HomeschoolDad

IB may be better for some students, AP is certainly better for many students.

Some background: The International Baccalaureate Programme was invented in Switzerland in 1924, in a school called The International School, to enable the children of League of Nations diplomatic staff to attend a single school. Classes were taught in French. Reasons for this school included promoting inter-cultural understanding and internationalism, and giving families an opportunity to stay together, rather than sending kids off to boarding schools in Europe and America.

In most of the world today, IB Programme schools are still private. They enable diplomats and overseas-stationed businesspeople to keep their kids with them and obtain an education that qualifies their children for admission to universities in their home countries. In Third World nations, the schools qualify the children of native professionals to also qualify for European and American universities. Some schools teach classes in English, others in French, depending on the country in which the schools operate.

In teaching many children classes in not-their-native-tongue, IB has to slow things down, relative to schools in which every student is fluent in the language of the classes. It's not a top-notch academic program. For example, in the US, only ca. 30 private schools offer IB. The Atlanta International School, which charges $20,000 tuition, had the highest SAT average of all American private IB schools in 2005, 1262. That score wouldn't rank in the top three private schools in Oregon or New Mexico.

In the U.S., Canada, and Australia, most IB schools are public. IB-public was originally promoted to inner-city black-student-predominant schools. The idea was that if it worked for students of color overseas, and it was a solid, albeit lowered-pace model, it could help American minority kids get into college, who traditionally would have no chance. It has largely been implemented in schools with large minority populations, albeit many of them now mixed-race magnet schools. The results have been less than magnificent. In the mixed-race magnet schools, white and Asian students disproportionately earn IB Diplomas, relative to minority program participants.

In one state flagship university I am familiar with, every AP subject is creditable, with suitable exam score, but only one-third of IB subjects are. Not because there is an anti-IB prejudice—the university would love to give credit to speed people along and lower enrollment impaction-- but because the university statistically measured the performances of IB students over many years, and they struggled when allowed to skip first-level courses and enroll in second-level courses.

Of note, The IB Organisation's Mission Statement states IB's purpose being to create a more peaceful world. Which is fine. But it has never proposed that it's purpose is to deliver the highest levels of academics available anywhere.

AP was originally devised for the smartest students in the country. All the top private schools adopted AP courses. However, as the College Board has attempted to "democratize" AP, it's been watered down. Many "Ivy League feeder schools" no longer label their college-creditable courses "AP", because these courses correspond to "old AP", but not "new AP". Their students take AP exams nonetheless.

Some students take AP courses in sophomore year, or even freshman year, then enroll in the IB Programme for 11th-12th grades. But most highest-achieving students who attend schools that offer large AP portfolios (20 or more AP courses) and IB, choose AP. In private international schools, students can take 4 HL (college-creditable) courses. In most public IB programme schools, students can take only 3 HL courses.

So for example, in a dual-program school, an early AP enrollee taking 1 freshman course (typically world history), 1-2 sophomore courses (e.g. U.S. history, psychology, studio art), then 3 IB HL courses, would graduate, with 4-5 college-creditable courses. If the same student did AP, he or she could do 1 freshman course, 1-2 sophomore courses, 3 junior courses, and 4 senior courses, i.e. 9-10 college-creditable courses.

The student who wants to take college-creditable biology, chemistry AND physics, must take the AP pathway: IBO doesn't allow three HL science courses to be taken. The superbright science and math student who wants to take calculus-based physics can only do this through AP Physics C: IB's HL Physics is traditional 12th-grade algebra-and-trig-based physics. IB has nothing comparable to AP Computer Science AB.

Very importantly a good number of private schools, and some publics, which have very smart kids who complete AP calculus BC in 11th grade, offer second-year college mathematics, either intramurally, or through local college concurrent enrollment. IB programme students can't do this. If you're an IB student and want to take cutting-edge modern languages such as Mandarin or Japanese, you can't do this. French, Spanish, German: how 1940s.

The College Board, administrator of AP, is a consortium of all highly-ranked private universities and LACs, every public flagship university, all well-respected high schools. It's an American institution. AP is designed to help kids succeed in American colleges and universities. IBO is a European organization. Headquartered in Geneva. President if French. Umm, how many state-school IB Diploma programs does Switzerland have? Zero. How about French state schools? ONE. If it's so cool, how come the seller nations' education ministries aren't buying it?

So, currently over 11,000 of American public high schools offer AP. About 430 offer IB. Numbers for IB are wavy-gravy because IBO North America reports as participants schools that are canceling, but not yet out of IB, and schools that are purchasing the program, but aren't yet teaching it. Nevertheless, 11,000 vs. 430 should tell you something: AP's annual growth is higher than American IB schools in toto. I suppose for parents who are anticipating seeing their kids enroll in the University of Madrid, or the University of Lyon (but you won't get a scholarship for them), an IB diploma makes sense. But if they are going to attend an American college or university, the College Board's AP progam makes more sense.

One of the things that makes AP "American" is that there are vast resources for it. You can get AP exam test preps from many independent publishers. You can join online help sites. IB is a closed system. Unless your kids are enrolled, you can't even find out what materials they use. I'll take American transparency vs. Euro behind-the-curtain every time.