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The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, often colloquially referred to simply as "IB", is an educational programme taught in one of three languages (English, French or Spanish) and is intended for students in their final two years of secondary school, often before entering university. It is taught in 1,469 schools, to a great extent in international schools, in 121 countries (as of 2005). The programme, administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization, is one of the most widely recognised pre-university educational programmes in the world.
Curriculum The Diploma Programme (DP) curriculum consists of completing six courses from six different subject areas, writing an Extended Essay (EE) of up to 4,000 words, taking part in the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) class, and fulfilling a requirement of 50 hours in each of the Creative, Active and Service (CAS) pursuits. Grades are awarded from 1 to 7 in each subject, and up to three 'bonus' points may be awarded depending on the grade results of the EE and TOK. Thus, a total of 45 points may be obtained by the candidate for their final diploma. In order to receive an International Baccalaureate Diploma you must receive a minimum of 24 points. If candidates study in a language other than their native language (i.e. their language A1), they may receive a Bilingual Diploma. If students choose not to fulfil all parts of the programme they can receive 'subject certificates' for the IB classes they take. Subject areas Students pursuing the Diploma take six courses, usually from six different subject areas (detailed below), with three (or four) of them taken at higher level (HL) and the rest at standard level (SL). Higher level subjects require approximately 240 hours of teaching time, and standard level subjects about 150. Extended Essay Students must write an essay of at most 4,000 words in any chosen subject (not necessarily one taken for the final exam) but not across subjects. The topic may be any that the student feels is researchable. This task involves independent research and requires producing a comprehensible written piece. Each student is paired with a supervisor, who provides insight toward the final product. It is essential to submit an Extended Essay, often abbreviated as EE, or the candidate cannot receive the IB Diploma. CAS CAS is an acronym for Creativity, Action, Service. Each DP student must complete at least 150 hours, spread out over at least one and a half years, engaging in creative activity, participating in sport or other physical activities, and doing community service or social work. The general guideline for CAS is to split it evenly among Creativity, Action and Service, hence a de facto requirement of 50 hours of each. The minimum amount of hours to be spent on any one part of CAS is 25 hours. The hours of work are to be documented by the school using official forms which are to be submitted to the IBO upon request. Failing to complete the CAS requirements will result in disqualification of a candidate from the IB Diploma. Theory of Knowledge Each student must complete the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course of approximately 100 hours, which aims to encourage students to be critical thinkers and to teach students basic epistemology. To complete requirements for TOK, diploma candidates must write a TOK essay of 1200-1600 words on a set title (from a choice of ten issued by the IBO), and present a TOK issue to their class on their choice of topic. The grades that the student receives from the TOK essay and presentation are compared with the grade for the Extended Essay by way of a matrix designed by the IBO, which may result in the awarding of 'extra' points for the candidate's Diploma. The candidate may get up to three extra points if both works are of a sufficiently good standard. Without the extra points, it is still possible to achieve the Diploma, but not with the full 45 points. Assessment All subjects are assessed using both internal and external assessment, including final exams given worldwide in May (usually for Northern Hemisphere schools) and in November (usually for Southern Hemisphere schools). Each exam usually consists of two or three papers, generally written on successive days. The different papers may have different forms of questions, or they may focus on different areas of the subject syllabus. For example, chemistry Paper 1 has multiple choice questions, Paper 2 has extended response questions, and Paper 3 focuses on the 'option' topics which can vary according to the student's (or school's) preference. Resits for each paper (sat in the next exam session - November or May) are possible for a maximum of three times. Each individual paper can take anywhere from 45 minutes to three hours, but usually they are between one and two hours in duration. Because of the large amount of subjects being examined in one examination session (of less than a month in length), students often have to write multiple papers in one day. The external assessment is assessed by examiners appointed by the IBO. A common practice by schools is to hold mock exams, using exams from a previous year's session to introduce students to the examination process. This is also used to determine predicted grades required by IBO prior to assessment. Another common practice is to allow the students a study leave for independent study without scheduled lesson time. The nature of the internal assessment (IA) varies by subject. They may be oral presentations (used in languages), practical work (in experimental sciences), or written works to be done at home. Internal assessment accounts for 20 to 50 percent of the mark awarded for each subject and is marked by a teacher in the school. A sample of at least five per subject at each level will also be graded by a moderator appointed by the IBO, in a process called external moderation of internal assessment. The marks collected from the internal and external moderators are again moderated on a world wide scale. The results of every particular year determine the grade-boundaries of that year. Therefore the effects of very easy or very difficult exams are taken into account, however, very good year groups might receive lower marks than expected as the boundaries are drawn up, and vice-versa, less successful year groups may receive higher marks than expected. Awards There are two types of award available