Comments on: Decatur High School Outperforms State and Nation in SAT Scores

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 03:01:06 +0000

I see a lot of good in the middle years IB curriculum (~6th-10th grades) at least theoretically. Rigor is good. An emphasis on a global perspective is good. A focus on integrated learning, reasoning vs. memory, all good.

That’s a completely different animal from the high school IB diploma program which I’m afraid is a lot of expensive fees, effort, retraining, for just a few students, maybe 10-20% at the most. The other 80%-90% will get some side benefits but not enough IMHO. Rigor is one thing; tracking is another. There’s a huge risk of elitism developing because only the best students and best teachers can handle the demands of an IB diploma program. Everyone else may get what’s left over. I thought the recent elimination of many advanced classes in DHS was to reduce tracking and its associated problems. An IB diploma program seems to reinstitute tracking, only even more rigidly, i.e. tracking on steroids. Increased rigor and opportunities for advanced students could be developed, and should be developed, without the fees and constraints of an IB diploma program.

I have yet to see the benefit(s) of IB grades, at any level. I suspect that’s because of how they are being implemented but that’s sort of my point. They are used inconsistently, not well understood by many students, teachers, and parents, perceived to be quite subjective rather than objective, and are converted poorly to conventional grades so high school students can have a GPA. My gut tells me that eventually they will be discarded as impractical except maybe for the 10%-20% of students in the IB diploma program.

I would rather that the resources going into an IB diploma program were put into something that would clearly and directly provide most DHS students with substantial benefit vs. a small percentage. For example, a more robust, stable, and effective math program that offered better instruction and opportunities to advanced students, more organized help to struggling students, and had less staff turnover with more expert teachers.

By: s

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:26:55 +0000

In a world of globalization is it so hard to imagine that our kids should be held to an international standard? What about kids who choose to be educated outside of the US?

By: Keith F

Keith F — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:13:18 +0000

Is the SAT not a national standard test?

By: RenfroeMom

RenfroeMom — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:04:34 +0000

Nice post Mr. B.
The SAT scores and high level participation is a thing to celebrate.
You are right that the parent population, at least the one I’m aware of, does not understand IB. Your words on IB remind me of what a friend / HS parent says: “IB — maximum school district effort for the absolute minimum student return.” Although I have heard that admissions officers love it, the national education writers I’ve come across echo its lack of value to colleges. What’s stressful as a parent is to see how much effort is being expended on it. After all, isn’t it fun to imagine which of the 2 or 3 kids in each class might eventually qualify for an IB diploma?

By: Chris Billingsley

Chris Billingsley — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 21:49:20 +0000

I did not get the chance to comment earlier but congrats to all the staff at Decatur. It’s also good to read that Decatur people still value things like rising or falling SAT scores, who takes the test, us versus them, and how some schools manipulate the scores. SAT scores are one of several important measures of a school’s progress. The scores provide a solid measure of progress, especially if 93 % or more students are taking the test.
The same can not be said of the International Baccalaureate program (Sorry about my spelling of program. I guess I’m an ignorant old private school redneck!). Very few of our students will take the IB exams so there can’t be any comparison with other schools as with jthe SAT. So few American students take the IB exams that colleges basically ignore the scores. I have never met a former student or parent that told me that the IB education was important for college or any other post high school endeavor. My experience as a teacher was that most parents did not understand the program, students hated it, and teachers were frustrated as to how to implement the program with Georgia and national standards (“National Standards”- Another scary idea!). But the SAT is still something to either brag about or defame. Most people understand it (High Scores or Rising Scores=Smiley Face, Low Scores or Falling Scores=Look for private or charter schools). And I’m glad that DHS can brag about its scores. Keep up the good work!