Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

RMIB has "pre-IB" classes for 9th and 10th graders. At least, for now.

Example: RMS English 9 is only available to IB magnet students. I don't know if that will change any time soon.

Right, but MCPS Central Office has been trying to strong-arm B-CC and Einstein away from offering those cohorted classes. They were opt-in, and open to any kid, but "equity concerns" has led the county to try to kill the ability of schools to offer them. This is a problem because it puts even more pressure on the magnet programs and raises the stakes for those kids if they'd like to experience any sort of academic challenge with like-minded peers before their junior year.

Say what? How do you know this and how can we push back against this?

What would the alternative model for MYP IB classes look like?

I'm the PP and I know because an administrator told me when I asked what classes are available to incoming 9th graders. This administrator seemed genuinely frustrated, and I probably caught them in a bad moment (I have an older child at the school).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the question is: does IB offer an advantage in college admissions compared to AP? Are they recognized equally? I thought IB was more work for the same amount of recognition?

It's also more money. IB tests this year are $119, AP tests are $97.

And more writing.

someone once stated that IB is depth and AP is breadth. I'm finding that this is true.

For example, in IB world history they take a couple of topics and go in depth, whereas in AP world history, they cover the span of world history.

And yea, a ton of writing, even in STEM classes. They have to write a research paper for almost all classes.

As for colleges, the IB classes themselves don't mean much. But the IB diploma probably does. It's especially useful if your kid decides to apply to foreign colleges.

Yes, with IB it's the diploma that distinguishes you, not the individual courses. That's the opposite for AP, where the individual courses (and corresponding exams scores) are all that matter.

The impact of the IB Diploma for acceptance rates range from anywhere from a 10-40% increase depending on the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

There is no such thing as "pre-IB" classes in that sense. IB starts in 11th grade. Before that, there's the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). I think that all of the MCPS high schools that offer a IB diploma programme are wall-to-wall MYP schools, but I'm not totally certain about that.

yes there is. See above post about RMIB.

Those aren't "pre-IB" classes, they are special classes for students who were accepted into the RMIB magnet program.

yes, and it's generally called "pre-IB" classes since it can only be taken by IB magnet students.

So essentially it's "magnet English" or whatever, just like Blair or Wheaton would have magnet-specific math or science classes to prepare them for APs or more advanced classes in the upper grades.

I think one reason central office is cracking down on the "pre-IB" designation is that those classes aren't sanctioned by the IB organization. Unless it's a proper Middle Years course, it's not officially tied to, or aligned with, the IB curriculum. So they technically shouldn't be using the IB name.

And no, Einstein, at least, isn't a MYP school.

Ok, that makes more sense. If it's not an official MYP Course then it shouldn't have the name and the cohort-exclusivity attached to it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

RMIB has "pre-IB" classes for 9th and 10th graders. At least, for now.

Example: RMS English 9 is only available to IB magnet students. I don't know if that will change any time soon.

Right, but MCPS Central Office has been trying to strong-arm B-CC and Einstein away from offering those cohorted classes. They were opt-in, and open to any kid, but "equity concerns" has led the county to try to kill the ability of schools to offer them. This is a problem because it puts even more pressure on the magnet programs and raises the stakes for those kids if they'd like to experience any sort of academic challenge with like-minded peers before their junior year.

Say what? How do you know this and how can we push back against this?

What would the alternative model for MYP IB classes look like?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

There is no such thing as "pre-IB" classes in that sense. IB starts in 11th grade. Before that, there's the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). I think that all of the MCPS high schools that offer a IB diploma programme are wall-to-wall MYP schools, but I'm not totally certain about that.

yes there is. See above post about RMIB.

Those aren't "pre-IB" classes, they are special classes for students who were accepted into the RMIB magnet program.

yes, and it's generally called "pre-IB" classes since it can only be taken by IB magnet students.

People can call the classes anything they want, but the fact is that the classes are not part of the IB Diploma Programme.

There are no specific pre-IB classes that are part of the IBDP or IBCP program. There is however a Middle Years Program in 9th and 10th grade which might be what PP is talking about. MYP preps students for Full IB in 11th and 12th grade. For example, since Seneca Valley is a wall-to-wall IB school, students in 9th and 10th grade have the MYP framework embedded in their classes, and they submit a personal MYP project in 10th grade. At the end of 10th grade, students decide if they want to go for the full IB diploma (IBCP or IBDP) or take some IB classes here or there or none at all starting in 11th grade. Not sure how it works at the other schools but this is how it works at SVHS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

There is no such thing as "pre-IB" classes in that sense. IB starts in 11th grade. Before that, there's the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). I think that all of the MCPS high schools that offer a IB diploma programme are wall-to-wall MYP schools, but I'm not totally certain about that.

yes there is. See above post about RMIB.

