Regional IB programs - four years later

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Don't ask me that question. Ask MCPS. They're the ones who set it up.

I had no idea that the teachers leading the IB courses were the same ones from before the school became a Regional IB school.

It’s not like they will fire the staff and hire highly qualified IB teachers that are just waiting for the opportunity to work at Kennedy. Probably they do a two week training session with the existing staff, if even that.

To me the dishonest part was just how overhyped the IB program was, because it was presentas truly amazing and rigorous, when in fact it’s somewhat below AP, and like everything in education depends a lot on the teachers and students.

I think you're using that phrase incorrectly. What you meant was, "in my opinion".

AP and IB are roughy comparable for individual courses.

However, IB has a some major downsides, primarily among them that in two year of the diploma program you take the equivalent of 3 AP classes, their HL versions. It’s ok for an average student but it’s inadequate for a top student which is why you don’t see the college admissions results that some naive parents were expecting based on the MCPS administration hyping alone.

Among other arguments discussed in length you can conclude that IB is somewhat below AP.

Another issue with IB is the unbelievable amount of hype and oversell that surrounds it, with fanbois posting hilarious claims that IB dramatically improves the odds at Ivy League. Of course none of that is true, but it gets posted as fact. Source from the Kennedy IB program, please tell me how this is not downright deceptive marketing:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

MCPS decides to rebrand its poorly performing schools with the new and improved IB program, that’s just a varnish to fool the unsuspecting parents.

Then you end up with regional programs that only have a single IB HL in science with an IB exam pass rate at 65%, but nonetheless claim the admission chances to various universities like UVA are 64%! UC Berkeley is 58%, University of Michigan 71%! Yay! Although in this thread we barely heard of one student maybe being accepted into Michigan across all regional programs.

No, that's what YOU conclude, in your weird obsession with hating on IB.

Are you disputing that only the 3 HL classes are equivalent to their AP counterparts? How are IB students going to be competitive with students loading up on 10 AP classes? I know, they wrote a 10 page essay that prepared them for college.

The SL classes are not more rigorous than regular classes?

To me it only matters that they are less rigorous than AP classes.

It matters to you, how? How does it matter to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Don't ask me that question. Ask MCPS. They're the ones who set it up.

I had no idea that the teachers leading the IB courses were the same ones from before the school became a Regional IB school.

It’s not like they will fire the staff and hire highly qualified IB teachers that are just waiting for the opportunity to work at Kennedy. Probably they do a two week training session with the existing staff, if even that.

To me the dishonest part was just how overhyped the IB program was, because it was presentas truly amazing and rigorous, when in fact it’s somewhat below AP, and like everything in education depends a lot on the teachers and students.

I think you're using that phrase incorrectly. What you meant was, "in my opinion".

AP and IB are roughy comparable for individual courses.

However, IB has a some major downsides, primarily among them that in two year of the diploma program you take the equivalent of 3 AP classes, their HL versions. It’s ok for an average student but it’s inadequate for a top student which is why you don’t see the college admissions results that some naive parents were expecting based on the MCPS administration hyping alone.

Among other arguments discussed in length you can conclude that IB is somewhat below AP.

Another issue with IB is the unbelievable amount of hype and oversell that surrounds it, with fanbois posting hilarious claims that IB dramatically improves the odds at Ivy League. Of course none of that is true, but it gets posted as fact. Source from the Kennedy IB program, please tell me how this is not downright deceptive marketing:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

MCPS decides to rebrand its poorly performing schools with the new and improved IB program, that’s just a varnish to fool the unsuspecting parents.

Then you end up with regional programs that only have a single IB HL in science with an IB exam pass rate at 65%, but nonetheless claim the admission chances to various universities like UVA are 64%! UC Berkeley is 58%, University of Michigan 71%! Yay! Although in this thread we barely heard of one student maybe being accepted into Michigan across all regional programs.

No, that's what YOU conclude, in your weird obsession with hating on IB.

Are you disputing that only the 3 HL classes are equivalent to their AP counterparts? How are IB students going to be competitive with students loading up on 10 AP classes? I know, they wrote a 10 page essay that prepared them for college.

The SL classes are not more rigorous than regular classes?

To me it only matters that they are less rigorous than AP classes.

It matters to you, how? How does it matter to you?

By making sure my student avoids them and actually takes a most rigorous course load.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Don't ask me that question. Ask MCPS. They're the ones who set it up.

I had no idea that the teachers leading the IB courses were the same ones from before the school became a Regional IB school.

It’s not like they will fire the staff and hire highly qualified IB teachers that are just waiting for the opportunity to work at Kennedy. Probably they do a two week training session with the existing staff, if even that.

