- Oct 17, 2011
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Florida officials told school superintendents Thursday that they may offer the class but only if material concerning sexual orientation and gender identity is removed, said William J. “Bill” Montford III, chief executive at the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, who was on the call. He said districts were encouraged to teach a modified version of the class.
The College Board, which runs the AP program, responded that the class will not be compliant with college requirements if these topics are removed and that schools that do so cannot call the class “Advanced Placement.”
The AP Psychology course asks students to “describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development.” The College Board said this element of the class had been present since the course launched in 1993. Florida schools have offered the class every year since then, an official said.
In practice, the only real requirement is for teaching the definitions of sexual orientation and gender identity and the difference between them, said Elliott Hammer, professor of psychology at Xavier University of Louisiana and chief reader for AP Psychology exams.
[AP psych teacher] Chapman also said the content on the prohibited topics was scant, but she argued it is essential. They “allow us to understand fully and completely the human experience,” she said.
[Florida's] policies are unsettling to the American Psychological Association, which argues that gender and sexuality are essential topics for any psychology course.
The College Board, which runs the AP program, responded that the class will not be compliant with college requirements if these topics are removed and that schools that do so cannot call the class “Advanced Placement.”
The AP Psychology course asks students to “describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development.” The College Board said this element of the class had been present since the course launched in 1993. Florida schools have offered the class every year since then, an official said.
In practice, the only real requirement is for teaching the definitions of sexual orientation and gender identity and the difference between them, said Elliott Hammer, professor of psychology at Xavier University of Louisiana and chief reader for AP Psychology exams.
[AP psych teacher] Chapman also said the content on the prohibited topics was scant, but she argued it is essential. They “allow us to understand fully and completely the human experience,” she said.
[Florida's] policies are unsettling to the American Psychological Association, which argues that gender and sexuality are essential topics for any psychology course.