Florida’s AP Psychology debacle is just the latest in its feud with the College Board

The Florida Department of Education continues stumble through the political minefield developed as a byproduct of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war on “woke” ideologies he and other conservatives claim are "indoctrinating" students attending public schools.

Attempting to ban Advanced Placement Psychology courses before backtracking was just the latest issue in another ongoing feud DeSantis is embroiled in, this time with the College Board, which administers the SAT and develops AP curriculum.

The state Florida Department of Education announced on Friday that it was effectively banning AP Psychology in Florida because part of the course that asks students to “describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development” is “illegal” under state law.

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DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics, early last year, which prohibited educators from instructing students on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms. The law initially targeted kindergarten through third grade, but the bill was expanded during the 2023 Legislative session to include all grades.

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. began walking back the department’s original statements regarding banning AP Psychology curriculum in a follow-up statement also released on Friday, which stated that the department believes the curriculum 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’s kerfuffle with the College Board over AP Psychology courses isn’t the first time the state and organization have clashed. DeSantis has lashed out against the nonprofit in previous statements saying that a pilot version of African American AP studies “lacks educational value” and has pushed the department to look at administering a “classical and Christian” standardized test alongside the ACT and SAT tests.

Why did Florida want to ban AP Psychology curriculum?

The College Board announced on Thursday that Florida’s education department “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.”

Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, is the law in reference.

The education department denied that it banned the course, and a follow-up statement from Diaz Jr. said 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.”

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What does AP Psychology curriculum cover?

The College Board provides a 189-page AP Psychology course and exam description on its website, which states that the course is designed to explore and apply a number of psychological theories, key concepts and phenomena associated with the following topics:

• Biological bases of behavior

• Sensation and perception

• Learning and cognition

• Motivation

• Developmental psychology

• Testing and individual differences

• Treatments for psychological disorders

• Social psychology

Gender and sexual orientation is the last topic covered in Unit 6, Developmental Psychology, which is tied as the shortest unit covered in the course.

Students will learn to define and/or apply gender and sexual orientation as they are taught how these concepts influence socialization and other aspects of development, according to the description.

AP Psychology classes will not be offered in at least nine Florida school districts

Despite the education department’s claims that AP Psychology courses will not be prohibited in Florida classrooms, the latest controversy has prompted at least nine school districts to offer alternatives to the AP Psychology course, according to news reports from NBC News and the Washington Post.

Flagler County school officials said an “evolving educational landscape” and “the continued uncertainty of teaching the AP Psychology course” has led them to swap the AP course for an International Baccalaureate psychology class.

Brevard County Public Schools laid out the difficult scenario schools face in a released statement following the debacle.

“It has become clear that offering the Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology Course to our students this school year could be detrimental to our students, and our instructors. There is content in the AP Psychology curriculum required by the College Board, that violates recently enacted state legislation. The College Board has indicated that if our instructors do not teach all of the content in the course, including the section that violates state law, they will not certify the course. It will not count as an AP course. Students will lose the opportunity to earn college credit. Conversely, if our instructors teach all of the content in the course, they will violate state law. In essence, if we don’t teach all of the content, our students will not receive AP credit. If we do teach all of the content, our instructors will violate the law. Therefore, we will not offer AP Psychology at any of our high schools this year,” the release said.

School districts in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Seminole, Duval, Orange and Palm Beach counties will not include AP Psychology courses in the upcoming school year.

Florida rejects AP African American studies

The Florida Department of Education rejected the course in January, saying in a letter that it is contrary to state law and "significantly lacks educational value."

DeSantis said at a news conference that the state blocked the class because it included the study of “queer theory” and political movements that advocated “abolishing prisons."

The College Board made changes to the curriculum but the course remains banned in Florida. Meanwhile, Florida rolled out its own African American history standards, which was met with considerable backlash as it stated that enslaved people “developed skills” that could have benefited them, doesn’t mention Florida’s role in slavery and the oppression of African Americans, victim blames Black communities and uses outdated language.

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Florida Department of Education to consider administering ‘classical and Christian’ alternative to the ACT and SAT

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in May that authorized Florida school districts to administer the Classic Learning Test (CLT), a new and controversial standardized test, alongside the SAT and ACT. Now the Florida Department of Education will consider adding the CLT as an acceptable exam for university admissions.

The CLT is a new “classical and Christian” alternative to the SAT and ACT standardized tests that was created in 2015 by Maryland educator Jeremy Tate, who believes American education has become “utilitarian” and that “high-stakes” testing is partially to blame.

More than 200 colleges and universities accept CLT scores, but that list mostly consists of private universities.

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The New College of Florida became the first Florida public university to accept the standardized test earlier this year following a push from DeSantis, who wants to explore alternatives to Advanced Placement high school curriculum after the governor tussled with the College Board over a proposed AP African American studies course.

The College Board, which administers the SAT, has said that it recognizes the role that the CLT and other assessments can play in a diverse educational landscape but rebuked a concordance relationship study published by the Classic Learning Initiatives in April.

The Florida Department of Education is expected to discuss the topic during its August meeting.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: AP Psychology another notch in the feud between Florida, College Board