What's good about IB programs?
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Anonymous
Parent here who teaches college in a STEM field. I actually think the acceleration of math is problematic. Very, very few students are truly gifted enough in math to grasp higher level calculus in high school. At my school, many students who went through post-calculus coursework in high school didn't have the fundamentals of calculus down even though they could have proceeded to higher level math. The same thing goes for science fields. It's actually something bandied about in academia. I actually am fine with a student either finishing calculus or IB math HL in high school if they have a solid foundation. It's much better than racking up credits and then floundering in higher level classes. |
Anonymous
I have a junior at an IB HS. He will be taking TOK during the school day. It is scheduled to be during spring of junior year and fall of senior year, so they end up with a free period/study hall during fall semester of junior year and spring of senior year. I'm happy to share his path to the IB diploma. His schedule is as follows: 9th English 9 honors World History honors Spanish 2 Algebra 2/trig honors Bio honors Photography 1 PE 10th English 10 honors Government honors Spanish 3 IB math SL 1 IB Chem 1 Sports medicine PE 11th IB Language and Literature SL 1 IB History of the Americas HL IB Spanish SL 1 IB math SL 2 IB Bio HL 1 IB Physics SL IB Theory of Knowledge 12th IB Language and Literature SL 2 IB Topics in History HL IB Spanish SL 2 IB Bio HL 2 IB Chem HL 2 IB Theory of Knowledge AP Statistics (online) Anatomy and Physiology |
Anonymous
Pp here. I should specify he just informed me he is taking TOK after school for fall of senior year because he wants to fit in anatomy and physiology. I was wondering how he had 8 courses |
Anonymous
Thank you for a voice of reason wrt too much fast tracking in math. Even standard level IB math has some calculus in 11th grade. Math Studies does not. As designed, the physics and math are interrelated. One of my kids enjoyed spotting this connection and relating the math to the physics. That aside, I think the math teaching was not a strength ( note I mean teacher, not IB curriculum) and many of the kids did not do well. We told our kid from the start expect to retake calculus in college. There's no way they will leave HS with a strong enough foundation. |
Anonymous
My IB kid took AP Calc BC in 11th grade followed by HL IB Math in 12th grade. |
Anonymous
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wrt 11:50
there were 2 juniors taking IB Math HL last year at Marshall and 2 the year before that. It is a challenging course. I like the comment from the math teacher about being well grounded in the fundamentals to proceed to college level math studies. Our graduate completed IB Math HL2 and tested at level 7 but was also required to complete placement tests (proctored - 3 hrs!) for assessing her placement in math at college (a HPYS). There is clearly a concern with ensuring that fundamentals are mastered before proceeding on with math studies. Math is the one discipline where AP and IB differ most substantially. If advanced Math is a real focus then this should be investigated carefully and TJ should be included in that assessment. But in my experience this is a concern for only the top 0.1% of students. |
Anonymous
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AP and IB languages also differ, at least at the Higher Level. HL IB language exams are a good deal tougher than AP, one or two years past AP study.
If your kid hasn't done immersion studies in the language abroad (preferably for an entire school year), grown up bilingual, or attended ES and MS language immersion programs which parents supplemented with au pairs, tutors or whatever, your kid can score a 5 on an AP language exam but not 6s or 7s (on a 1-7 scale) on IB HL. The emphasis on IB HL is on speaking and understanding, far beyond the proficiency level expected at AP. |
Anonymous
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Top schools in FCPS are TJ, Langley, McLean, Madison, Woodson, and Oakton. None is IB.
No one can point to a single high school in FCPS over the past decade that has asked for IB to replace AP. These facts tell you all you need to know. |
Anonymous
Can you please go away. The whole point of this thread is to talk about ib programs positive traits. Start your own thread. |
Anonymous
+1 There are many options with the math sequencing. https://www.fcps.edu/academics/graduation-requirements-and-course-planning/high-school-course-sequencing/mathematics |
Anonymous
| Thank you 06:57 and 5:28. Even with kids in IB - program that has many merits- there's more to understand. Both of these posts are consistent with what I've seen. |