in the IB Diploma Programme. A student can be awarded the full Diploma or Certificates of Merit in individual subjects. Diploma conditions In order to be awarded the full IB Diploma the following requirements must have been met: Certificates A candidate may also choose not to take the whole Diploma, but to aim for a Certificate in a particular subject. Candidates doing certificates do not have to take part in the extra requirements of the Diploma (the Extended Essay, TOK and CAS). Those candidates who complete extra courses in addition to a Diploma will also receive a Certificate. Recognition Upon completion of the Diploma Programme, students receive the IB Diploma, which is used to obtain admission to institutions of higher education. This degree is sometimes regarded as a foreign diploma, so its recognition may vary depending on the university. In Canada and the United States, some IBDP courses are recognised as equivalent to university/college-level courses, and universities and colleges may award entering students with first-year credit for high IB exam scores. In this regard it is similar to the Advanced Placement Program, or superior to it, depending on the institute of higher learning in question. In the United Kingdom, most universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, accept the IB Diploma as an alternative to A-levels and some universities actively prefer it to A-Levels, such as Nottingham University. UCAS has created a tariff for IB points which will be in use from 2008 university entry onwards. The tariff suggests that a modest score of 30 IB points (419 UCAS points) is roughly equivalent to 3 A-grades at A Level and 1 A-grade at AS Level (420 UCAS points), whereas the maximum score of 45 IB points (768 UCAS points) is roughly equivalent to 6 A-grades at A Level and 1 B-grade at AS Level (770 UCAS points). The increasing attention being directed at the IB Diploma by universities has led many private schools to offer it in place of A-levels (due to the perennial national debate over A-level standards), though the political impossibility of placing elements of education policy in the hands of an outside body makes it unlikely that the IB would ever replace UK-based qualifications in the majority of schools; instead, there has been talk of creating an equivalent British baccalaureate programme (see the Welsh Baccalaureate, a much-maligned attempt to replicate the IB within Wales, and the Tomlinson Report, which recommended a new baccalaureate system to replace A-levels). In some countries, such as Turkey or Peru, the IB Diploma is not considered equivalent to the national end-of-school examination scheme, usually because the IB Diploma is not as specialised, or because certain subjects are not offered. Other countries, such as Germany, set certain conditions for the IB Diploma to be convalidated (German at minimum A2 Standard Level, Mathematic Studies or Mathematics standard level minimum, and Maths or a Science at Higher Level). Some universities, on the other hand, prefer the IB to the certificate which the students usually get in their own country. A list of universities admitting the IB can be found on the IBO web site. Criticism Criticism of the Diploma Programme often centers around the limitations of curriculum implementation in the schools. For example, although the IBO may offer many different courses of a particular area, a school may only offer a few, thereby defeating the original intent of the program. Criticism also stems from the lack of interaction between IB students and other non-IB students in schools where programs besides the IB program are offered. This lack of interaction is sometimes referred to as the "IB crew." Another negative aspect of the program is the unnecessary measures taken to keep control of CAS hours. This can be in the form of proposal forms or excessive logging forms. Most American colleges will only give college credit to students for taking higher level courses, and require a score of 6 or 7, though sometimes 5 is accepted. While on the other hand, the same colleges give credit to students who get a 4 or higher on a AP exam. However, the AP exam is scored out of 5. Obtaining a 4 on an AP exam is roughly comparable to obtaining a 5 or 6 on an IB exam. The Diploma Programme is also criticized for its lack of "fair judgment." Rather than the students having a completely anonymous grader as in the AP program most IB grades are given in a ratio of 70% anonymous and 30% teacher based. The Diploma Programme is run by the school's IB coordinator. All information about the policies and practices is commonly granted exclusively through that coordinator. There is no external overseer of IB coordinators and typically the IB coordinator is the last say in decisions regarding the Diploma Programme. Commonly any student or parent who attempts to discover the IB organization's policies via the IB organization itself is deferred to the school's IB coordinator. In the United States In the US, the IB Diploma Program is used to set students at an international standard level. Many colleges recognize participation in (and the passing of) IB examinations as college credits. In several cases, only about 20% of the students who enter the Diploma Program actually end up with the diploma. The IBDP is not in wide use in the United States, because the College Board AP Program is often preferred. The AP program is generally preferred in the United States because all classes are optional and the student and parent generally have more control on the student’s education than in the IB program. Pre-IB In many schools, one or two years of 'Pre-IB' are administered before admission into the formal IB curriculum. This is not a practice managed by the IBO, but by the schools themselves, and the nature of the Pre-IB studies varies greatly between schools. In many countries, Pre-IB consists of adapting to studying in a foreign language (usually English), while completing the compulsory courses demanded by the national education authorities (as opposed to the IBO). For schools in the United States, the 'Pre-IB' curriculum usually consists of more advanced courses than the regular freshman and sophomore classes in order to prepare the student for the rigours of the actual IB curriculum. Schools in Canada usually offer a more advanced French language course, or offer an optional language in grade ten, usually Spanish. Notes Articles | ||||||||
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