The Florida Department of Education has restricted instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation from the College Board’s AP Psychology curriculum, according to the College Board on Thursday.
College Board officials wrote that the state will still allow districts to teach AP Psychology, but teachers won’t be allowed to discuss gender identity or sexual orientation as part of the coursework.
After House Bill 1069 was signed into law in May, the Florida Department of Education asked the College Board to review its courses to make sure they adhered to the new state standards.
HB-1069 prevents concepts like “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to be taught to students in school in grades pre-K - 8 unless the lessons deal with health or a reproductive health course.
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It also restricts classes teaching those topics in grades 9 - 12 if the instruction isn’t “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”
In response, the College Board announced back in June that it would refuse to take those subjects out of the curriculum to match the law.
The terms have come under fire in Florida schools as parents expressed concern about potentially inappropriate content being taught to children.
According to the American Psychological Association, “sexual orientation” means “an often enduring pattern of emotional, romantic and/or sexual attractions to men, women or both. It also refers to an individual’s sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions.”
Meanwhile, the APA defines “gender identity” as “a person’s deep felt, inherent sense of being a girl, woman, or female; a boy, a man, or male; a blend of male or female; (or another) gender.” The term has become divisive in recent years, as some people believe that gender is wholly separate from sex, and others believe that gender is instead predicated on sex.
The American Psychological Association recently stated that any course that doesn’t teach about these topics would not be considered for college credit.
However, Florida education officials said that other advanced course providers — including the International Baccalaureate Program — have no issue providing college credit for the course.
“Just one week before school starts, the College Board is attempting to force school districts to prevent students from taking the AP Psychology Course,” a statement from FDOE reads. “The Department didn’t ‘ban’ the course. The course remains listed in Florida’s Course Code Directory for the 2023-24 school year. We encourage the College Board to stop playing games with Florida students and continue to offer the course and allow teachers to operate accordingly.”
Seminole County Public Schools told News 6 that its district will “reflect the replacement of AP Psychology with AP Seminar,” which will “emphasize the study of psychology.”
Seminole students will then take the AP Seminar exam, and upon achieving a passing score, they will be able to earn college credit. According to the district, the College Board defines AP Seminar as:
“A foundational course that engages students in cross-curricular conversations that explore the complexities of academic and real-world topics and issues by analyzing divergent perspectives. Students learn to investigate a problem or issue, analyze arguments, compare different perspectives, synthesize information from multiple sources, and work alone and in a group to communicate their ideas.”
College Board definition for AP Seminar
“Gender is a fundamental aspect of human identity and plays a crucial role in shaping our thoughts, emotions and behavior,” said President Marni Stahlman of the Mental Health Association of Central Florida. “By including gender studies in AP Psychology, students can develop a more comprehensive understanding of human behavior by considering the ways in which gender influences various psychological processes. This knowledge allows students to better analyze and interpret the complexities of human behavior.”
It should be noted that the concept of gender has not been explicitly barred from instruction in Florida schools.
News 6 has reached out to the Florida Department of Education for comment and is awaiting a response.
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