Reply to New VDOE Rankings of High and Secondary Schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm going to go out on a crazy limb here with a kid who goes to SLHS.  I like IB because anyone can do it.  I basically think AP has turned into a College Board money making scheme like the SAT.  I thought this before I had a kid in HS.  I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that we wouldn't be dealing with it.

This area is a big cash cow for the College Board.  Do any of you ever think we are being played by these rankings?  The most desirable schools have the most kids taking AP classes, so more money for the CB.  But then it's harder to get into the top colleges because of the peer group is doing the same thing.  So how is it really helping you in the end?  If you are rich enough to live in these areas, then you can afford the college courses that an AP course may replace, so that's not a factor at these schools.

Other than bragging rights what do they get you in the end?  Same with SAT scores.  And I'm also not an advocate of IB either, kind of ambivalent.  I'd rather bring back old school tracking and have the Honors courses be like the AP courses and take the CB out of it.[/quote]

If anyone can do it, why are the diploma numbers so low? IB is not meant to be an ala cart program where you take some IB classes and you don’t earn the diploma. It is supposed to lead to kid complete the IB diploma but the percentage of kids at the IB schools completing the program is low. AP is an ala cart program that allows kids to take more advanced classes in areas of interest and areas that they are strong in. That is the purpose of the program.

The kids at the IB programs are forced into a program that does not meet their needs. My kid is supposed to go to SLHS and we are starting to look at the AP options because he is not a kid that is interested in the diploma program. There are far more AP STEM offerings and the math AP math track makes more sense for a kid who takes Algebra 1 in 7th grade. It sucks that we need to look at moving schools because we are forced into a program that doesn’t work for the vast majority of the kids at any of the IB schools. I don’t think that there is an IB school where over 30% of the kids earn the IB diploma.

IB should be a magnate program that kids who want to earn the diploma can attend. Provide bus service to the school that hosts the magnate school. AP should be at every high school because it fits the needs of most of the kids. [/quote]

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