An astounding number of 60 schools across the USA will now be offering Advanced Placement courses on African American studies.
Back in February, The College Board announced a new African American studies program which officially started in August. The course will dive into topics such as the history of civil rights, African American music, arts, political sciences, humanities, literature, geography, and science while exploring key contributions made by African Americans through the centuries.
NEW: After three years of piloting the curriculum with colleges and high schools, AP Seminar with African Diaspora content is now available worldwide. https://t.co/aq5tCBDqSv
— The College Board (@CollegeBoard) September 8, 2020
The unique program will be adding more schools this year and is expected to be available to every school upon request in the 2024 – 2025 school year. According to the College Board, this will allow time for credit and placement polities at universities and colleges.
Recently, there was a gathering of high school teachers leading the African American Studies program to review the course’s framework and make it ready for launch, the College Board told CNN.
The College Board is developing a new Advanced Placement course in African American studies at a time when the nation is reckoning with how teachers should talk to students about race and America’s racist past.https://t.co/qtzEBm1Uwv
— Education Week (@educationweek) February 26, 2022
Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a widely-respected educator celebrated the new program, noting that the course is “rigorously vetted” and people should not mistake it for critical race theory, which has been dividing the country for years.
“Nothing is more dramatic than having the College Board launch an AP course in a field — that signifies ultimate acceptance and ultimate academic legitimacy,” Gates said in a statement. “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.”
See CBS News’ report on the story in the video below:
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