tex-mex Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 (edited) My friend has a daughter in the 12th grade taking International Bacculaureate courses at her public high school. We helped her find a documentary for one of her papers. Dad was kind to email us her essay and I read it eagerly. Tho' I am VERY proud of her... I couldn't help but think to myself... uh, this is IB level work? The essay seemed sloppily written and her conclusion was more opinion than wrapping up the extended essay. And instead of her doing authentic research, she just summarized from our VHS copy of the documentary. Since I have a 9th grader with writing LD issues -- I got a bit encouraged to think my son could possibly do high school level essay writing. And he has dysgraphia. Wow. :confused: Aren't AP/IB classes in the public schools accelerated? Or do they allow such poor quality of work for a final extended essay project? If anything, I applaud all of you hser's for doing such a great job!! Edited November 20, 2009 by tex-mex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate in seattle Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 do you know what kind of grade she got? the quality of work turned in may not be the quality of work expected. The IB program is highly regarded and I have a friend who had 1 daughter go through the IB at her high school Alison's work was always of the highest quality (but then she made straight A's through college AND med school, recently testing in 99.75 percentile on some important medical test) so maybe she is not the best indicator of typical work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 If the IBs have exams like the APs,sounds like she might not get a high score if that essay reflects her work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 do you know what kind of grade she got? the quality of work turned in may not be the quality of work expected. The IB program is highly regarded and I have a friend who had 1 daughter go through the IB at her high school Alison's work was always of the highest quality (but then she made straight A's through college AND med school, recently testing in 99.75 percentile on some important medical test) so maybe she is not the best indicator of typical work. No idea... from what I understand, she just turned it in. I'm keeping my mouth shut and just be supportive as her Dad is very proud of her. But it did cause me to wonder about how she got in the program (another incident regarding academics a year back) and now she seems to be not college bound? So who knows. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted November 21, 2009 Author Share Posted November 21, 2009 If the IBs have exams like the APs,sounds like she might not get a high score if that essay reflects her work. Yes, that is kinda what I was thinking... :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Yes, that is kinda what I was thinking... :confused: At least equivalent to APs. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 I suspect that what that particular *school* accepts from some students and what actually passes muster with IB are wildly disparate. Do you know how many students from that school attempt the IB diploma each year and how many actually receive it? And how many more students are enrolled in individual IB classes but don't even attempt the individual exams, much less the diploma? My suspicion based on this one story is that they have a *lot* more students going through the motions of taking classes at the school than will actually reach IB standards. And yes, there are exams for IB, but unlike AP, they also require certain work to be submitted for outside grading. A student who does not do well on the exams and/or whose work is not up to snuff may receive praise within the school, but they will not receive an IB diploma or even individual credits that can be used in college. And I'd find a school that was accepting work like that and calling it "IB" fairly suspect. It sounds like they've jumped on the bandwagon without actually providing classes and standards that will measure up. (I also wonder if the school has made it through the whole IB approval process, or if it's still in the initial stages...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBS Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 (edited) I watched our local high school go thru the extremely rigorous process of certification for IB diplomas. Standards, special test and exams and teacher training are just the beginning...The IB program is a complete different animal fr AP, and I've not made a study, just learned a bit thru my boy:my son is in IB program at ps, and has taken some AP classes also since he is going to get IB certificates rather than the full IB diploma.the AP standard was not adhered to in his Physics class so he sat at an exam with things he had never seen. Waste of money to take exam. His AP Calc teacher kept up, so he scored a 4. His IB classes are the ones he loves, creative, critical thinking and teachers who enjoy that...many young men teachers. YOu can do research to better understand the IB internal assessments, which are checkpoint meetings as they work on their paper. Hopefully, a teacher who is aware and on top of things will see what your friend's child did, and help her learn better. I'm thrilled with the IB work my son is doing, but the AP courses were more about cramming the info in, memorize, drill it in, regurgitate at the exam. Ugh. LBS Edited November 22, 2009 by LBS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Can you elaborate on what you like about the IB classes? How are they creative and thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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