Dealing with Frustrating High School Experiences

TiggerDad
Sun, 29 May 2016 15:19:13 +0000

@bookworm - I have ZERO issues with the IB program itself at my boy’s high school. In fact, as I’ve stated elsewhere, I’ve been a huge fan of the program for several reasons. I don’t want to restate what I’ve already stated in other threads, but I will mention that the program did make my older son’s transition into college a whole lot easier. In fact, he thinks the college is lot easier than the high school. In my second son’s (junior) case, his IB experience has been brutal and grueling because of all the extracurricular activities that he had to be on top of along with his academic pursuit of excellence. I have nothing but confidence that he will transition into college very smoothly, as well.

@PNWedwonk - I do agree that IB isn’t inherently more art based projects than non-IB curriculum. That art based assignments in non-art class, in my experience, was all entirely teacher stemmed. However, I think you misunderstood my earlier posts when you stated: “I think this is one of those cases where a parent has complaints and attributes them to the (IB in this case) program instead of to how their particular school, or even teacher, operates.”

My entire complaints are directed at the teachers mentioned, NOT at IB program itself. It’s not the IB’s fault that some of the teachers have taken on the program when it’s over their heads. Some of these teachers lack subject mastery to begin with and they bring unnecessary difficulties and hurdles to make the course look “college level” and “tough” as a way of justifying the course. The students have to pay for this, but this, again, can’t be the IB’s fault. In fact, this problem also exists with AP courses, too, and those teachers who teach them. The ONLY “B” that my son has ever received in his entire K-11 years is AP Biology that was taught by someone who doesn’t have the course content mastery. She decided to make the course very difficult, however, by “feigning” the course’s “Advanced Placement” status just by being difficult with her grading. No one in her class ended up well prepared to take the AP Bio exam when the course was over with while hardly anyone received the grade of A. Instead of teaching the subject, it’s either you already know how to apply the principles of biology or you don’t. No amount of self-studying the subject helped the students whatsoever, so the students ended up giving up on self-studying. I DID protest this teacher and we had a group meeting with her, my son, school counselor and myself – to no avail. Made no difference. The only way anything can change in high school in such situations is by eliminating deadwood and incompetent teachers, but the administrators are there to protect them and will fight tooth and nail with the parents and the students.