On April 24th, College Board announced that the AP African American Studies framework was to be reevaluated by a board of teachers and scholars due to scrutiny facing the course. This scrutiny arose after College Board released an updated framework for the course in February. 

AP African Americans studies is currently being taught at Jackson-Reed as a pilot course, and it will remain as a pilot through next school year.

The changes will not affect the framework released in February to be used in the 2023-24 school year, but the board will appraise whether or not changes should be made for the final version of the course for SY 2024-25. In a statement released to teachers of the course, College Board explained that there was “no single factor that led to the decision to update the framework.”

Betty Mfalingundi, AP African American Studies teacher at Jackson-Reed, explained that this state of change was ultimately one to be expected, due to the fact that the course is still in a pilot status. She added that these changes may not entirely be a bad thing, as the class “needed to be made to make the class more …approachable.” 

One example Mfalingundi gave was that there are many dense, scholarly texts in the course as required sources, but that the timing of the class and sheer length and density of these texts made it unrealistic to feasibly tackle them.

Mfalingundi acknowledged that there is also a political aspect in how the class is discussed. “There’s a part of me that laments the fact that this class is being released at this…political moment,” she said. “Because even two years ago, this conversation would have looked so different…”

Since 2021, when College Board announced they would be moving forward with a pilot version of the course, criticism rose surrounding its content, particularly from conservative politicians. One such politician was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who announced in late January that Florida schools would not be accepting the APAAS framework into Florida schools.

DeSantis denied the class, as he claims that the course violated Florida state law, and “lacks educational value.” While it was not explicitly stated what law was violated, in 2022, DeSantis signed the “Stop WOKE Act” into law, which restricts how race, gender, national origin, and sexuality can be discussed in schools. 

A week after DeSantis’ statement, on February 1st, an updated framework (for SY 2023-24) was released by College Board, leading many to speculate whether they were caving to political pressures.

Steve Bumbaugh, the Senior Vice President of College, Career, and Digital Access at College Board, denies this claim, claiming that “there was no way we could have written a 236 page framework in six days.”

Around the time of these criticisms, a series of emails between professor Nishani Frazier (a member of the APAAS development committee ) and Trevor Packer (the head of the AP program at College Board) were revealed, claiming that College Board executives were making changes to the course without the knowledge of the scholars creating the framework. 

Bumbaugh explained that between this revelation and the wide-spread scrutiny facing College Board and APAAS is what led College Board to announce the review board. “We want to send a signal to a scholarly community that we respect them enough to empower a subset of them to take a look at the course and decide if it meets their standards.”

Senior Director of Advocacy and Advancement at Fairtest, Akil Bello, has skeptical views on College Board’s motivations in publicizing the changes made to the course and on their claims regarding political pressures/influences. Bello argues that “they always take the ‘it will make us more money’ path…furthering their chokehold on higher education.”

Bello believes that whenever they are faced with political pressures that could threaten this profit, “They just flinch every single time. They claim they’re unflinching, and they flinch right all the time.”

Jennifer Jessie, a College Admissions Consultant, and Test-Optional Advocate, shares a similar apprehension. She explained how “…it’s not unusual for you [College Board] to edit the course. It’s unusual for there to be so much input and discussion around this course.”

Jessie added that she thinks this input has shaped how College Board has behaved. “I think they’re so reactionary,” she explained. “But I don’t think they know what they’re doing.”

Despite differing views on College Board’s motivations, Mfalingundi encourages people to trust the process, and to trust the teachers. “I will always want people to pay attention to the folks on the ground, the teachers on the ground. And the students, having faith that students want an accurate…look at the class.”