If AP is more popular/better/more flexible, why does FCPS put IB in all the lower-ranked schools?

[Anonymous]

Like it or not, IB isn't going away in FCPS.
You might as well save your breath, and the countless hours you spend searching out these threads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like it or not, IB isn't going away in FCPS.
You might as well save your breath, and the countless hours you spend searching out these threads.

I wouldn't be surprised to see it pared back significantly in a few years. We have to find savings somewhere, and from a cost-benefit perspective it's an obvious candidate.

[Anonymous]

IB was put into "poor" schools to attract the more affluent to the school. It is not helping the "poor." They would be better served in AP schools where there is more flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've posted this before: both of my college grad kids had roommates with IB diplomas. Both think they would have preferred AP. They would have had more college credits.

There are going to be examples of college kids who both regret and appreciate IB and AP as well.

Both of my friend's daughters, who did IB diplomas in FCPS, say they feel they are better prepared for college research and writing than their college friends who did AP, and are less stressed by their many writing assignments than their peers who did AP (or who didn't do either AP or IB). Did these girls leave high school with a bunch of college credits so they could skip lots of required courses? Not really. Did they leave high school enthusiastic and confident about learning and unafraid of lengthy assignments? Yes. They were well aware in HS that they would get fewer credits for IB but didn't care, and now that they're in college they are fine with what they say IB gave them.

[Anonymous]

Both of my friend's daughters, who did IB diplomas in FCPS, say they feel they are better prepared for college research and writing than their college friends who did AP, and are less stressed by their many writing assignments than their peers who did AP (or who didn't do either AP or IB). Did these girls leave high school with a bunch of college credits so they could skip lots of required courses? Not really. Did they leave high school enthusiastic and confident about learning and unafraid of lengthy assignments? Yes. They were well aware in HS that they would get fewer credits for IB but didn't care, and now that they're in college they are fine with what they say IB gave them.

Good for them. DD's roommate felt differently--and, for the record, DD did great as an English major in a prestigious college. I think she made better grades than her roommate.

[Anonymous]

http://commweb.fcps.edu/newsreleases/newsrelease.cfm?newsid=2416

390 received the IB diploma in 2013. How many millions doe we spend extra on IB? For 390?

[Anonymous]

We were at one IB school for a while and weren't impressed. Not many students were pursuing the IB diploma, but the IB coordinator was a powerful figure within the school and there was a concerted effort to suggest that students who weren't seeking a diploma were somehow deriving a benefit from the "international-mindedness" of the school, the focus on "IB learner profiles," the participation in the "IB world community," etc. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a cult, but there was a tremendous amount of wasted lip service paid to the "IBeology."

We later moved to an AP school and welcomed the opportunity to focus on actual, demanding course work again without all the babble. My kids are well read and widely traveled, and they did not need an IBO coordinator to put some "world citizen" stamp of approval on them. They are now doing great in college, and have even written some longer papers without tears.

[Anonymous]

Wow, lots of IB-haters here. DD is a rising 9th grader whose local HS is AP but is strongly considering transferring to South Lakes for IB. She likes the ideology/framework better. Tough choice though. Interesting reading some of these posts...

[Anonymous]

I don't hate IB, I just think it is a poor use of FCPS money right now. How about a TJ like school where all kids are pursuing IB diploma. One school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Both of my friend's daughters, who did IB diplomas in FCPS, say they feel they are better prepared for college research and writing than their college friends who did AP, and are less stressed by their many writing assignments than their peers who did AP (or who didn't do either AP or IB). Did these girls leave high school with a bunch of college credits so they could skip lots of required courses? Not really. Did they leave high school enthusiastic and confident about learning and unafraid of lengthy assignments? Yes. They were well aware in HS that they would get fewer credits for IB but didn't care, and now that they're in college they are fine with what they say IB gave them.

Good for them. DD's roommate felt differently--and, for the record, DD did great as an English major in a prestigious college. I think she made better grades than her roommate.


