Changes will be made to the College Board’s new AP African American studies course. The board released a statement on Monday announcing their plans to revisit changes that were made to the course, after several topics were removed from the framework, including Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations and queer life. “[We] will determine the details of those changes over the next few months,” the company said in the statement.

“We are committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture. To achieve that commitment, we must listen to the diversity of voices within the field. The development committee and experts within AP remain engaged in building a course and exam that best reflect this dynamic discipline. Those scholars and experts have decided they will make changes to the latest course framework during this pilot phase. They will determine the details of those changes over the next few months.”

The advanced college course came under scrutiny after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used the course as a political pawn to gain attention for his 2024 presidential run. DeSantis claimed he would ban the AP African American studies course in the state of Florida. 

“In the state of Florida, our education standards not only don’t prevent, but they require teaching Black history, all the important things. That’s part of our core curriculum,” DeSantis previously said. “We want education and not indoctrination.”

After DeSantis rejected the course in January, the College Board released the official curriculum for the course, which devalued portions that were heavily criticized by DeSantis. Black scholars inevitably pushed back, calling out the Board for cowering to political pressures and changing the course. 

Now the course, which was launched in 60 schools in the U.S., will get revised and bring back some important components that were stripped away. The board also will expand the course to 800 schools and 16,000 students this upcoming school year.

From AP:

The company said Monday the creation of the course had prioritized access to a discipline that is not widely available to high schoolers, plus bringing that content to as many students as possible — a possible reference to students in states run by conservatives. “Regrettably,” the nonprofit testing company said, those two goals “came into conflict.”

The College Board offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including in math, science, social studies, foreign languages and fine arts. The courses are optional and taught at a college level. Students who score high enough on the final exam usually earn course credit at their university.

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