Palm Springs Unified asks staff for curriculum fixes before counting AP African American Studies as U.S. history

The Palm Springs Unified School District board on Feb. 24 directed staff to return March 10 with more information before deciding whether AP African American Studies should satisfy the district's U.S. history graduation requirement.

Doctor Corey Killian, the district's director of secondary curriculum and instruction, told the board a five-member committee compared the AP African American Studies materials (syllabi, textbooks, College Board scope) against the 11 U.S. history standards and 73 substandards the district uses. Committee members found many substandards met or partially met but identified missing coverage of World War I, World War II and the Cold War.

"The recommendation of the team was that AP African American Studies should meet the U.S. history PSUSD graduation requirement with the caveat that the missing standards, specifically World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, are added to the course," Killian said. He described a consensus-driven review process involving AP instructors and two U.S. history teachers.

Board members pressed for more comparisons with other California districts that already count AP African American Studies as U.S. history. Several trustees asked staff to find out how those districts incorporated the missing standards and whether the wars would be taught from an African American perspective or more generally. Killian agreed to consult districts that have used the course for graduation credit (he referenced Los Angeles Unified and Desert Sands as examples) and to reconvene the committee to document how the missing standards would be woven into instruction.

Board members also discussed logistics: if the board directed that the course meet U.S. history, the district would mark it in Synergy so that, for scheduling purposes, it fills the U.S. history (junior-year) bucket; extra sections would overflow into electives as with other courses. Killian told the board current enrollment in the three schools now offering the AP course is small (about 15—— students per site) but that course selection timing last year limited initial enrollment.

The committee's work included counting how many substandards were met: committee notes reported approximately 36 standards fully met, 10 partially met and 27 not met (out of 73 substandards). Killian said the committee would meet again to identify where and how to add the missing content without undermining AP course integrity or assessment preparation.

The board stopped short of a final policy change and instead asked staff to: survey districts that count the course for U.S. history credit; report how those districts addressed the World Wars and Cold War (and whether they retained an African American perspective on those topics); assess curricular tradeoffs; and return by March 10 so changes could be decided for the 2026—27 course catalog and scheduling cycle.

What happens next: staff will convene the committee to trace the missing substandards and report back with comparisons from other districts and a recommended plan to add the missing standards if the board chooses to count AP African American Studies as the district's U.S. history requirement.