And there you have it --- definitive proof that AP is better based on the experience of PP's DD.

Can we just stipulate pluses and minuses to both programs and one size does not fit all? This continuous campaign to wipe out IB speaks more to the ignorance of many posters than anything else. If you ask most high school teachers and college professors, they're much more impressed with IB, whether it gets kids out of college courses or not. If your child prefers AP have them attend that school. End of discussion.

btw, my son, who got an IB diploma, earned nearly a year in college credit. it will give him a little more flexibility in choosing classes, but at the end of the day, so what. He's still be at college 4 years being taught college courses by college professors (as opposed to high school teachers).

[Anonymous]

IB seems fine - it's in place at George Mason which is a highly ranked school. Although I suspect that has more to do with socioeconomics than any inherent superiority over AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And there you have it --- definitive proof that AP is better based on the experience of PP's DD.

Can we just stipulate pluses and minuses to both programs and one size does not fit all? This continuous campaign to wipe out IB speaks more to the ignorance of many posters than anything else. If you ask most high school teachers and college professors, they're much more impressed with IB, whether it gets kids out of college courses or not. If your child prefers AP have them attend that school. End of discussion.

btw, my son, who got an IB diploma, earned nearly a year in college credit. it will give him a little more flexibility in choosing classes, but at the end of the day, so what. He's still be at college 4 years being taught college courses by college professors (as opposed to high school teachers).

So you'd like to put a stop to thread, but only with the ridiculous assertion that most HS and college teachers are "much more impressed with IB"?

Not true at all, and you don't have the data to prove it.

You can find a post by a teacher who likes IB better (maybe one who likes attending the IB workshops at taxpayer expense), and I can offer the following report:

"I have taught both programs (IB an AP). I much prefer the AP program because its sole focus is on the academics. I love teaching the AP Calculus. It’s a great course.

The IB program, in general, is much more stressful on kids. Not only do they have the extra rigor in their classes, but there are many other requirements that take away from their time. They must do an extended essay, take a Theory of Knowledge course, and perform community service. All of those are great things, but IB kids are busy and stressed out. IB is really focused on the whole child, not just he academics. AP is focused only on the academics.

As for IB math, it’s not straight calculus like the AP is. There is also vectors, matrices and probability. In addition, students must complete two portfolio projects. These are lengthy math papers, and are scored by the classroom teacher using a rubric. They take forever to mark. When I was DH in an IB school, I had trouble convincing teachers to teach the IB math. The kids are great, but the workload for the teachers is huge. My last set of IB portfolio projects took me about 2 hours each to mark in a class of 36 kids.

We have one school in our district that offers both IB and AP. The AP program is huge, and the IB program has a handful of kids. We have another school that is switching from IB to AP. I suspect there are two reasons they are making this switch. One would be cost, and another would be that they are losing students to a nearby AP school."

[Anonymous]

Bottom line, it appears that only a few are interested in IB--the cost does not justify the expense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bottom line, it appears that only a few are interested in IB--the cost does not justify the expense.

The refined version of that statement would be the cost doesn't justify the expense of eight IB high schools in the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Both of my friend's daughters, who did IB diplomas in FCPS, say they feel they are better prepared for college research and writing than their college friends who did AP, and are less stressed by their many writing assignments than their peers who did AP (or who didn't do either AP or IB). Did these girls leave high school with a bunch of college credits so they could skip lots of required courses? Not really. Did they leave high school enthusiastic and confident about learning and unafraid of lengthy assignments? Yes. They were well aware in HS that they would get fewer credits for IB but didn't care, and now that they're in college they are fine with what they say IB gave them.

Good for them. DD's roommate felt differently--and, for the record, DD did great as an English major in a prestigious college. I think she made better grades than her roommate.

My old roommate at Harvard had an IB diploma. She was an amazing writer and her high school experience sounded better than any of my other friends. The rest of us just took a million AP classes. I had never heard of IB until I met her.