AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
A schism involving the Florida Education Department and the College Board over the teaching of Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology due to the inclusion of LGBTQ+ subjects may have come to a resolution.
NBC Newsreports that Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. sent a letter to school superintendents Friday indicating the state is not preventing school districts from teaching the AP Psychology course, a statementcontrary to what the College Board saidjust one day earlier.
“In fact,” according to the letter, “the Department believes that AP Psychology can be taught in its entirety in a manner that is age and developmentally appropriate and the course remains listed in our course catalog.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.AP Photo/Phil Sears
In March 2022, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is currently running for president,signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law, which banned the classroom teaching of “sexual orientation or gender identity” from kindergarten to the third grade, or “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
In May 2023, DeSantissigned legislation that further prohibited school instructionon sexual orientation and gender identity subjects through the 12th grade.
The nonprofitCollege Boardruns AP courses. In a response shared with PEOPLE in an email Tuesday, the organization wrote: “Friday’s statement from the Florida Department of Education represents revised guidance on AP Psychology. While district superintendents continue to seek additional clarity from the department, we note the clear guidance that, ‘AP Psychology may be taught in its entirety.’
“We hope now that Florida teachers will be able to teach the full course, including content on gender and sexual orientation, without fear of punishment in the upcoming school year.”
The College Board addedthat, according to the state, instructors can teach the AP Psychology course if it does not include discussion of those particular topics — subjects, according to the organization, that have been part of the course for 30 years.
According toThe New York Times, over 28,000 Florida students took the AP Psychology exam in 2022.
As previously explained in June, the College Board said in its recent statement it could not modify the course in accordance with the state’s regulations “that would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness. Our policy remains unchanged. Any course that censors required course content cannot be labeled ‘AP’ or ‘Advanced Placement,’ and the ‘AP Psychology’ designation cannot be utilized on student transcripts.”
The organization said at the time that teaching an AP Psychology course would violate Florida’s laws or college requirements. “Therefore,” it stated, “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.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.Sipa via AP Images
Sipa via AP Images
The College Board also added that it has heard from Florida teachers who were “heartbroken” that they could not teach AP Psychology and instead are left to offer an alternative version of the course that would be legal but exclude sexual orientation and gender identity topics.
In a June statement, theAmerican Psychological Association(APA) said it sided with the College Board over the AP Psychology course issue. “Understanding human sexuality is fundamental to psychology, and an advanced placement course that excludes the decades of science studying sexual orientation and gender identity would deprive students of knowledge they will need to succeed in their studies, in high school and beyond,” said Arthur C. Evans Jr., the APA’s CEO.
PEOPLE reached out to the Florida Department of Education for further comment.
In a statement toUSA Todaypublishedlast week, Cassie Palelis, a spokesperson for the Florida Education Department, said that the department did not “ban” AP Psychology, adding: “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.”
source: people.com
