To IB or not to IB ... That is the question

marite
Sat, 23 Sep 2006 21:21:39 +0000

j07:

As the parent of a kid who was bored by unchallenging work, I very much sympathize with your reasons for signing up for the IB program.

There are two very different issues being debated. Is the IB program good for those enrolled in it? On the whole, your experience suggests it is. It seems a good preparation for college–which does not surprise me in the least. The other is whether it is a good idea for underperforming schools to introduce it and to use their limited resources to support a program that benefits so few students. The experience of your larger school suggests it might not be.

Many years ago, our high school went through a periodic bout of restructuring. Parents were welcome to sit in on committee meetings and I decided to sit in on a committee I thought was going to be discussing equity for students–a contentious issue as there were claims that certain groups of students received more resources, enjoyed smaller class sizes, etc… Well, the committee did discuss equity, but among teachers. Some, it was claimed, had smaller class sizes; they got to teach brighter (read less difficult) students, etc… The atmosphere was rather venomous. I slunk out of the meeting, quite depressed. Your account of small classes and dedicated teachers brought this experience back to mind.