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Because it's a great program that challenges intelligent students?
I'm afraid in this horrific economy, thinking something is "great" for a tiny handful of students does not justify forcing all U.S. taxpayers to support providing IB as an option in our public schools.
There are plenty of folks who think HGH is "great". Does that mean that taxpayers should be forced to offer it to all students for "holistic" reasons?
Perhaps English is your second language and the IB Diploma met your personal needs in your desire to attend a European U. What score did you earn, may I ask? Because, as you must know, just receiving an IB Diploma with a score of 24 or 25 will not get you into Oxford.
In fact, a quick check of the UCAS table proves that only the very creme-de-la-creme of IB Diploma recipients (scores of 38-45) are even considered for admission in such prestigious European Unis.
Yes, learning a second language is a part of the IB experience.
Yes, learning a second language is a part of the IB experience.
And learning a second, third or fourth language is wonderful, but foreign language has been taught to students for many decades quite successfully without IB. In order to truly master a foreign language, one must be immersed in it completely, as in living in the country of origin. Back when I was in HS, students with a penchant for international exploration participated in AFS or American Foreign Exchange Service. The family of an American student would host a student from another country while their child stayed with that student's family abroad. This program came at no extra cost to the taxpayers and was voluntary.
Having been in the program, all of it. The entire experience was great.
The only negative of the program was the extremely heavy backpack on my 5-foot, 100-lb self.
Which is why (at least in my IB program) we were taking AP classes and AP exams alongside the IB stuff. For stuff like Calculus, we'd take the one class and then take both the AP and IB exams.
I was the kid who could sit in a "normal" class, not pay attention (aka, sew or draw during lectures and such) and maintain straight A's without fail. I didn't even need to try. Having the IB program to challenge me? It was amazing.
My experience was also great. I got my diploma overseas and we had kids from over 50 countries in the school, mostly kids from diplomat families. We also took other exams alongside the IB ones. When kids joined in from US, they'd typically have to repeat the year they had completed US to get to the same level with everyone else. Our computer science class was the first such HS class I the world. Pretty cool.
And learning a second, third or fourth language is wonderful, but foreign language has been taught to students for many decades quite successfully without IB. In order to truly master a foreign language, one must be immersed in it completely, as in living in the country of origin. Back when I was in HS, students with a penchant for international exploration participated in AFS or American Foreign Exchange Service. The family of an American student would host a student from another country while their child stayed with that student's family abroad. This program came at no extra cost to the taxpayers and was voluntary.
I learned English in IB. There was no other choice as all classes were in English, so when they were teaching math, I was learning English at the same time. It was like an extended foreign student exchange program, and like you said, that is the best way to learn a new language. I took another language as well in IB since that was the requirement. After collage, (which was not in English) my future employers such as IBM in US thought the english i had learned in IB was good enough, and hired me and I moved to the US.
To be clear, Oxford and Cambridge are the UK's "sisters" to U.S.A's Harvard and Yale. The .pdf I linked is issued by Oxford and clearly spells out what its academic requirements are to be considered for admission. Oxford, like Harvard, admits only a small percentage of its total applicants, I think Harvard was around 9.2% last year. I am well aware that a Rhodes Scholar already has their bachelor's degree, as my daughter was nominated for the Rhodes Scholarship in her senior year at NYU.
This does not change the fact that your previous statement is patently false:
The IB Diploma is NOT equivalent to a 4 year baccalaureate (bachelor's degree) or a 2 year Associates Degree. It is an additional high school "college prep" programme, nothing more.
I have not been referring to an IB diploma - I have been responding to your contention that graduating from a US high school means a student can get into an Oxford or Cambridge college, the Sorbonne, EPFL, ETH, Freie Universität, etc., etc. - which is impossible.
depends on the college. Most selective colleges want to see advanced coursework, and like AP, postAP and/or IB classes. Not sure about the credit, as my kid did AP not IB, but I would think most would take IB.
Some kids do well with AP, some with IB. IB has more writing and essays generally than IB, is my understanding.
But not at the college level. AP classes have that and more, all at the college level. That's why the college dean specifically stated that only the 3 "Higher Level" IB classes are recognized and offered possible credit (if exam scores are high enough) by colleges and universities. AP has what? 16? More than that?
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If AP goes international are the nutsos going to turn on it too? Just hostile to everything "international" ?
AP classes don't have a political agenda, so I doubt it.
The IB program is siphoning money away from our public schools. And on Long Island, our public schools cannot afford
to carry a non-mandated, UNESCO supported, "global thinking" brainwashing system.
I don't expect that all parents are going to waste their valuable "50 shades of grey" reading time trying to honestly vet this IB programme for the sake of their children and their tax dollars. However I know that those who won't are the same ones that will growl at anybody else who has discovered for themselves what a insidious and damaging political tool the IB programme really is. It's not that overt, as people need to really look into it's agenda and what drives the IB thinkers. It's more of a covert operation, served up with all the international, global society, side dishes.
This isn't just a meat and potato meal. The IB program gives your child a taste of every cultural side dish. It's goal is to make the child who really doesn't like red curry to understand how the red curry feels about being rejected, how sad the red curry feels that you won't even try it. Even if you will never see a red curry menu again in your natural life, because after all, this is the land of meat and potatos. We don't eat red curry here and never have. But a child will be expected to write a paper about how the red curry wants to be on his or her plate so bad. You might not be able to spell red curry even, but
if by the end of the research paper, eventually you learn to love red curry, that is the goal. It's also the goal to estranged the student from meat and potatos because by doing that you prove how you are very much rejecting the status quo and are indeed embracing cultures outside your borders. After all, everyone can be right.
IB students are as dumb as nails. They are not prepared for the real world. IB teaches liberal thinking AKA brainwashing our children. I just had a conversation with an IB diploma recipient who is brainwashed into thinking employers should provide health care coverage. Every conversation you have with her she applies her IB theory...it is like speaking to a two year old.
She says employers should cover it? So, IB is brainwashing kids to promote the US model, not the liberal model where the government would provide it. Sure sounds like you just made that up or maybe you just don't know what the liberal model is.
That's because the AP course is pretty much the exact college class and the AP exam is the college exam. Just because a student took an AP class doesn't automatically give them credit. You have to take the exam and get at least a 3 on it for it to give you college credits.
A 3? Many selective colleges offer credit only for scores of 5 and sometimes 4. Credit for scores of 3 are generally only offered by colleges that have a heavy emphasis on inclusiveness instead of academic rigor.
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Something else to consider is that AP classes are just that: classes. IB is an entire learning track complete with extra curricular requirements, as well as strict academic ones.
Many AP students participate in the extracurriculars anyway. Try getting into a selective college without heavy extracurricular involvement, including leadership positions.
And again, the IB "learning track" is generally considered less rigorous by colleges and universities. IB themselves call it college prep, NOT college level. They only offer credit for the 3 "Higher Level" IB classes. IB is weak on academic rigor and heavy on political agenda indoctrination.
AP has what? At least 16 college-level courses last time I counted.
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Get rid of IB
or maybe you just don't know what the liberal model is.