IBO stands for the International Baccalaureate Organization, IB is an international, non-profit educational organization whose goal is produce world-minded and critically analytical students. IB is primarily known for three programs, the Primary Years Programme for elementary level students, the Middle Years Programme for grades 6-10 and the Diploma Programme which takes place in the final two years of high school. (for a more detailed description visit http://www.ibo.org/programmes)
In the United States, Diploma Programmes are the most common. They can range from the full Diploma Programme (like my alma mater) or simply IB classes that students can elect to take if they want a more challenging course load. Diploma level IB classes are generally equal to or greater in difficulty to their corresponding AP courses in the same subject and like the AP each has an accompanying examination at the end. IB scores however are not solely based on the exam but also on unique measures based on the subject matter. For example, the IB psychology score is based on both the final exam and on having executed and written a report on one’s own psychological experiment (I did mine based on the Asch conformity experiments). St. Louis has it’s own Diploma Programme at Metro High School which is often ranked close to 100 in the top public highschools in the nation by Newsweek. (My own highschool ranks consistently between the teen’s and the 30′s)
What I personally got out of the IB program, and what I feel it brings to students is a new way of thinking. The program is designed to both focus and expand the student’s mind. It expands the student’s thinking by highlighting a diverse set of skills as the key to success. This is reflected in the international focus of the program, the diverse requirements of the Diploma Programme (one must complete 6 different IB exams, and you can’t just do 4 science and 2 math, they must all be sufficiently different), and the exams themselves which as I mentioned earlier promote a diverse set of skills. In addition, the Diploma requires completion of various tasks that demonstrate ability outside of the class room such as the Extended Essay (a 4000 word paper on any subject in any field of study) which highlights independant study and creative thought (my friend compared the comic Calvin and Hobbes to the real life John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes).
And there are CAS hours, similar to the required community service hours that many states have, CAS stands for Creative, Action and Service. Students must complete at least 20 hours in each field, creative could be learning an instrument, action could be playing a sport, the only rule is that they must be completed outside the scope of the classroom. As with CAS hours vs. community service hours, IB takes every thing one step further, and I believe this step is the difference for a student from just going through the motions to get the job done and really learning and experiencing something worthwhile.
Well that’s just a little slice of what I feel about IB, if anything I can tell you that it is not just harder, it is smarter. I myself got only decent grades in middle school, and would not have even a chance of getting into a top university were it not for my acceptance into the IB program (which was a supreme accomplishment of luck and persistence). Yes, acceptance, because unfortunately in most schools IB remains something for the elite or privileged. Although my school (like many) was a public school and free to all, only the kids with the top 100 test scores in the county got in (of those ranks I certainly was not when I started but am confident to be a part of now). This is why I signed on for the SLLIS project. I know that the IB turned my life around and the idea that SLLIS wants to make this available for everyone is astounding. I am thankful for all of the help that I got through the IB and I’m working this summer to give that opportunity to more kids like me.
David M Liu
Marketing Intern and Webmanager
