Some K-12 school district officials have proposed a remedy to the lack of Black student enrollment in Advanced Placement classes: an AP course in African-American History.
“My thinking is, if we can get [Black students] to engage in one AP course, then eventually they will enroll in others,” says Dr. Linda Lane, the deputy superintendent for instruction for the Pittsburgh Public School District.
However, the officials at the College Board, which oversees the AP tests, say the likelihood of a Black history AP course coming to fruition is slim to none. Adding a new subject to the AP curriculum is up to colleges, who at this point are cool to the idea, says Trevor Packer, vice president of the AP program.
“We could not find a single college that shared an interest [in having an AP course in African-American history,” he says. “What [our member colleges and universities] explained to us is that though the issue is important, they don’t want to lose enrollment in their African-American studies.”
Instead, Packer says, colleges and the College Board believe it would be more effective to place an increased emphasis on African-American history in the existing AP U.S. history course. Other options include offering pre-AP courses in middle schools and providing support to teachers in predominately Black high schools so more can qualify to teach AP classes.
Packer says that of the 5,200 College Board members — which include private and public high schools, colleges, universities and minority-serving institutions — none, including HBCUs, expressed interest.
Lane, however, says an AP Black history course would send a message that could change Black students’ outlook on education.
