Reply to IB Costs Increasing

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The idea that IB is only valuable if you get the diploma is so silly. Is AP only valuable if you take 8 AP courses?[/quote]

The entire point of IB os the diploma.[/quote]

No it’s not.  Are you at an IB school?  The entire point of an IB curriculum is multipart and it is all aimed at building up all parts of a student. It’s part global citizen, part classical education, part rigorous curriculum, part critical thinking, part being an engaged and reflective member of your community, and part communication both written and oral.  Students benefit from this if they take 1 IB class or all IB classes.  At all the IB schools, students take the classes at high rates even if they don’t work towards the IB diploma.  They are still benefiting from the program.

Are there some shortcomings with IB, yes.  Particularly around math, it needs to go deeper into college mathematics.  But it’s a great program and sets students up for success in college.

All the AP advocates overlook the shortcomings with AP and there are many.  The teaching to the test, the lack of depth, the  poor development of critical thinking.  Then there is the empirical data that a large number of students either don’t take the exam or score 3 or lower.  If you are judging IB based on the number achieving the diploma, AP should be judged just as harshly for the students who don’t pass the College Board evaluation.  [/quote]

And if kids only take one or two IB classes, how are they "building up all parts of a student. It’s part global citizen, part classical education, part rigorous curriculum, part critical thinking, part being an engaged and reflective member of your community, and part communication both written and oral." It seems to me that you need the specialized IB classes, plus the IB classes in all fields in order to benefit from the classical education and rigorous curriculum not just one or two SL classes so that they can say kids took an IB class or test.

AP English Lit students have had other English classes that teach the "classical" education for English, ie reading books, writing papers, and learning to think critically. They take AP Lit having had that background and then focusing on the material in a manner similar to a college class. Unless you are arguing that deep dives into class literature in AP lit is somehow not teaching kids how to think critically about literature is not a part of classical education.

This notion that IB somehow produces a better scholar is false. The only people saying that are the few parents who love the program because it caters to kids who learn in that particular manner. The program makes people feel special because it is exotic and different. Kids come out of AP and IB ready for college. IB costs more and produces fewer kids who follow through with the premise of the program, which is earning the IB degree. AP does not have a similar goal, a specific diploma is not the goal of the program. 
[/quote]

Agree.  Somehow, I think that IB proponents assume that AP classes require no writing.  It is true that AP math is math, but the English and History AP classes require tons and tons of writing.

Sad for the math oriented kid at an IB school.

AP offers flexibility--lots of options.[/quote]

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