IB Program- What is it? IB or AP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody can know for sure what FCPS a will do down the road, and they may pull IB from some schools. Maybe it would even be a good thing to concentrate it in 2 or 3 schools. But FCPS does have a good track record of grandfathering kids in existing programs (see AAP changes, boundary changes, grade changes to the +/- system). If a kid starts into an IB high school program and the program is pulled while they are a student, it would be phased out, so that the kids who started the program could finish it, (or, less likely) they could transfer with their peers to finish. They'd just stop offering it to incoming classes. They wouldn't tell a high performing, full diploma candidate junior-- sorry, your high school coursework is useless for college admissions purposes. So, if a child starts IB, I don't think they need to worry about being unable to finish it.

OP has a rising 8th grader. Maybe FCPS will decide this year to consolidate IB into fewer schools. That could affect OP's DC, who hasn't started the program. I think consolidating the program makes sense, even if you are an avid IB supporter. In some schools the program is grossly underutilized and the cost is not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Back to IB vs AP.

Most AP schools have a wide variety of writing intensive AP classes. IB may foster it more, but I do not understand how any student cannot take AP history classes or AP English classes and not come out a better writer. The essays on the AP tests are pretty intensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have posted concerns about the cost of the IB program. There is at LEAST one other poster who has brought up this issue. For the record, I am not an IB teacher nor have I ever been an IB teacher.

You don't think that it is a valid concern? Do you have any idea of the cost of the program? This was discussed at length a couple of years ago--on another forum. I'll have to dig out the information again, but it is a substantial expense when you look at the benefits. Sorry, if you don't like it.

Sure how school money is spent is a valid concern, but it's completely unhelpful information for parents who are trying to figure out what the right school and program fit is for their kids. If I want to know what calc bc covers, and someone pipes up that kissing toads does NOT remove warts, repeatedly, it doesn't really help me learn about calc BC. If I want to know why we have soldiers in Afghanistan and you tell me you are sick and tired of American tax dollars going to fund overseas wars, it doesn't help me understand the issues in Afghanistan. You are decidedly unhelpful to the conversation. Notice, I'm not telling you not to post, and I'm not telling you what to do.

+100 Thank you.

The PP kept saying the same thing over and over and over and over..... Yeah, we get it! You can stop now. You have not shown any data to support IB's expense vs APs. Please go away!

[Anonymous]

To the merits of the discussion, I don't think it's worth it for most kids. Unless your kid is good at EVERYTHING and can still manage to cultivate an interest that will make them unique enough to have a hook, IB is a waste of time and will land your kid in the exact same spot at Tech as she would have if she took AP classes. With a ton more stress.

AP is more flexible. And for my kids, it allowed them to focus on areas of their strength and still have time to develop interests that were the hooks that got them into ivy league schools.

So, no. You don't need to take the hardest everything. You do need to do well in whatever you take, take some challenging classes, rock the SAT, and GET A HOOK. Seriously. That is the most important thing if you want your kid to get into a elite school.

[Anonymous]

Both this posting and the comments on the posting may be useful.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ap-vs-ib---comparing-high-brian-heller

[Anonymous]

Sure how school money is spent is a valid concern, but it's completely unhelpful information for parents who are trying to figure out what the right school and program fit is for their kids. If I want to know what calc bc covers, and someone pipes up that kissing toads does NOT remove warts, repeatedly, it doesn't really help me learn about calc BC. If I want to know why we have soldiers in Afghanistan and you tell me you are sick and tired of American tax dollars going to fund overseas wars, it doesn't help me understand the issues in Afghanistan. You are decidedly unhelpful to the conversation. Notice, I'm not telling you not to post, and I'm not telling you what to do.


+100 Thank you.

The PP kept saying the same thing over and over and over and over..... Yeah, we get it! You can stop now. You have not shown any data to support IB's expense vs APs. Please go away!

Whatever you say, sock puppet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Sure how school money is spent is a valid concern, but it's completely unhelpful information for parents who are trying to figure out what the right school and program fit is for their kids. If I want to know what calc bc covers, and someone pipes up that kissing toads does NOT remove warts, repeatedly, it doesn't really help me learn about calc BC. If I want to know why we have soldiers in Afghanistan and you tell me you are sick and tired of American tax dollars going to fund overseas wars, it doesn't help me understand the issues in Afghanistan. You are decidedly unhelpful to the conversation. Notice, I'm not telling you not to post, and I'm not telling you what to do.


+100 Thank you.

The PP kept saying the same thing over and over and over and over..... Yeah, we get it! You can stop now. You have not shown any data to support IB's expense vs APs. Please go away!

Whatever you say, sock puppet.

You can do better than that!

[Anonymous]

http://www.ibo.org/en/become-an-ib-school/fees-and-services/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ibo.org/en/become-an-ib-school/fees-and-services/

This is not at all helpful without a price per IB vs price per AP student breakdown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ibo.org/en/become-an-ib-school/fees-and-services/

This is not at all helpful without a price per IB vs price per AP student breakdown.

AP is sunk cost so no additional cost to tax payers.

[Anonymous]

Cost: I think it was around 1 Million more for IB--and it covered far fewer students. Each school must have an IB coordinator. That accounts for the 1 Million. There are other additional expenses, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cost: I think it was around 1 Million more for IB--and it covered far fewer students. Each school must have an IB coordinator. That accounts for the 1 Million. There are other additional expenses, as well.

"I think it must be"?? You can't make claims based on that. You need the expenditure breakdown. And does the IB Administrator take the place of another administrative position, like an AART or guidance counselor? That it, does an IB school have a full extra administrative position that AP does not? A part extra position. Or is a new title given to a position that would be there anyway? Someone is also helping AP kids choose classes, deal thing with requests to transfer into AAP schools, coorfinating AP testing, etc. you may be right that this program costs a lot more per school, but before you can state it as a fact, you need some backup.

[Anonymous]

"I think it must be"?? You can't make claims based on that. You need the expenditure breakdown. And does the IB Administrator take the place of another administrative position, like an AART or guidance counselor? That it, does an IB school have a full extra administrative position that AP does not? A part extra position. Or is a new title given to a position that would be there anyway? Someone is also helping AP kids choose classes, deal thing with requests to transfer into AAP schools, coorfinating AP testing, etc. you may be right that this program costs a lot more per school, but before you can state it as a fact, you need some backup.

It's on the website somewhere.
Fact, for sure: Each IB school must have an IB coordinator who works exclusively on the IB program. It is a full time dedicated slot that does not take the place of another position. AP schools do not. This has been standard for years. It is required by the IB people--not FCPS. It is NOT a new title given to a position that would be there anyway.
Sorry, you don't like that.

There are other costs, too. But, that is a start. If you have time, you can find it. It is a fact and I don't have to prove it to you. I imagine most people know that already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a fact and I don't have to prove it to you. I imagine most people know that already.

I don't really have the dog in this fight, but this is priceless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a fact and I don't have to prove it to you. I imagine most people know that already.

I don't really have the dog in this fight, but this is priceless.

I understood what the PP was saying. People have dug up the relevant sections before from the FCPS budget, which runs hundreds of pages, and IB clearly is more expensive on a per student basis. Something isn't false merely because you haven't engaged in the same time-consuming exercise yet again.