After more than six months of review, the Virginia Department of Education approved a newly developed AP African American history course.
Virginia students will now be able to take the College Board’s Advanced Placement course covering African American studies.
No material violates Virginia Governor's order
The Virginia Department of Education concluded that none of the material to be studied violates Governor Glenn Youngkin's executive order concerning the history course.
College Board's pilot
The department said that the course will be offered in some Virginia schools during the final year of the College Board’s pilot.
David Coleman, CEO of the College Board said in a statement about the course framework that was released in February during Black History Month:
“This course is an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture. No one is excluded from this course: the Black artists and inventors whose achievements have come to light; the Black women and men, including gay Americans, who played pivotal roles in the civil rights movement; and people of faith from all backgrounds who contributed to the antislavery and civil rights causes.”
The course framework
The course framework that was approved includes material created in consultation with over 300 African American Studies professors across the country.
The course framework is broken down into four units:
- Origins of the African Diaspora
- Freedom, Enslavement, and Resistance
- Practice of Freedom
- Movements and Debates
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