The Florida Department of education has decided to ban the college’s Advanced Placement Psychology course due to recent laws passed to ban teaching foundational content about sexual orientation and gender identity.
“We are sad to have learned that today the Florida Department of Education has effectively banned AP Psychology in the state by instructing Florida superintendents that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law,” the College Board wrote Thursday. “The state has said districts are free to teach AP Psychology only if it excludes any mention of these essential topics.”
The College Board also stated, lessons featuring discussions on gender and sexual orientation are not new. The classes have been a part of AP Psychology for three decades.
In June, the College Board stated it is unable to modify AP Psychology in response to regulations that would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness.
On Thursday, the organization reiterated that point, adding that a student taught an edited version of the course could not include it on their transcripts. An edited version could also not be considered “AP,” “Advanced Placement” or “AP Psychology.”
“To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements,” the College Board noted. “Therefore, we advise Florida districts not to offer AP Psychology until Florida reverses their decision and allows parents and students to choose to take the full course.”
Teachers across Florida are “heartbroken” that they have to teach alternative courses approved by state officials because they avoid discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity.
“It strains credulity to believe that our reviewers would certify for college credit a psychology course that didn’t include gender identity,” American Council on Education president Ted Mitchell said in the statement.
The decision was decided and put in place just days before the 2023-2024 school year starts for thousands of students that are already registered for AP Psychology. They will have to make last-minute changes that could impact their curriculum due to the Florida Department of Education’s decision.
Cassie Palelis, Deputy Director of Communications for the Florida Department of Education, warned the College Board to “stop playing games”.
“The Department didn’t ‘ban’ the course. The class is still listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-2024 year,” Palelis said in a statement. “We encourage the College Board to stop playing games with Florida students and continue to offer the course and allow teachers to operate accordingly. The other advanced course providers (including the International Baccalaureate program) had no issue providing the college credit psychology course.”
In January, the Florida Department of Education also rejected adding the College Board’s new AP African American history course, claiming it “lacks educational value and is contrary to Florida law.”
“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 Florida Department of Education Office of Articulation wrote in a letter to the College Board.
