and educators identified and briefed
  • July 2022:
  • August/September 2022:
    • Pilot course launched
  • May 2023:
    • Pilot course exam
  • August/September 2023:
    • Additional schools (approximately 200) and educators added to pilot program[8]
  • May 2024:
    • Pilot course exam II
  • August/September 2024:
    • Official Course Launch

Source:[27]

Course overview
Course overview[28]
Unit Topics Time period
Unit 1 Origins of the African Diaspora ~8th century CE – 16th century CE
Unit 2 Freedom, Enslavement, and Resistance ~16th century CE to 1865 CE
Unit 3 Practice of Freedom 1865 – 1960s CE
Unit 4 Movements and debate 1960s – present

Exam

The end of course exam lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes, split into a 60 multiple-choice-question section lasting 70 minutes and a 4 free-response-question section lasting 80 minutes. The first two free-response questions each present students with one source (text-based for question 1 and non-text-based for question 2), while the last two each present students with a broad thematic concept that recurs throughout multiple course units.[29]

A pilot exam will be administered in May 2023 and 2024 to prepare for the launching of the course in August 2024. These pilot exams, however, will not be scored like traditional AP exams and their data will not be sent to students, teachers, or colleges and universities.

References
  1. Kelley, Alexandra (September 8, 2020). "College Board launching Advanced Placement program on the African diaspora". The Hill. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  2. The pilot course began in the 2022–2023 school year in 64 selected schools across the United States, based on a draft curriculum. In early 2023, the College Board released the official curriculum, which removed Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations, Black feminism, queer theory and other subjects that had been included in the draft curriculum. These changes reflected feedback contained in conservative media such as the National Review (https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/neo-marxing-the-college-board-with-ap-african-american-studies/) and in correspondence from the Florida Department of Education claiming that "the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value," (chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article271362042.ece/BINARY/AP%20Course%20Letter.pdf), in addition to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's widely-publicized announcement that he would ban teaching of the course in the state, which was roundly criticized by practitioners (https://medium.com/@afamprofshighered/open-letter-in-defense-of-ap-african-american-studies-e61768fb8f9c).
  3. "African Diaspora Advanced Placement Course, Co-developed by Teachers College, Highlighted by Time". Columbia University. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  4. Gleibermann, Erik. "New College Board curriculum puts the African diaspora in the spotlight". The Washington Post.
  5. Najarro, Ileana (February 25, 2022). "Schools to Pilot AP African American Studies Course Amid Upheaval Over Teaching Race". Education Week.
  6. Grant, Bernard. "AP African American Studies Pilot Introduces Diverse Changes". Best Colleges. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  7. Tinsley, Brandon (October 2, 2022). "Instruction about race may be under siege across the US, but this course is empowering students at a Southern high school". CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  8. Bailer, Brittany. "Advanced Placement African American Studies Launches Pilot Summer Institute at Howard University". The Dig. Howard University. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  9. Gildengers, Isaac. "AP Pilot: African American Studies". theforeword.org. Taylor Allderdice High School.
  10. Gelman, Scott (July 15, 2022). "School Zone: What to know about AP African American studies pilot course". wtop.com. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  11. "African-American History Finally Gets Its Own AP Class—And Historians Say It's More Important Than Ever". Time. August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  12. Soderstrom, Daniel. "The Birth of Black Studies". Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  13. Riley, Jason. "The College Board's Racial Pandering". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  14. "College Board Defends New AP African-American Studies". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  15. "RIDGE VIEW HIGH SCHOOL OFFERS UNIQUE AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES COURSE". www.richland2.org. Richland School District Two. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  16. "Daniel Soderstrom". www.imdb.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  17. "New BET series "America in Black" launches Sunday". YouTube. CBS New York. February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  18. Johnson, Ted (January 27, 2023). "BET And CBS News To Debut America In Black Newsmagazine Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  19. Goldstein, Dana; Saul, Stephanie; Hartocollis, Anemona (February 9, 2023). "Florida Officials Had Repeated Contact With College Board Over African American Studies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  20. Contorno, Steve (January 19, 2023). "DeSantis administration rejects proposed AP African American Studies class in Florida high schools | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  21. Mazzei, Patricia; Hartocollis, Anemona (January 19, 2023). "Florida Rejects A.P. African American Studies Class". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  22. Kilander, Gustaf. "Ron DeSantis says African American history course was banned because of content about prisons and 'queer' theory". The Independent.
  23. Kelly, Mary Louise. "College Board responds to backlash over AP African American studies curriculum". NPR.org. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  24. Waxman, Olivia (February 2023). "The Real Reason Florida Wants to Ban AP African-American Studies, According to an Architect of the Course". Time Magazine. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  25. "The College Board Strips Down Its A.P. Curriculum for African American Studies". NYT. February 1, 2023.
  26. "College Board officials reveal controversial African American studies course content". CBS Mornings. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  27. Waters, Brandi (February 2022). Teacher Information Guide AP African American Studies Pilot. Washington, DC: College Board.
  28. Waters, Brandi (February 2022). AP African American Studies Course Pilot. Washington, DC: College Board.
  29. "AP African American Studies: Year Two Pilot Guide" (PDF). College Board. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
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