NCSS Response to the Advanced Placement (AP)
African American Studies Course Release February 15, 2023
Over the past several weeks, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has been monitoring the news coverage and statements related to the decision of the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Articulation not to offer the Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies course in the state of Florida. NCSS sought to make sense of the timeline and accuracy of statements by individuals and the media before providing an official response.
NCSS recognizes that states and districts have the right to approve or not approve individual courses and, in so doing, have a responsibility to use a transparent evaluation process that includes educators and other experts in the field. When courses, especially those that were created and supported by some of the United States’ most esteemed scholars and organizations, appear to have been rejected without a transparent process, all educators and community members should be concerned and have the right to request more information on the process used.
Of equal concern to NCSS is that the current political climate might negatively impact the great work that is being done throughout the United States to diversify curricula, use culturally responsive resources, and build content and pedagogical knowledge so that educators might better create lessons and other opportunities to address a longstanding marginalization of Black histories in the American education system. NCSS previously addressed concerns about “divisive concepts” laws that seek “to ban the teaching of such concepts as race, racism, white supremacy, equity, justice, and social-emotional learning, as well as to limit the teaching of content such as slavery, Black history, women’s suffrage, and civil rights.”
NCSS supports the teaching of Black histories in a manner that engages students in learning about the achievements, joy, perseverance, agency, and resilience of Black Americans. An attempt to block courses that fully portray the Black experience, such as the AP African American Studies course, places professional judgment boundaries on teachers’ freedom to teach and denies students the right to learn rich, complex histories that allow for multiple perspectives and deep exploration of the successes and struggles in our collective history across cultures. Every student has the right to learn about Black histories and the Black experience, and every teacher has the right to teach Black histories and the Black experience without the fear of intimidation and retaliation.
NCSS continues to advocate for the inclusion of Black histories and contemporary issues across K–12 curricula and calls on all education officials to provide students with the right to learn about, and from, the experiences of Black Americans. NCSS strongly believes in the educational value of offering diverse learning experiences in schools. We believe all students deserve the opportunity to learn African American studies and should have access to courses that support their pursuit of higher education and the study of African American history and culture in all education settings and throughout life.
NCSS remains committed to monitoring the political landscape of teaching social studies. We reserve the right to issue additional statements in the future regarding the AP African American Studies course if we believe it is necessary to do so.
African American Studies Course Release February 15, 2023
Over the past several weeks, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has been monitoring the news coverage and statements related to the decision of the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Articulation not to offer the Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies course in the state of Florida. NCSS sought to make sense of the timeline and accuracy of statements by individuals and the media before providing an official response.
NCSS recognizes that states and districts have the right to approve or not approve individual courses and, in so doing, have a responsibility to use a transparent evaluation process that includes educators and other experts in the field. When courses, especially those that were created and supported by some of the United States’ most esteemed scholars and organizations, appear to have been rejected without a transparent process, all educators and community members should be concerned and have the right to request more information on the process used.
Of equal concern to NCSS is that the current political climate might negatively impact the great work that is being done throughout the United States to diversify curricula, use culturally responsive resources, and build content and pedagogical knowledge so that educators might better create lessons and other opportunities to address a longstanding marginalization of Black histories in the American education system. NCSS previously addressed concerns about “divisive concepts” laws that seek “to ban the teaching of such concepts as race, racism, white supremacy, equity, justice, and social-emotional learning, as well as to limit the teaching of content such as slavery, Black history, women’s suffrage, and civil rights.”
NCSS supports the teaching of Black histories in a manner that engages students in learning about the achievements, joy, perseverance, agency, and resilience of Black Americans. An attempt to block courses that fully portray the Black experience, such as the AP African American Studies course, places professional judgment boundaries on teachers’ freedom to teach and denies students the right to learn rich, complex histories that allow for multiple perspectives and deep exploration of the successes and struggles in our collective history across cultures. Every student has the right to learn about Black histories and the Black experience, and every teacher has the right to teach Black histories and the Black experience without the fear of intimidation and retaliation.
NCSS continues to advocate for the inclusion of Black histories and contemporary issues across K–12 curricula and calls on all education officials to provide students with the right to learn about, and from, the experiences of Black Americans. NCSS strongly believes in the educational value of offering diverse learning experiences in schools. We believe all students deserve the opportunity to learn African American studies and should have access to courses that support their pursuit of higher education and the study of African American history and culture in all education settings and throughout life.
