teaching history 
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SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
1/25/2023
Florida's AP Fight Latest Battle in a Very Old Education War
by Bethany Bell
The state's rejection of the proposed curriculum as "indoctrination" stands on the foundation laid by the United Daughters of the Confederacy to establish the Lost Cause myth as the center of history education in the South for generations.
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SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed
1/30/2023
On Florida's Erasure of Black History
by Lynn Pasquerella and Mary Dana Hinton
The Florida AP decision raises a host of troubling questions about what the state hopes to accomplish, with ominous implications for political enfranchisement, democratic deliberation, and civic connection.
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SOURCE: Richmond Times-Dispatch
1/31/2023
Beneath the Surface of Virginia's History Standards
by Edward L. Ayers
Virginia's Department of Education has ignored the guidance of historians and educators in revising the state's K-12 history standards. The example of how political appointees treated the role of African Americans in driving the movement for abolition is a telling example of the inadequate history they want to teach.
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SOURCE: Independent
2/1/2023
I'm a Florida Teacher. This is What's Happened to My Classroom Library
"We have been told that this is a temporary move as the district works toward compliance with this law, but with only one person to vet thousands of books, it doesn’t feel very temporary."
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SOURCE: African American Studies Faculty in Higher Ed
1/31/2023
600 African American Studies Faculty Sign Open Letter in Defense of AP African American Studies
"We categorically reject DeSantis’s autocratic claim to knowing what college-level material should be available in an AP African American Studies course. There is no precedent, of which we are aware, for him or the Florida Department of Education to claim expertise on any other subject matter for AP course adoption."
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SOURCE: WAMU
2/1/2023
Historians on DeSantis and the Fight Over Black History
Experts including education historians Adam Laats and Natalia Mehlman Petrzela discuss the controversy over Florida's rejection of the Advanced Placement course in African American Studies.
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SOURCE: Boston Review
2/1/2023
A Reading List of Authors Removed from the AP African American Studies Course
The College Board has made revisions to its pilot African American Studies course that appear to follow the criticisms made by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Here's a collection of essays by many of the scholars representing diverse Black intellectual traditions whose ideas will not be part of the course going forward.
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SOURCE: TIME
1/26/2023
Why "Woke" is Such a Convenient Dog Whistle for the Right
by Samuel L. Perry and Eric L. McDaniel
The term hints at evoking demonized populations—Black and LGBTQ Floridians, for instance—while maintaining enough ambiguity to foster deniability about the consequences of legislation. It also has the auxiliary function of trolling white liberals.
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SOURCE: The Bulwark
1/27/2023
Kids Could Teach Republican Pols a Lesson About Handling the Harsh Truth
by Margaret McMullan
"Decades after she first walked into Little Rock Central High, Elizabeth Eckford said, 'True reconciliation can occur only when we honestly acknowledge our painful, but shared past'."
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SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
1/30/2023
What's Actually Happening in Florida Education?
by Francie Diep and Emma Pettit
Ron DeSantis has moved quickly on multiple fronts to alter the landscape of higher education in Florida. What are the facts behind the headlines? Will these actions be repeated in other states?
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SOURCE: New York Times
1/31/2023
What's Behind DeSantis Push to Erase Black History?
by Janai Nelson
"Mr. DeSantis’s “Stop WOKE” law relegates the study of the experiences of Black people to a prohibited category. The canceling of any students’ access to accurate, truthful education that reflects their diverse identities and that of their country should chill every American."
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SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed
1/24/2023
College Faculty: After K-12, Curriculum Laws are Coming For You
by James Grossman and Jeremy C. Young
State colleges involved with concurrent enrollment programs that allow high school students to take classes for credit are already susceptible to laws purporting to fight "indoctrination" in the secondary school curriculum. More intrusions on academic freedom are coming.
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SOURCE: NBC News
1/26/2023
Dem Governors Pritzker and Newsom Challenge AP on Caving to DeSantis
"I am extremely troubled by recent news reports that claim Governor DeSantis is pressuring the College Board to change the AP African American Studies course in order to fit Florida’s racist and homophobic laws," Pritzker said.
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SOURCE: The King Center
1/22/2023
Dr. Bernice King's Statement on Florida's Rejection of AP African American Studies
"The children are waiting for you to step up, stop the propaganda and disinformation and show them how you will stand for justice and truth. The King Center stands ready to help facilitate a win-win outcome to the conflict around the AP African American Studies Curriculum."
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SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
1/18/2023
Why I'm Not Afraid of ChatGPT
by Christopher Grobe
The limits of AI writing technology present writing teachers the opportunity to show students how to demand more of their writing than the bots can possibly provide.
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SOURCE: New York Times
1/21/2023
Florida Offers Justifications for Rejecting AP African American Studies Course
The state has contended that the curriculum prioritizes indoctrination over education, but their claims distort the meaning of some key terms.
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SOURCE: Washington Post
1/21/2023
Marvin Dunn: Florida Prof Defies New Laws to "Teach the Truth"
The Professor Emeritus at Florida International University says that he can't teach about the history of racist terrorism in the state without registering disgust for the actions of lynch mobs or offering clarity about the political purposes of the violence.
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SOURCE: Daily Beast
1/19/2023
Florida's Ban on AP African American Studies Class is Authoritarian
by Jeremy C. Young
The decision is "bad for free speech and for educational practice, and it's especially worrisome for Florida high school students. When politicians go to war with teachers, students always lose."
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SOURCE: The Conversation
1/18/2023
DeSantis Merging Fear of Lessons on Race and Sexuality with Attacks on Public Education
by Jonathan Feingold
Ron DeSantis's General Counsel defined "woke" as “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.” The governor's education agenda is neatly summed up by this statement, and it's spreading nationwide.
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1/22/2023
Why CRT Belongs in the Classroom, and How to Do It Right
by Stacie Brensilver Berman, Robert Cohen, and Ryan Mills
"If classroom realities matter at all to those governors and state legislators who imposed CRT bans on schools, they ought to be embarrassed at having barred students in their states from the kind of thought provoking teaching we witnessed in this project."
News
- Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham on the AP Af-Am Studies Controversy
- 600 African American Studies Faculty Sign Open Letter in Defense of AP African American Studies
- Organization of American Historians Statement on AP African American Studies
- Historians on DeSantis and the Fight Over Black History
- How the Right Got Waco Wrong