Florida and CLT Are Building an Alternative to AP Courses
Education reformers now need to ensure these new programs can compete with the College Board on equal footing.
May 20, 2026
News
Florida and CLT Are Building an Alternative to AP Courses
Minding the Campus • David Randall
As Florida and the Classic Learning Test build new alternatives to AP courses, a deeper question comes into view: who gets to define rigor, college readiness, and the intellectual inheritance students receive? For families and schools seeking education ordered toward truth rather than trends, this development may mark an important step toward renewing advanced coursework with greater clarity, substance, and freedom.
David Randall
Minding the Campus
Related Resources
Making Room for Beauty in Everyday Life with David and Phaedra Taylor
What would change if we treated every part of our lives as worthy of prayer? And how might we learn to notice the beauty of the world when so much of modern life competes for our attention? On this episode of Forged, Brian Williams welcomes David and Phaedra Taylor for a conversation about prayer, art, family, and the habits that shape a meaningful life. They discuss their collaborative book Prayers for the Pilgrimage, the importance of making room for beauty in our homes, and the small decisions that help families resist the pull of digital distraction. Drawing on their experiences as artists, parents, and stewards of twenty-one acres of Texas prairie, the Taylors offer a thoughtful vision for living with greater attention, patience, and purpose. Along the way, David reflects on why artists are essential to human flourishing, while Phaedra shares what painting, motherhood, and restoring the land have taught her about creativity, limitation, and learning to let go of control.
Grit, Loyalty, and Poetry: How Classical Education Shaped a Future Army Leader
One day at a classical school changed the course of her life.
In seventh grade, Sarah spent a single day shadowing at Jackson Hole Classical Academy. She says she learned more that day than in the seven years of school before it.
What followed was an education in great books, Latin, and poetry learned by heart, including Rudyard Kipling's "If-" Years later, when Sarah arrived at West Point to train as an Army officer, she found that same poem on the walls of the barracks.
Today, Sarah is a West Point graduate preparing to lead a platoon of soldiers. Her story shows what classical education is for: forming young people who know what's right, do what's right, and give of themselves in service to others.
Encountering the Real: Mathematics, Education, and AI with Jake Tawney
What if mathematics is not merely a tool for solving problems, but a way of encountering reality? In this episode of Forged, Brian Williams talks with mathematician and educator Jake Tawney about the beauty of number and shape, why wonder belongs at the heart of education, and what we risk losing when technology begins doing our thinking for us. From Euclid and fractals to calculators and artificial intelligence, Jake makes the case that education should begin with real things worth knowing and loving. Their conversation ultimately turns toward a larger question: What habits, practices, and encounters help us become more fully human? Jake and Brian explore why mathematics has so often been reduced to computation, how teachers can invite students into genuine wonder, and why AI raises deeper questions than efficiency alone. Jake also reflects on the practices that have shaped his own life as a husband and father, including prayer, cooking, wine, reading aloud, and the conviction that our first calling is to give ourselves for the good of others. Books & Resources Mentioned Another Sort of Mathematics: Selected Proofs Necessary to Acquire a True Education in Mathematics by Jake Tawney Euclid’s Elements A Mathematician’s Lament by Paul Lockhart The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), especially paragraphs 22 and 24