Letters and Comments

International Baccalaureate: A K-12 Success Story

By U.S. News Staff

June 2, 2011 RSS Feed Print

Emmett McGroarty could not be more wrong in his representation of the International Baccalaureate in the United States [Emmett McGroarty’s opinion post “International Baccalaureate Undermines U.S. Founding Principles”].

The IB is a success story in primary and secondary education in the United States and across the globe. What started as a passionate commitment by international private school educators in post-war Europe has now grown to 3,264 schools in 141 countries. These educators set out to create an international curriculum that would not only provide children with lifelong learning skills and the habits of mind needed to become productive adults, they also sought to attempt to prevent future devastation on the scale of that war by teaching children about others: other cultures, religions, and societies.

[Check out the best high schools in the nation.]

What has caused this growth? The quality of the education we offer. Our inquiry-based programs challenge students to reflect critically, to develop research skills, and to learn how to learn. In the process, schools are revitalized and teachers are reinvigorated. Just stop by and visit any IB school and you will immediately notice the positive impact it has on the learning environment of a school.

Our assessment is not standardized. In our high school program, the Diploma Program, students are assessed on the extent to which they have mastered advanced academic skills in analyzing and presenting information: evaluating and constructing arguments and solving problems creatively. Our quality of assessment is recognized by many, including through our selection as a measurement for the “America’s Best High Schools” rankings produced by this very publication, US News & World Report.

And there is a growing body of research that provides strong evidence of our programs’ effectiveness. In April, a research report released by SRI International found that 64 percent of IB Diploma Program students in the United States enrolled in selective or highly selective universities, with 81 percent completing their degree within six years, compared to the national average of 57 percent. That same month, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) found that IB Diploma Program graduates were more likely to be enrolled in one of the top 20 universities in the United Kingdom, compared to students with other qualifications, including the venerable A-Levels.

The world is changing and becoming more global. For the United States to remain competitive, it needs to make high-quality, inquiry-based, international education available to students throughout the country. Parents, schools, and administrators across the United States and around the world recognize this and have opted to offer our programs in their communities in order to have a chance to compete and succeed in a globalized world.

Drew Deutsch
Director
International Baccalaureate

Tags:
education policy,
K-12 education,
education

Reader Comments Read all comments (5)

Add Your Thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

Deutsch writes: "The IB is a success story in primary and secondary education in the United States and across the globe."

There is one high school in Tucson, Arizona that is authorized to offer the IB Diploma Program. In spite of school community opposition, IB was FORCED into the school by the at-the-time principal (who exited not long after doing her dirty deed of bringing in IB; now she's peddling IB fluff n' puff in another local district). By the end of the second year of IB implementation -- the same year of the first IB graduating class -- the school district was approaching $1 million for the litany of IB costs. The result?: Out of the 32 IB Diploma Candidates in the Class of 2010, ONLY ONE STUDENT RECEIVED AN IB DIPLOMA!

Deutsch writes: "Our assessment is not standardized."

That is precisely why criticism exists from those who are familiar with IB assessments:

". . . there is a vagueness to the assessment criteria" (-- IB MYP teacher);

"The IB is getting far too much credit (undeserved) for being at the cutting edge in education. However, my biggest problem with IB is their internal assessment portion of the course. The process is contrived, very subjective and is in my opinion an enormous waste of time for both students and teachers.” (-- IB chemistry and biology teacher)

Deutsch writes: "In April, a research report released by SRI International found that 64 percent of IB Diploma Program students in the United States enrolled in selective or highly selective universities. . ."

IB programs often end up in schools that ALREADY HAVE HIGH ACHIEVING STUDENT POPULATIONS WHO WOULD GET INTO SELECTIVE UNIVERSITIES ANYWAY, WITHOUT IB. There is a screening process for the IB Diploma Program that allows schools to weed out students who are not deemed high-achieving. Cherry-picking bright kids does not mean that IB Diploma programs are anything special. However, it does indicated that the IBO has cleverly targeted smart kids who will make IB look good.

Deutsch writes: "The world is changing and becoming more global. For the United States to remain competitive, it needs to make high-quality, inquiry-based, international education available to students throughout the country."

"Global Mobility Patterns of International Baccalaureate Diploma Students" (March 2010, IBAP Annual Regional Conference) says that among international students the United States is the top destination for higher education (aka "tertiary" education). In light of this fact, it makes no sense for U.S. schools to reform in content and purpose to accommodate the arbitrary sub-standard non-academic global education criteria that IB programs focus on.

The fact that global education reform has been slipping into U.S. education for DECADES to accommodate (United Nations') "global" issues is precisely why U.S. education has been in decline. But many bright kids have slipped through the global social engineering net, thus, IB enters to capture that population.

Arizona Parent of AZ 11:27AM June 05, 2011

I see Mr. Deutsch is trying to justify his $246,138 (2009) salary with more puffed up hearsay and propaganda. Mr. Deutsch doesn't expect anyone to further explore the "research" conducted on IB over the years which decidedly concludes that IB schools do NOT outperform non-IB schools and that only the tiny handful of students who earn a 42-45 on the IB Diploma perform better than the average student admitted to Cambridge University in the UK. American taxpayers should just take his word for IB's alleged excellence and fork over at least $200,000 per year, per program(me) in order to slap the IB label on their schools.

http://truthaboutib.com/breakingnewsopinions.html

Lisa of NY 8:04AM June 03, 2011

Parents! Educate yourselves on the dangers of IB! Do not allow this program to take a foothold in your district.

www.truthaboutib.com

MominWI of WI 4:19PM June 02, 2011

Letters and Comments

Welcome to the U.S. News Readers' Letters and Comments blog. Positive or negative, reader feedback provides added perspective to any story. New letters and comments will be posted here several times a week. Thank you for your submission.

advertisement

Cartoons

advertisement