International Baccalaureate: A K-12 Success Story

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