| The semantics of "diploma" versus "college level" are incomparable primarily due to the fact that the IB is, as its name suggests, an International program. To put this in context, in most advanced industrialized nations, the final two years of academic work in "high school" (or Grades 12 and 13) during which these students complete the IB curriculum often substitutes for a traditional American college education. For example, students in UK may apply (from Grade 13) to Medical or Law school with IB scores.
Secondly, as an IB year one student myself, I must note that I, as well as many of my fellow students, enroll in AP courses as electives to fill our schedule. In addition, our teachers squeeze AP curriculum into our IB classes, and IB students generally perform better on AP tests (without taking the course) than students enrolled in the appropriate course.
Finally, the IB assessment criteria are holistic while those of the AP are narrow. The IB grade for one subject usually comprises a formal paper (or two), hands-on activities (labs for science, performance for music, etc.), oral presentations (for languages), and then an examination at the end of the course. This method allows the assessment of the student's complete mastery of the subject, rather than his/her rote memorization or test-taking ability. |