Arkansas Education Department Faces Backlash for Denying Credit for AP African American Studies

The Arkansas Department of Education has revoked approval for the AP African American Studies course in high schools due to a new law banning the teaching of certain topics. The decision has disappointed students who were looking forward to taking the course, which offers valuable information about history. The course is currently undergoing revisions and may potentially violate Arkansas laws on teaching implicit bias and critical race theory. While districts can still choose to offer the class for high school credit, there is no statewide pilot. The state is working on creating an honors version of the course, but it may not articulate into college credit, although individual institutions can choose to accept it.