Those aren't "pre-IB" classes, they are special classes for students who were accepted into the RMIB magnet program.

yes, and it's generally called "pre-IB" classes since it can only be taken by IB magnet students.

So essentially it's "magnet English" or whatever, just like Blair or Wheaton would have magnet-specific math or science classes to prepare them for APs or more advanced classes in the upper grades.

I think one reason central office is cracking down on the "pre-IB" designation is that those classes aren't sanctioned by the IB organization. Unless it's a proper Middle Years course, it's not officially tied to, or aligned with, the IB curriculum. So they technically shouldn't be using the IB name.

And no, Einstein, at least, isn't a MYP school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

There is no such thing as "pre-IB" classes in that sense. IB starts in 11th grade. Before that, there's the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). I think that all of the MCPS high schools that offer a IB diploma programme are wall-to-wall MYP schools, but I'm not totally certain about that.

yes there is. See above post about RMIB.

Those aren't "pre-IB" classes, they are special classes for students who were accepted into the RMIB magnet program.

yes, and it's generally called "pre-IB" classes since it can only be taken by IB magnet students.

People can call the classes anything they want, but the fact is that the classes are not part of the IB Diploma Programme.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the question is: does IB offer an advantage in college admissions compared to AP? Are they recognized equally? I thought IB was more work for the same amount of recognition?

It's also more money. IB tests this year are $119, AP tests are $97.

And more writing.

someone once stated that IB is depth and AP is breadth. I'm finding that this is true.

For example, in IB world history they take a couple of topics and go in depth, whereas in AP world history, they cover the span of world history.

And yea, a ton of writing, even in STEM classes. They have to write a research paper for almost all classes.

As for colleges, the IB classes themselves don't mean much. But the IB diploma probably does. It's especially useful if your kid decides to apply to foreign colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

There is no such thing as "pre-IB" classes in that sense. IB starts in 11th grade. Before that, there's the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). I think that all of the MCPS high schools that offer a IB diploma programme are wall-to-wall MYP schools, but I'm not totally certain about that.

yes there is. See above post about RMIB.

Those aren't "pre-IB" classes, they are special classes for students who were accepted into the RMIB magnet program.

yes, and it's generally called "pre-IB" classes since it can only be taken by IB magnet students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

There is no such thing as "pre-IB" classes in that sense. IB starts in 11th grade. Before that, there's the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). I think that all of the MCPS high schools that offer a IB diploma programme are wall-to-wall MYP schools, but I'm not totally certain about that.

yes there is. See above post about RMIB.

Those aren't "pre-IB" classes, they are special classes for students who were accepted into the RMIB magnet program.

Anonymous wrote:I think the question is: does IB offer an advantage in college admissions compared to AP? Are they recognized equally? I thought IB was more work for the same amount of recognition?

It's also more money. IB tests this year are $119, AP tests are $97.

And more writing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the frustrating elements here is that MCPS has rolled back the ability of the non-magnet IB schools to offer "pre-IB" classes.

It's part of this incredibly upsetting push-and-pull on the part of the Central Office. They want more families to choose B-CC or Einstein and claim to be expanding opportunities to these programs, but at the same time they are gatekeeping course offerings to the point that a teen who is looking for a like-minded peer group and pre-IB classes must wait until 11th grade to access those things.

There is no such thing as "pre-IB" classes in that sense. IB starts in 11th grade. Before that, there's the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). I think that all of the MCPS high schools that offer a IB diploma programme are wall-to-wall MYP schools, but I'm not totally certain about that.

yes there is. See above post about RMIB.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does a BCC-zoned student have no hope of getting into the RM IB program?

The RM IB magnet program is a county-wide magnet program. Just be aware that the student would do exactly the same things for the IB Diploma Programme in 11th grade and 12th grade in the RM IB magnet program as at B-CC, because it's the same IB Diploma Programme.

but as stated in previous posts: RMIB has Pre-IB classes only open to IB magnet students. BCC does not. The IB diploma rate at RM is higher than at BCC.

I think the question is: does IB offer an advantage in college admissions compared to AP? Are they recognized equally? I thought IB was more work for the same amount of recognition?

Anonymous wrote:So does a BCC-zoned student have no hope of getting into the RM IB program?

The RM IB magnet program is a county-wide magnet program. Just be aware that the student would do exactly the same things for the IB Diploma Programme in 11th grade and 12th grade in the RM IB magnet program as at B-CC, because it's the same IB Diploma Programme.