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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As foreign plots go, this one is quite unsuccessful, judging from the low rates of students bothering to get an IB diploma.  [/quote]

Let's compare apples to apples.  At a school such as Madison, approximately 44 percent of all students enroll in at least one AP course.  At Marshall, the numbers are similar for IB, with approximately 43 percent of students enrolling in at least one IB course.  90 percent of students at Marshall who pursue the IB diploma are successful in obtaining the diploma. That was 85 of the 90 students who pursued the diploma.

The closest approximation of the IB diploma in AP is the AP Scholars recognition, that requires a score of three or higher on 4 AP exams.  376  students at Madison obtained this distinction.

Yes, you are right that fewer student obtain the full IB diploma.  Perhaps we need to look at why?  Perhaps it is the workload that is involved?  I don't have the time to explore this now as I have to run off to a meeting, but if someone else wants to chime in, please do.    [/quote]

The 43 and 44% numbers are older numbers from 2008 that reflected the enrollment of then-current students, including the freshmen and sophomores, in AP and IB courses.  That's distinct from the AP or IB participation rates for seniors by the time they graduate.  Those numbers are substantially higher at both Madison and Marshall (at one point, some at Marshall were claiming the IB participation rate at the school was 99%, but that myth now appears to have been put to rest).

Undoubtedly admissions officers look to see if students at AP schools are taking AP courses and performing well on AP exams.  But I don't hear admissions officers saying that they won't look at applications from students who aren't AP Scholars, compared to statements by admissions officers at some schools that they won't consider non-IB diploma candidates at IB schools.  In addition, AP students have the opportunity to do well on multiple AP exams before they apply to colleges and universities.  Can IB students do that as well?  My understanding was that many of the IB courses are two-year courses, and that the IB exams are not graded until after the student graduates.

So, yes, the full IB diploma experience may benefit a small number of students, but the question is whether there are enough students pursuing it to warrant having eight IB high schools in FCPS, when (1) it's more expensive than AP and (2) the total number of students pursuing IB diplomas could fit comfortably in one or, at most, two schools.  [/quote]

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