AP psychology can be taught in Florida high schools, state officials say

After confusion over whether Advanced Placement (AP) psychology classes would be banned in Florida high schools under Governor Ron DeSantis’ ban on teaching LGBT subjects, it appears that students there will be allowed to take the course.

Earlier this week, the nonprofit College Board advised state school districts not to offer the college-level course to Florida high school students unless it can be fully taught.

For decades, the class had included a unit on gender and sexual orientation, which the college board suggested would be “illegal” after DeSantis recently signed a comprehensive ban on teaching those subjects through grade 12.

But late Friday, statements from both sides suggested Florida high school students could still take the full course.

In a letter to state superintendents, Manny Diaz Jr., Florida’s education commissioner, said the state believed the psychology course could be taught “in its entirety.”

“Today’s statement from the Florida Department of Education represents revised guidelines for AP psychology,” the College Board told DailyMail.com in a statement.

“As the district superintendents continue to seek additional clarity from the department, we note the clear directive that ‘AP psychology may be taught in its entirety,'” the group added.

“We now hope Florida teachers will be able to teach the full course, including gender and sexual orientation content, without fear of punishment in the coming school year,” the statement said.

Florida’s ban on teaching about gender and sexual orientation, dubbed by critics the “Don’t Say Gay” law, was initially passed in March 2022 and applied to kindergarten through third grade.

The policy sparked a national debate and helped thrust DeSantis into the spotlight ahead of his current campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

In May, DeSantis signed an expanded version of the bill, banning these subjects through twelfth grade, with exceptions for high school if they were approved by officials as “age appropriate.”

The Florida Department of Education did not immediately comment Saturday on whether AP Psychology’s course materials were age-appropriate.

With students preparing to return to school in less than a week in many school districts, it remained unclear whether any course changes were expected to comply with Florida rules.

Parents and students tried to figure out what to do.

Brandon Taylor Charpied said his daughter, who attends school in suburban Jacksonville, was supposed to take an AP psychology course, but switched at the last minute a few weeks ago following “rumors” about Florida’s rift with the College Board.

“To be fair, we saw the writing on the wall,” Charpied said. “It’s a very difficult situation for high schools to navigate right now with just days until the school year begins.”

In Tallahassee, Florida’s capital, the Leon County school district superintendent met with teachers and high school principals to decide what to do with the roughly 300 students who had already enrolled in the course this year — and who count on AP classes to earn credits.

In Orlando, Orange County Public Schools sent a message to parents with children enrolled in AP Psychology to say they were thinking of other options.

Because the College Board is sticking to its decades-old psychology curriculum, school districts in the rest of the country aren’t affected — unlike when it made changes to the AP African American studies curriculum.

In April, the board of directors watered down that course’s curriculum on reparations for slavery and the Black Lives Matter movement in response to a separate Florida law — and a nationwide backlash ensued

In an initial statement Thursday, the college board said the DeSantis administration “effectively banned AP Psychology in the state by instructing Florida superintendents that teaching fundamental content about sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law.”

The Florida Department of Education rejected claims that it banned the course. Diaz’s statement Friday said the AP course can be delivered “in a manner appropriate to age and development.”

Under a comprehensive Florida law, classes on sexual orientation and gender identity are not allowed unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take.

In the spring, the state asked the College Board and other providers of college-level courses to review their offerings for potential violations.

The board of directors refused to adapt the psychology course to the new Florida legislation.

The course asks students to describe how sex and gender influence a person’s development – topics that have been part of the curriculum since it started 30 years ago.

The College Board, which administers the SAT and AP exams, remains steadfast against pressure from Florida officials and has admitted mistakes were made in its handling of the African American studies curriculum.

“We’ve learned from our mistakes in the recent rollout of AP African American Studies and know we need to be clear on where we stand from the start,” the nonprofit said in June.

Experts in the field of literacy and freedom of expression praised the new approach of the Executive Board.

“These concessions are not a strategy that works,” said Kasey Meehan, the Freedom to Read program director at PEN America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing literature and human rights.

“It’s not like there’s a common middle ground and then we’ve worked it out and moved on.”

Meehan said that while other states may not have gone as far as Florida to ask for course revisions, legislation across the country is having a chilling effect on teachers at all levels.

Even if concepts aren’t explicitly banned, many educators remain in the dark about what might get them into trouble when teaching in the classroom, she said.

“We’ve heard it’s hard to teach about everything from the Civil War to Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay elected official,” Meehan said. “There’s just an increased culture of fear and intimidation.”

The American Psychological Association said Florida’s new policy means students will receive an incomplete education.

“Demanding effectively censored educational materials does a huge disservice to students across Florida who are getting an incomplete picture of human development psychology research,” said Arthur Evans Jr, CEO of the association.