I have a confession to make.

I still don’t really understand what “IB” is.   And when you reply “International Baccalaureate”, I become even more confused.

Is that a new reality show on ABC?

Coming across a conversation on the City of Decatur Schools teaching program feels sorta like being a cool kid at a Star Wars convention.  I recognize that you’re speaking English, but I don’t really understand anything that you’re saying.

Thank goodness for this New York Times article from yesterday, which discusses the “lesser-known” I.B. program and its growing popularity in the nation’s schools, giving a decent overview along the way.

Back in August 2009, the City Schools of Decatur adopted a new grading policy (see Action Item C), which would increase the use of International Baccalaureate assessment for learning in Decatur’s school district.

The new methodology contains many components, including a new, vast evaluation method, which assesses a student’s performance on a wide variety of tasks (compositions, essays, research, presentations, etc.), teacher assessments (observation, selected response, collected response, etc) – and the use IB rubrics, anecdotal records,  models and checklists to evaluate student achievement, among others.

However, one piece of this vast puzzle of acronyms and educational buzzwords has received a majority of the attention in the halls of Decatur High School.

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