To me the dishonest part was just how overhyped the IB program was, because it was presentas truly amazing and rigorous, when in fact it’s somewhat below AP, and like everything in education depends a lot on the teachers and students.

I think you're using that phrase incorrectly. What you meant was, "in my opinion".

AP and IB are roughy comparable for individual courses.

However, IB has a some major downsides, primarily among them that in two year of the diploma program you take the equivalent of 3 AP classes, their HL versions. It’s ok for an average student but it’s inadequate for a top student which is why you don’t see the college admissions results that some naive parents were expecting based on the MCPS administration hyping alone.

Among other arguments discussed in length you can conclude that IB is somewhat below AP.

Another issue with IB is the unbelievable amount of hype and oversell that surrounds it, with fanbois posting hilarious claims that IB dramatically improves the odds at Ivy League. Of course none of that is true, but it gets posted as fact. Source from the Kennedy IB program, please tell me how this is not downright deceptive marketing:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

MCPS decides to rebrand its poorly performing schools with the new and improved IB program, that’s just a varnish to fool the unsuspecting parents.

Then you end up with regional programs that only have a single IB HL in science with an IB exam pass rate at 65%, but nonetheless claim the admission chances to various universities like UVA are 64%! UC Berkeley is 58%, University of Michigan 71%! Yay! Although in this thread we barely heard of one student maybe being accepted into Michigan across all regional programs.

No, that's what YOU conclude, in your weird obsession with hating on IB.

Are you disputing that only the 3 HL classes are equivalent to their AP counterparts? How are IB students going to be competitive with students loading up on 10 AP classes? I know, they wrote a 10 page essay that prepared them for college.

The SL classes are not more rigorous than regular classes?

To me it only matters that they are less rigorous than AP classes.

It matters to you, how? How does it matter to you?

By making sure my student avoids them and actually takes a most rigorous course load.

Ah. Well, you be sure to tell your high school student that they're only allowed to take AP classes. It will be a smaller class size for my kid in the IB DP, which is all to the good. Win-win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Don't ask me that question. Ask MCPS. They're the ones who set it up.

I had no idea that the teachers leading the IB courses were the same ones from before the school became a Regional IB school.

It’s not like they will fire the staff and hire highly qualified IB teachers that are just waiting for the opportunity to work at Kennedy. Probably they do a two week training session with the existing staff, if even that.

To me the dishonest part was just how overhyped the IB program was, because it was presentas truly amazing and rigorous, when in fact it’s somewhat below AP, and like everything in education depends a lot on the teachers and students.

I think you're using that phrase incorrectly. What you meant was, "in my opinion".

AP and IB are roughy comparable for individual courses.

However, IB has a some major downsides, primarily among them that in two year of the diploma program you take the equivalent of 3 AP classes, their HL versions. It’s ok for an average student but it’s inadequate for a top student which is why you don’t see the college admissions results that some naive parents were expecting based on the MCPS administration hyping alone.

Among other arguments discussed in length you can conclude that IB is somewhat below AP.

Another issue with IB is the unbelievable amount of hype and oversell that surrounds it, with fanbois posting hilarious claims that IB dramatically improves the odds at Ivy League. Of course none of that is true, but it gets posted as fact. Source from the Kennedy IB program, please tell me how this is not downright deceptive marketing:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

MCPS decides to rebrand its poorly performing schools with the new and improved IB program, that’s just a varnish to fool the unsuspecting parents.

Then you end up with regional programs that only have a single IB HL in science with an IB exam pass rate at 65%, but nonetheless claim the admission chances to various universities like UVA are 64%! UC Berkeley is 58%, University of Michigan 71%! Yay! Although in this thread we barely heard of one student maybe being accepted into Michigan across all regional programs.

No, that's what YOU conclude, in your weird obsession with hating on IB.

Are you disputing that only the 3 HL classes are equivalent to their AP counterparts? How are IB students going to be competitive with students loading up on 10 AP classes? I know, they wrote a 10 page essay that prepared them for college.

The SL classes are not more rigorous than regular classes?

To me it only matters that they are less rigorous than AP classes.

It matters to you, how? How does it matter to you?

By making sure my student avoids them and actually takes a most rigorous course load.

Ah. Well, you be sure to tell your high school student that they're only allowed to take AP classes. It will be a smaller class size for my kid in the IB DP, which is all to the good. Win-win.

Sure thing, good luck although probably not needed, after all UC Berkeley is a safety upon completing the IB program. I know it because I read somewhere in their marketing materials from Kennedy.

[Anonymous]

"Recollections may vary"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Among the schools that offer both AP and IB, about 2/3 of the students choose AP and 1/3 IB. You can argue the students vote with their feet and follow the more beneficial program. For the exams, IB has a higher passing rate, possibly indicating that it attracts stronger students.

