Weighing AP vs. IB
By Claire Compton
The West County Boundary Study unearthed a whole host of arguments against redistricting. The most vocal opponents were parents whose children would be moved from Chantilly and Oakton high schools into the under-enrolled South Lakes High School in Reston.
Beyond demographics and socio-economic statistics, the starkest difference between South Lakes and the other schools whose boundaries were changed is the advanced academic programs offered at each school.
Of Fairfax County's 24 high schools, eight, including South Lakes, offer the International Baccalaureate, a relatively new advanced studies program that began in Europe and took hold in the United State in the 1980s. The remainder offer the more familiar Advanced Placement program, which has been run by the College Board since 1955.
At the heart of any comparison between the two programs is often the question of college credit. Opponents of the IB program have claimed that colleges simply don't offer the same credits for IB classes as they do for AP courses.
Both programs offer tests at the conclusion of courses that are then submitted to universities for credit. Certain scores on the tests qualify for credits.
Erin Albright, the IB coordinator at Annandale High School, has seen IB diploma students enter George Mason and Virginia Tech with sophomore standings from credits earned from the IB program. But college credit just isn't the point of the IB program, she said.
“The AP was designed as a credit-producing program. Originally the IB was a university admission credential, so it is kind of being used in a way it was not designed for,” she said.
While IB students can still earn college credit, the IB curriculum offers a greater preparation for college coursework thanks to its writing-intensive focus, she said.
“It's not enough to memorize a body of information, but take that information and use it in new ways,” she said.
Students may participate in the IB program in one of two ways, either earning a certificate, which requires only one course, or the full IB diploma, which requires students to take at least one course in all six areas; English, foreign language, history/social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, and arts and electives.
The AP courses can be taken individually or students can earn the AP certificate, a Fairfax County creation that was offered after the College Board discontinued its AP diploma program.
To earn that certificate, students must complete five AP courses and score a 3 or better on the AP tests.
Beyond the coursework requirements, the IB diploma requires students to complete the Creativity, Action, Service component, which includes 150 hours of activities outside of class. They must write a 4,000-word independent research paper and take a Theory of Knowledge class.
“For somebody like my son ... I know he'd not be able to do it, he's way too active in sports,” said Stacy Gullette, whose son is a seventh-grader at Rachel Carson Middle School. The Gullette's home was recently redistricted into the South Lakes boundary, and Gullette said she is considering pupil placement for her son.
Gullette said she would feel compelled to have her son complete the diploma, which would take away from other activities. With the AP program, her older son, who is in 10th grade at Westfield, can pick and choose classes and earn credits for college.
“What I hope is they can get enough AP courses to get a semester or even a year's worth. That's money in the pocket in terms of tuition,” she said.
Part of the negative perception of the IB program may stem from the reason it was introduced, Albright said.
“It was implemented originally in schools trying to raise their academic profile,” she said. “If it has the reputation of being lesser ... then it's the only place in the United States that that's the case.”
School Board Member Stu Gibson represents the Hunter Mill District, which includes South Lakes, and has had two daughters participate in the IB program. He believes the benefits of the program are already being seen, with the rise in SAT scores last year at Stuart, Mount Vernon and South Lakes high schools.
“Those are three IB schools fed by IB middle-years schools. The kids who took the SAT last year were in the seventh grade when each of those middle-years programs started. Coincidence? I don't think so,” he said.