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

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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

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).   
[/quote]

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."[/quote]

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