It seems redundant to offer both, not sure the IB diploma is that much more of an indicator of rigorous high school coursework and they are essentially equivalent. For people that like to have choices, it’s probably worth keeping it.

The regional IB programs feel somewhat of a second rate choice, the very strong students don’t need it, and they seem to have a very persistent marketing pitch.

In conclusion, meh.

This but our school has few AP classes and no advanced math after calculus which is a huge issue.

Most IB kids are also taking AP classes and if not are able to self study for AP exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Because the whole point of the regional program was to lure top kids to the school. It wasn't the IB curriculum, which was in place at Kennedy before this program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Because the whole point of the regional program was to lure top kids to the school. It wasn't the IB curriculum, which was in place at Kennedy before this program.

It still remains the goal to this day. They make it seem that the program is the way to an ivy admission. I can’t really fault the gullible parents looking for an edge for their kids, I’m more shocked at the dishonesty of the administrators that make all those fake claims with a straight face.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s great that they are trying to give smart kids in underperforming schools a better cohort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Don't ask me that question. Ask MCPS. They're the ones who set it up.

I had no idea that the teachers leading the IB courses were the same ones from before the school became a Regional IB school.

It’s not like they will fire the staff and hire highly qualified IB teachers that are just waiting for the opportunity to work at Kennedy. Probably they do a two week training session with the existing staff, if even that.

To me the dishonest part was just how overhyped the IB program was, because it was presentas truly amazing and rigorous, when in fact it’s somewhat below AP, and like everything in education depends a lot on the teachers and students.

I think you're using that phrase incorrectly. What you meant was, "in my opinion".

AP and IB are roughy comparable for individual courses.

However, IB has a some major downsides, primarily among them that in two year of the diploma program you take the equivalent of 3 AP classes, their HL versions. It’s ok for an average student but it’s inadequate for a top student which is why you don’t see the college admissions results that some naive parents were expecting based on the MCPS administration hyping alone.

Among other arguments discussed in length you can conclude that IB is somewhat below AP.

Another issue with IB is the unbelievable amount of hype and oversell that surrounds it, with fanbois posting hilarious claims that IB dramatically improves the odds at Ivy League. Of course none of that is true, but it gets posted as fact. Source from the Kennedy IB program, please tell me how this is not downright deceptive marketing:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

MCPS decides to rebrand its poorly performing schools with the new and improved IB program, that’s just a varnish to fool the unsuspecting parents.

Then you end up with regional programs that only have a single IB HL in science with an IB exam pass rate at 65%, but nonetheless claim the admission chances to various universities like UVA are 64%! UC Berkeley is 58%, University of Michigan 71%! Yay! Although in this thread we barely heard of one student maybe being accepted into Michigan across all regional programs.

No, that's what YOU conclude, in your weird obsession with hating on IB.

Are you disputing that only the 3 HL classes are equivalent to their AP counterparts? How are IB students going to be competitive with students loading up on 10 AP classes? I know, they wrote a 10 page essay that prepared them for college.

I have never heard anyone besides you suggest that a full DP student is going to be less “competitive” than a students with APs.

First of all, IB students can take AP classes and many do, particularly for the first two years, so it’s not like comparing 10 vs 3.

Second, people who matter understand that the full IB is very rigorous and in fact if you want to be “competitive” for “most rigorous” course of study in HS one route is DP IB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Because the whole point of the regional program was to lure top kids to the school. It wasn't the IB curriculum, which was in place at Kennedy before this program.

It still remains the goal to this day. They make it seem that the program is the way to an ivy admission. I can’t really fault the gullible parents looking for an edge for their kids, I’m more shocked at the dishonesty of the administrators that make all those fake claims with a straight face.

"They" who? Who said that, and where and when did they say it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Because the whole point of the regional program was to lure top kids to the school. It wasn't the IB curriculum, which was in place at Kennedy before this program.

It still remains the goal to this day. They make it seem that the program is the way to an ivy admission. I can’t really fault the gullible parents looking for an edge for their kids, I’m more shocked at the dishonesty of the administrators that make all those fake claims with a straight face.

"They" who? Who said that, and where and when did they say it?

They, the IBO. Can you spot the lies and the dishonest sales pitch?

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Don't ask me that question. Ask MCPS. They're the ones who set it up.

I had no idea that the teachers leading the IB courses were the same ones from before the school became a Regional IB school.

It’s not like they will fire the staff and hire highly qualified IB teachers that are just waiting for the opportunity to work at Kennedy. Probably they do a two week training session with the existing staff, if even that.

To me the dishonest part was just how overhyped the IB program was, because it was presentas truly amazing and rigorous, when in fact it’s somewhat below AP, and like everything in education depends a lot on the teachers and students.

