Seven days before Florida public schools started the 2023-2024 school year, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) made the decision to rule out the teaching of College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology course in its entirety, only to reverse the decision 24 hours later.
The FDOE did not initially ban the course outright, rather stating that Florida Schools would simply omit all material that mentioned gender or sexuality as it did not comply with Florida House Bill 1557 (2022) . However, a statement put out by College Board said that without the full class content being taught, the class would not be a qualifier of the “AP” title. In response, the DOE initiated a ban on the class, deeming its reconstruction un-beneficial within schools.
“It was very stressful, I was concerned that my students wouldn’t have the opportunity to explore the content,” AP Psych teacher Kimberly Vandyck said. “Learning about human behavior and the mind is so important at this age, it helps them better understand themselves.”
When news broke on the discontinuation of the course, counselors, teachers and students alike went into pandemonium. Removing a class once schedules are set would lead to holes in schedules, larger class sizes and teachers left without students. As the schools continued to grapple with the sudden change, a quick solution was enacted.
“They put us in AP Seminar but it was really ‘psych’ without the name,” sophomore Annabel Goodspeed said. “I wanted to do the Capstone program my junior year and taking Seminar early would have ruined that for me.”
The panic very quickly came to an end as the very next day the DOE put out a second press release which gave schools an ‘official never-mind’ on the AP Psych decision, re-allowing its full content as it was originally intended. However, the day-long chaos the decision caused calls the job stability of Florida teachers into question as educational legislation continues to be passed.
“I’m glad the DOE has clarified their position that AP Psych can be taught in its entirety,” AP Psychology teacher and exam grader Dr. Shawna Resnick said. “It’s an important class and I’m glad our students won’t be deprived of the opportunity.”
