Reply to Madison HS or the IB program at Marshall HS?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]From a purely pedagogical perspective, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the IB and AP programs?[/quote]

Having had a child at an IB school, I think the strengths of the IB program are that it requires a substantial amount of writing; it devotes a signficant amount of time to developing critical thinking skills; and it offers an "IB diploma," which is often viewed favorably by college admissions officers (even though the actual diplomas are not awarded until after a student graduates from high school).

In my mind, the weaknesses of the program are that it's very much a "programme," designed in Geneva, that must be followed with limited deviation; it has a lot of what some students perceive to be "busy work" assignments in which students cynically believe they are rewarded if they write essays that espouse a "global," anti-US perspective; the range of course offerings tends not to be narrower than at schools with robust AP programs; it requires community service projects (which I support, but not pursuant to requirements imposed by public schools); it creates a "school within a school" environment, where the IB diploma candidates comprise a small fraction of a school's total students; some schools still are less likely to award credit for IB courses than AP courses (although this has gradually been changing to put the programs on an equal footing); and students at IB schools who end up not pursuing the full IB diploma may be penalized during the college admissions process, since admissions officers at some schools look down on students at IB schools who are not going for a full IB diploma.

At the end of the day, I think [i][b]any[/b][/i] FCPS HS is going to offer great educational opportunities to students who take advantage of them (and that includes schools like Falls Church, even though one Marshall booster claimed on this thread that it would be a "no brainer" to pick Marshall over Falls Church).   On a per student basis, however, FCPS spends more money on IB than AP, and I question whether it makes sense to have eight IB high schools in the county.  In 2012, there were less than 500 graduating seniors seeking an IB diploma at those eight schools, or about the number of graduating seniors at a mid-sized high school like Madison.  That's roughly 10% of the seniors at those eight schools, yet they revolve around being "IB World Schools" and most do not offer any AP courses.  Why not have a single IB high school in the county where admissions are competitive and students have to stay on the IB diploma track or return to their base AP schools?  That would probably save the county money and give students at other schools more options.

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