AP course textbooks – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Chris Worldwide
The College Board’s new AP African American Studies course has drawn criticism from Florida’s Republican governor, who described it as brainwashing and lacking in educational merit.
This week, Ron DeSantis went even further, proposing that the College Board, a nonprofit organization that manages the AP program as well as other essential elements of the college admissions process like the SAT and PSAT exams, may be replaced by the state.
“Nobody elected (the College Board) to anything,” DeSantis said during an appearance to talk about “woke” banking practices. “They’re just … providing services, and so you can either utilize those services or not. They have provided these AP courses for a long time, but … there are probably some other vendors who may be able to do that job as good or maybe even a lot better.”
DeSantis has since reversed course and expressed suspicion of College Board products. DeSantis is generally projected to run for president in 2024 and has engaged in a number of conflicts with major corporations. He highlighted Florida’s ranking as second in the nation for the proportion of graduating seniors who had passed Advanced Placement examinations in his 2021 State of the State address.
One of the highest AP participation rates in the country is seen in Florida.
High school students have alternative options for earning college credit, like taking courses at a community college. However, some options aren’t as respected, and others, like International Baccalaureate, aren’t as accessible as AP.
According to some data, taking AP courses is linked to better outcomes in higher education, even if they yield a low score that doesn’t qualify for college credit.
The potent mix of the courses, exams, and scholarships offered by the College Board cannot be matched by any other organization.
Numerous high school students take AP classes each year in order to receive college credit and an edge on their college applications.
High school students have alternative options for earning college credit, like taking courses at a community college. However, some options aren’t as respected, and others, like International Baccalaureate, aren’t as accessible as AP.
According to some data, taking AP courses is linked to better outcomes in higher education, even if they yield a low score that doesn’t qualify for college credit.
“There are some real problems with the Advanced Placement program and some real benefits as well,” said Denise Pope, a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education who has studied the value of AP courses for high school students.
“If a state removes financial support for AP, students from wealthier families are likely to continue to be able to access the courses and take the exams,” she said.
“That’s going to create a bigger rift between the haves and have-nots,” Pope continued.
“There are other options besides AP. I just don’t think DeSantis is (challenging the College Board) for the right reasons,” Pope said. “And I don’t think he has maybe enough really thought out what those alternatives would be and what it would take to put that into place in a way that wouldn’t exacerbate inequality.”
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Melissa’s career in writing started more than 20 years ago. Today, she lives in South Florida with her husband and two boys.
