Today we are revisiting another of the most popular articles in our Davidson Gifted Database. In 2011, Jay Mathews, the noted Washington Post education columnist, led a Davidson seminar comparing goodness of fit between Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes for gifted students. View the full article here. Some key points from the article:
The article has also generated a good dialogue, with comments including: "As an 11th grader in the IB Diploma Programme, I can definitely attest to the statement that IB is tough and to an extent, takes over your life. However, I’ve found that IB is more than manageable if the student has good time management skills . . . My experience with IB has been great, my teachers (for the most part) are wonderful and well trained, and I genuinely think I learn just as much in my classes as from the other students in IB. I am confident that IB is preparing me for college, and although it is tough, I truly think IB is worth the effort. To any parents reading this: I am glad my parents encouraged me to challenge myself and do the IB program. I am a better student, thinker, and person because of it. IB is definitely more effort than AP (I’ve done both) because throughout the two year IB program there are several research essays and other assignments one has to complete that contribute to one's overall IB scores." "If you can't manage your time well, don't take IB, because everything piles up and it gets very hard. I'm involved in soccer, and that hasn't hurt me academically, but I do stay up some nights past midnight doing my homework. The IB is very good at teaching critical thinking, while AP is much more memorization (as I've heard from friends who take AP classes). It is true that the IB is very rigorous, but it is definitely doable. I'm glad my parents chose an IB school for me because it did challenge me, but that's not something everyone enjoys or wants." "IB, due to its curriculum structure, is for students who want to be well-rounded. IB defines what everything is and means. The curriculum is tailored to what they perceive is successful. This is a great place for students who aspire to be well-rounded. Students who would rather be sharp as a tack in many directions should not attend." "I'm studying in an IB school, MYP, and I think for people who go to other classes, like music, sports and etc. should really choose AP over IB. The assignments the teachers give are sometimes very time consuming . . . IB's great if you really focus only on school and not on sports or anything like that."
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