Last year, the College Board made waves when it released the revised standards for Advanced Placement (AP) US History.  The revised course was criticized by conservative politicians and pundits for being anti-American.  Many people pointed out that the framework often presented a one-sided view of history in its attempts to explore historical controversies and nuances.

For example, in the version released last year, the discussion of WWII was limited to the role of race, incursions of civil liberties within US borders, and the decision to drop the atomic bomb.

As a result, the new framework was denounced at the Republican National Convention and controversies erupted both in state legislatures (Oklahoma) and local school boards (Jefferson County, Colorado), which brought nationwide attention to the content of the course for perhaps the first time.

In wake of the controversies, the College Board decided to revisit the framework and has spent the past several months reviewing and revising it.  They released the new version of the framework this week.  You can examine it on their website.

This new version is very much a response to the criticism that the course has been under for the past year.  The College Board put considerable effort into placing events into their historical context and they made sure that specific American figureheads were included.  They also took out some of the negative language that had been used to refer to historical conservative leaders.

The reception for this new version has been decidedly warmer than the new version received.  Many of the stakeholders who were critical of the framework before are now praising the new framework for its evenhandedness in the edits that were made.

You can read more about the new framework at:

After Facing Backlash, AP U.S. History Course Revised to Emphasize American Ideals

Surprise — The New AP U.S. History Framework Is Scrupulously Fair-Minded

Revised AP U.S. History Standards Will Emphasize American Exceptionalism

College Board bows to critics, revises AP U.S. History course

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