Reply to why do people prefer AP schools to IB?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Some of the area in Fairfax that has IB is similar to the poorer neighborhoods of Alexandria. Do you think IB is a good fit for them? Would it attract people to Alexandria in your opinion? I don't think so, but am asking you since you are a proponent of the program.[/quote]

I never commented on IB as an effective magnet program.  I commenting on its educational value.  If you go back and read what I wrote, I was actually critical of my school being called a "magnet" since it was in a wealthy area.  In my county in Florida, at least as I understood it, the magnet program was largely used to raise test scores and to change the demographic of the school.  That seemed to have worked in St. Pete.

To answer your question, we only have one high school in the city of Alexandria, so it would have no effect.  If we had more than one high school, I doubt it would make a difference in terms of attracting people to Alexandria.  Also, the poorer areas you speak of aren't going anywhere.    [/quote]

You don't seem to understand my comment. First, please recognize that you attended a magnet school in a wealthy area and that IB was probably very good partly because of those things. While I think IB has many merits, I get the feeling that your perception of the program is a little biased based on the fact that you attended school with a lot of high achieving students. Maybe you do recognize this fact, but what I'm asking you to do is to pretend you are a low income family member in a low income district and analyze the program from that angle. My comment was would TC Williams be better served by being an IB school and/or do you think based on your experience of IB that IB is a good accelerated program for high achieving FARM students and high schools with high FARMS ratings?[/quote]

Thanks for your comment.  I thought I was transparent about my feelings of my IB program and the demographic that attended it, and also the area where the school was located.  As a corollary to that, my parents would have never allowed me to be bused all the way to St. Pete High in south county, where there were multiple reports of problems with the IB students vs. the regular kids.  They also had a drive-by or two the year before I enrolled.  So, yes, I appreciate that.

I have no idea what FARM even means.  I do know that we had a number of kids in my program that were from not so great neighborhoods, and whose parents were not college educated.  As I said in my earlier post, everybody from my program has done well.

I haven't once said I understood the dynamic of IB vs. AP here.  I was simply commenting on my and my classmates' experience.  I think it was an excellent program, and I am glad I did that instead of going to Jesuit.    [/quote]

Not exactly. You were commenting on how insufferable things were in Fairfax which was quite a judgment from you about others to make from someone who doesn't understand the dynamics of this thread. This is your quote I believe. "I probably wouldn't even be allowed to breath on the glass of the school. We are childless at the moment. I can't imagine how insufferable growing up here must be."[/quote]

I am not sure you understood my what I meant by "insufferable," but maybe you did?  How about, it would suck because it would be intensely not fun because people in this area are super stressed about achievement.  Does that help?  I had a blast in high school.  Wouldn't trade that experience ever.

FWIW my wife and her brother both attending school in Montgomery county and did AP, both in their zoned schools.  Both Ivy League educated.  From what you all are telling me IB doesn't seem to work up here.  I am OK with that.[/quote]

It works, just as a magnet program and not as a standard for all high schools. FCPS would do well to have four IB schools in four different areas of the county It does become a disservice I think in low income, high immigrant areas because the program isn't as flexible and the writing seems to be a turn off for English language learners. Not many are going for the diploma or even taking that many  classes. Having IB schools in a lower income area of the county is not helping that are revitalize.[/quote]

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