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][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]9:04 -- thanks for adding to the details.  Taking a 2 yr. class would definitely be a detriment and taking all the tests at the end of senior year (instead of doing some earlier) would also be a negative for the student.

I'm not really that concerned about the cost difference when it comes to making a decision for my kids.  I have an opinion about the costs as it applies to the whole school system, but that part doesn't matter when we're looking at schools/houses and trying to decide if IB should be avoided.

I doubt that your hope of scrubbing IB is going to happen since I believe they are pushing the IB middle years program in MSs that feed into the IB HSs.

I think they should put the most popular programs into the least popular HSs.  Seems like the low-performing HS have a lot of kids who are ESOL or FARMS and they might not have the verbal skills to succeed in a program like IB -- but maybe they would have a shot at succeeding in an AP class.  Seems kind of backwards. [/quote]

It is mainly about political activism and power.  The "popular" schools have the most active parent base and will not allow for an unpopular program to be placed in their school.  The IB plan worked for Marshall.  I think it worked because there was a minority population in the surrounding "popular" AP schools (McLean, Langley, Madison) that wanted the IB program and were willing to transfer to Marshall to do it and there is an under performing HS (Falls Church) where parents would prefer to send their children to IB to get to go to a higher performing school.   It has not worked in other areas of the county because some of the IB programs are clustered together and they do not have the same number of AP schools swapping students. Plus, when the instituted it, I think they thought the IB program would be more popular than it proved to be.

I think one of the reasons that the IB program has not worked as well as the AP programs is that there is definite preference for STEM leaning students to choose AP over IB and we have a very high population of STEM leaning students. [/quote]

I think IB also works for South Lakes now the same way it works for Marshall, as it's surrounded by AP schools, so the numbers work to its advantage.

The IB program at Robinson is fairly large, but it's also a huge school.  My bet is that, if you polled the parents and students and asked which program they preferred, a substantial number would vote in favor of AP.

What's really odd is having five, largely low-income IB schools (Annandale, Edison, Lee, Stuart and Mount Vernon) that are close to one another and can't attract many students from AP schools.   At one point, FCPS seems to have thought that having IB at those schools would keep white, middle-income families from leaving, but other factors that influence housing and school choices just appear to play a much larger role.  But, as PP noted, rather than focus on what programs would best meet the needs of the current students at those schools, FCPS has decided to double-down and introduce the IB MYP in those pyramids.  [/quote]

Not getting any test results prior to the end of Senior year must put these students at a huge disadvantage compared to their AP peers who've already gotten results, no?[/quote]

Here's what the IBO says about the testing schedule:

"IB students are expected to take their examinations at the conclusion of the two-year Diploma Programme. However, the IB permits students to take one or two standard level examinations at the end of the first year of the Diploma Programme. The remaining exams are taken at the conclusion of the second year of the Diploma Programme. Higher level exams can only be taken at the end of the second year. In many schools, all examinations are taken in the final year."

To me, it seems like a disadvantage.  If you're at an AP school, you know your test results for many courses before you start your senior year of high school.  If you wish, that allows you to figure out what credits you may receive at different colleges and universities before you even apply.  If you don't find out most of your IB test scores until after you've graduated, you can't engage in that analysis.   And, of course, you don't know whether you'll be awarded an IB diploma until after you've graduated, so all the schools that you're applying to will know is that you're an "IB diploma candidate" who is taking a challenging course load.  [/quote]

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