NCSS remains committed to monitoring the political landscape of teaching social studies. We reserve the right to issue additional statements in the future regarding the AP African American Studies course if we believe it is necessary to do so.
Joint Statement on Sustainable Systems for Quality Teaching
September 21, 2022
The US education system—with its promise to educate all—has been a model for the world, but it faces unprecedented challenges. The teacher shortage has recently received national attention, but the issue has been building for years. It affects some regions more than others; districts that serve rural areas and/or low- income pupils; and specific subject matter. Some states have responded by lowering the qualifications for individuals to be employed as teachers. While this may be a short-term solution for localized teacher shortages, it will not solve the longer-term issues and will result in lower-quality education for students.
The solution to the teacher shortage crisis is not to fill classrooms with under qualified individuals. Instead, we must create a sustainable system that prepares, retains, and supports teachers through accessible, high-quality teacher preparation, competitive compensation, ample resources, and ongoing professional learning and mentoring opportunities. These commitments demonstrate that educators are professionals and are critical to our social infrastructure and progress as a nation. Their positive impact on their students helps to ensure that we have a vibrant society and skilled workforce in the future.
To create a sustainable system, we need to make teacher preparation rigorous and accessible through programs such as student loan forgiveness, compensating student teaching internships, and maintaining qualification standards. New educators deserve to enter the classroom prepared to teach so that they can be successful in their career and for their students.
We must retain teachers beyond their early career experience in order for them to be most effective. Students of teachers who have been in the classroom for longer periods of time have been shown to have better learning outcomes. In the last thirty years, the median years of experience has declined from fifteen years to less than three. Additionally, more inexperienced teachers are often clustered in schools that have higher percentages of students from underrepresented or underserved communities, as well as those in low-income, rural, or urban areas—an example of the uneven distribution of teacher shortages. So the problem is not merely one of supply. We must give support that teachers need to stay at these schools so their students benefit from having experienced teachers.
We already know solutions to retaining teachers once they enter the classroom based on schools and districts that do not have teacher shortages. Teachers need to be supported through mentoring, induction programs, and high-quality professional learning programs, all of which have been shown to increase retention. Teachers need to be compensated at a living and competitive wage, matching their education and professionalism. In a recent report from the National Educational Association, teachers’ salaries averaged 19.2 percent lower when compared to other college-educated workers with similar characteristics.
Finally, educators need to be respected as professionals. They are facing the challenge of trying to help their students recover from substantial disruptions to the learning process during the past two years. Recently, teachers have been caught in the middle of ongoing political and cultural debates in our country. We need to treat and support teachers as the professionals they are through their development and the culture and environment in which they work—not in some schools, but in all schools. Not for some students in those schools, but for all students.
The statement above was released by the following professional organizations for teachers.
ACTFL
American Association of Physics Teachers
Association for Career and Technical Education
Association for Multicultural Science Education
International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT)
National Council for the Social Studies
National Council of Teachers of English
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
National Middle Level Science Teachers Association
National Science Teaching Association
Society for College Science Teaching
Who represents you on the Nebraska State Board of Education?
Contact your Board member with comments and concerns.
Contact your Board member with comments and concerns.
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http://news.legislature.ne.gov/edu/
Education Committee of the Nebraska Legislature -
During session, the Education Committee meets on Mondays and Tuesdays
in Room 1525 on the 1st Floor of the Capitol.
Sen. Dave Murman, Chairperson
District 38
Room 1107
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
(402) 471-2732
Email: dmurman@leg.ne.gov
http://news.legislature.ne.gov/edu/
Education Committee of the Nebraska Legislature -
During session, the Education Committee meets on Mondays and Tuesdays
in Room 1525 on the 1st Floor of the Capitol.
Sen. Dave Murman, Chairperson
District 38
Room 1107
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
(402) 471-2732
Email: dmurman@leg.ne.gov
Committee Members
- Sen. Jone Albrecht Email: jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov
- Sen. Tom Briese Email: tbriese@leg.ne.gov
- Sen. Danielle Conrad Email: dconrad@leg.ne.gov
- Sen. Lou Ann Linehan Email: llinehan@leg.ne.gov
- Sen. Rita Sanders Email: rsanders@leg.ne.gov
- Sen. Lynne Walz Email: lwalz@leg.ne.gov
- Sen. Justin Wayne Email: jwayne@leg.ne.gov