I think you're using that phrase incorrectly. What you meant was, "in my opinion".

AP and IB are roughy comparable for individual courses.

However, IB has a some major downsides, primarily among them that in two year of the diploma program you take the equivalent of 3 AP classes, their HL versions. It’s ok for an average student but it’s inadequate for a top student which is why you don’t see the college admissions results that some naive parents were expecting based on the MCPS administration hyping alone.

Among other arguments discussed in length you can conclude that IB is somewhat below AP.

Another issue with IB is the unbelievable amount of hype and oversell that surrounds it, with fanbois posting hilarious claims that IB dramatically improves the odds at Ivy League. Of course none of that is true, but it gets posted as fact. Source from the Kennedy IB program, please tell me how this is not downright deceptive marketing:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

MCPS decides to rebrand its poorly performing schools with the new and improved IB program, that’s just a varnish to fool the unsuspecting parents.

Then you end up with regional programs that only have a single IB HL in science with an IB exam pass rate at 65%, but nonetheless claim the admission chances to various universities like UVA are 64%! UC Berkeley is 58%, University of Michigan 71%! Yay! Although in this thread we barely heard of one student maybe being accepted into Michigan across all regional programs.

No, that's what YOU conclude, in your weird obsession with hating on IB.

Are you disputing that only the 3 HL classes are equivalent to their AP counterparts? How are IB students going to be competitive with students loading up on 10 AP classes? I know, they wrote a 10 page essay that prepared them for college.

I have never heard anyone besides you suggest that a full DP student is going to be less “competitive” than a students with APs.

First of all, IB students can take AP classes and many do, particularly for the first two years, so it’s not like comparing 10 vs 3.

Second, people who matter understand that the full IB is very rigorous and in fact if you want to be “competitive” for “most rigorous” course of study in HS one route is DP IB.

I’ll play you for a second. Says who? Who are the “people that matter”? How do we know what they understand? Critical thinking, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Because the whole point of the regional program was to lure top kids to the school. It wasn't the IB curriculum, which was in place at Kennedy before this program.

It still remains the goal to this day. They make it seem that the program is the way to an ivy admission. I can’t really fault the gullible parents looking for an edge for their kids, I’m more shocked at the dishonesty of the administrators that make all those fake claims with a straight face.

"They" who? Who said that, and where and when did they say it?

They, the IBO. Can you spot the lies and the dishonest sales pitch?

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

I'm certainly spotting dishonesty, namely yours. That doesn't say what you say it says. Who are you so oddly invested in hating on the IB program? Did you used to work for them and they fired you? Did you both want to adopt the same dog at the animal shelter, but the dog went to the IB program instead of you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS turned a few high schools into "regional IB" programs four years ago. I remember that magnet admissions season and there was a LOT of angst over kids who applied to RM being instead seats at these regionals instead. And I remember an awful lot of unpleasant assertions that these schools / students would not perform at the same level as RM. It was ugly. Sometime really ugly.

So I am wondering how it has gone for the first cohort? I've heard about several admissions to T20 universities at our regional IB. More than there had been before. How about at your regional? Do you think it all worked out or do you think it was all for show and that MCPS failed?

Just stop.

MCPS did not "fail"

Learn the history of why there are Magnet schools to begin with then come back with your propaganda.

These schools are good. They serve a specific segment of the student population. Just like any other HS experience it will be different for different kids.

You have zero idea what you are a talking about. Stop trying to bash MCPS.

You're delusional. MCPS definitely intentionally put the Regional IB programs in schools that had abysmal academics to draw kids who have good academic numbers to come to the school and improve their numbers.

Acknowledging this fact is not "bashing" MCPS. And frankly, I don't mind the tactic if they do a good job of giving those kids positive outcomes in those Regional IB programs. That has not been the case to date at Kennedy. Hence, why Principal Adamson was brought in to clean up that mess.

Why would you have expected the regional IB programs to have better outcomes compared to before? If it were that easy to turn around a school with an IB program, we would just switch all schools to IB and solve all the problems in education. It was just a distraction.

Because the whole point of the regional program was to lure top kids to the school. It wasn't the IB curriculum, which was in place at Kennedy before this program.

It still remains the goal to this day. They make it seem that the program is the way to an ivy admission. I can’t really fault the gullible parents looking for an edge for their kids, I’m more shocked at the dishonesty of the administrators that make all those fake claims with a straight face.

"They" who? Who said that, and where and when did they say it?

They, the IBO. Can you spot the lies and the dishonest sales pitch?

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/a-j/kennedyhs/uploadedfiles/programs/ib/ib20dp20college20info202012.pdf

No, I don't see any lies or dishonest sales pitch.