K-12 Asian American and Pacific Islander and Ethnic Studies in the United States

Research

K-12 Asian American and Pacific Islander and Ethnic Studies in the United States

Committee of 100’s public policy research project identifies and classifies state-level (and the District of Columbia) statutes, bills, and academic standards of K-12 curriculum pertaining to the study of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, as well as other non-white racial and ethnic groups.

As of October 3, 2024:

12 states have statutes that require AAPI studies curriculum
4 states are considering recently introduced bills that would require AAPI studies curriculum
15 states have academic standards that require AAPI studies
22 states have statutes that require ethnic studies curriculum
3 states are considering recently introduced bills that would require ethnic studies curriculum
33 states have academic standards that require ethnic studies
8 states have no statutes, recently introduced bills, or academic standards that require or make optional AAPI studies or ethnic studies curriculum

MATERIALS & INFO

View the updated state by state static maps here (October 2024)

Read the updated press statement and data here (October 2024)

Download the original research report and findings here (August 2023)

Watch the discussion on the importance of AAPI history in K-12 curriculum here (July 2023)

BACKGROUND & METHODOLOGY

Committee of 100 researchers analyzed the laws, regulations, bills, and publicly available curriculum standards of all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia to determine which states have existing K-12 AAPI or ethnic studies curriculum requirements or legislative action that would enact such requirements. Committee of 100 cross-referenced state legislature websites, state statutes, keyword Google searches, and LegiScan to assess the existence and status of legislation and statutes, as well as state department of education websites and publicly available curriculum standards issued by state regulators and boards of education to determine the prevalence of AAPI and ethnic studies academic standards.

This research was originally conducted in 2022, updated in 2023, and is currently updated as of October 3, 2024. All definitions and methodologies identified here follow those laid out in the 2023 report. For more information about the methodology and definitions used here, please refer to the methods section on pages three and four of the 2023 report.

In the interactive map below, users may select and filter among statutes, academic standards, and pending bills to meet their needs using the dropdown menus. Each dropdown menu allows users to select among AAPI studies and/or ethnic studies (explained in the glossary below). States displayed in red meet the selected criteria. For instance, if “AAPI studies (required)” is selected under the statutes dropdown, and “AAPI studies” is selected under the academic standards dropdown, states displayed in red are those that have statutes and academic standards in place that require AAPI studies curriculum. Click on any state to show information related to the existing statutes, standards, and pending bills in that state.

K-12 AAPI Studies and Ethnic Studies Interactive Map

AAPI studies and ethnic studies

“AAPI studies” includes statutes, bills, and academic standards that explicitly identify and include the study of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. These statutes, bills, and standards may only relate to the study of AAPI populations or may be embedded in ethnic studies-related curriculum and so be listed as both “AAPI studies” and “ethnic studies.”

“Ethnic studies” includes statutes, bills, and academic standards relating to specific, non-white racial and ethnic groups, other than Native Americans, within the U.S. context. From our 2023 report, “While many states’ curriculum requirements reference Indigenous Americans, Native Americans, or tribes or peoples indigenous to their geographic areas, the requirements vary and generally are not taught in an ethnic studies context, so they are beyond the scope of this project.”

Required and optional

Statutes and bills that include “(required)” denote those that mandate curriculum that includes the study of AAPI populations and/or other, specific, non-white racial and ethnic groups. Statutes and bills that include “(optional)” denote those that do not require curriculum, but instead may create elective courses or encourage schools to teach related subject matter. Such “optional” statutes and bills may also create model curriculums, or commissions to study what courses are currently being offered by schools in the state; they do not require schools to provide this instruction.

Academic standards

All academic standards identified in this report require curriculum to be taught. The academic standards identified must either require teaching broad AAPI or ethnic studies, including the history, contributions, or experiences of an ethnic group, or require instruction on at least three events from the history of AAPIs or another ethnic group. State curriculum or frameworks that mention AAPIs or other ethnic groups in examples of topics of study but not in required academic standards do not meet this threshold and so are not included here.

Some states have statutes in place that are not reflected in their academic standards; this paper does not delve into the implementation of these statutes. At time of publication, some states are revising their social studies standards.

Pending bills

Pending bills include bills that are currently under consideration (as of October 3, 2024) by state legislatures, and include bills related to AAPI studies and ethnic studies.