College Board, the group that regulates advanced placement courses that prepare high schoolers for college, says new state laws in Florida that govern gender curriculum have "effectively banned AP Psychology in the state."
Florida's new policy makes teaching certain content on sexual orientation and gender identity illegal.
The College Board says these concepts have been parts of the AP Psychology curriculum for 30 years, and it says it will not alter its defined curriculum to adhere to laws that "would censor college-level standards for credit, placement, and career readiness."
The College Board says as a result, "any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements. 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."
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A coalition of groups, including the Florida Education Association Teachers Union, is calling for the rejection and redrafting of the standards.
The American Psychological Association concurred: it said excluding such fundamental aspects of psychology would leave students poorly prepared for college and for professional settings.
"Educators cannot teach psychology and exclude an entire group of people from the curriculum," said APA CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD. "Florida is proposing to remove an important body of science from the AP curriculum and test, which will leave students unprepared to continue studying psychology in college."
The College Board says it will do what it can to support schools in Florida that will now have to respond to the new laws.
