Florida ‘bans’ AP Psych over gender, sexual orientation content: College Board

Florida has “effectively banned” Advanced Placement Psychology courses in schools under its so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, according to the College Board — who education officials accused of “playing games” ahead of the new school year.

“To be clear, any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements,” the College Board, which administers SAT and AP tests, said in a statement.

“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.

The Sunshine State’s Department of Education approved the ban on classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity across all grades earlier this year, backed by Gov. and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.

The College Board said teachers across the state “are heartbroken that they are being forced to drop AP and instead teach alternatives that have been deemed legal because the courses exclude these topics.”

But the Florida DOE shot back that it did not ban the course — and accused the College Board of “playing games” ahead of the new school year.

“Just one week before school starts, the College Board is attempting to force school districts to prevent students from taking the AP Psychology Course,” the DOE said in a statement provided to WFLA.

“The Department didn’t ‘ban’ the course. The course remains listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-24 school year,” the department said.

“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 course asks students to “describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development,” according to the College Board.

“This element of the framework is not new: gender and sexual orientation have been part of AP Psychology since the course launched 30 years ago,” it said.

The nonprofit said it can’t modify the course due to regulations that “would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness.

“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,” it added.

The American Psychological Association [APA] confirmed in a statement last month that any course excluding the topics violates their guidelines and can’t be used for college credit.

“Agreeing to use what is effectively censored educational material does an enormous disservice to students across Florida, who will receive an incomplete picture of the psychological research into human development,” APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr. said. “An advanced placement course that ignores 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.”

The College Board said AP courses are recognized by thousands of colleges and universities for admissions, scholarships, college credit and advanced standing.

In the 2022-23 school year, more than 28,000 students in Florida took AP Psychology, according to the organization.

The Florida DOE also came under fire last month after it approved a new black history curriculum that includes a lesson that teaches slavery had “personal benefits,” outraging teachers and activists who argued they omitted key facts about the oppression of black Americans and the realities of slavery.