International Baccalaureate, known for challenging academic diplomas, will offer career certificates in subjects such as engineering, culinary arts, business and automotive technology.
Study: Common Core aligns with leading standards
October 29, 2011 by
The new Common Core Standards are aligned to leading state and international standards, concludes an analysis by the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) in Eugene,Oregon.
Researchers compared the content and curriculum standards for California and Massachusetts; the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards, the International Baccalaureate standards and the Knowledge and Skills for University Success.
The new common standards cover the same topics and content, but demand “a bit more cognitive complexity in some topics, particularly English/language arts,” the report says.
The study checks whether Common Core’s contents matches the comparison set, but doesn’t say “whether everything in the comparison set is found in the Common Core,” writes Ze’ev Wurman in the comments.
This is akin to writing a bunch of fragments on a paper and then claiming that since most of the fragments are found among Shakespeare’s works, hence that page is “aligned” with, and “as rigorous as” Shakespeare’s works.
. . . Yet another example Common Core sponsored advocacy research, paid for by Bill Gates.
Also in comments, Sandra Stotsky, who led Massachusetts’ standards initiative, quotes a critique by the Massachusetts Department of Education, which questioned the rigor of Common Core’s high school math and English standards.
IB grows and grows
July 5, 2011 by
Today, more than 111,00 students around the world will get their International Baccalaureate exam results, notes the New York Times. Only 2 percent of U.S. high schools offer I.B. classes, but nearly 7 percent of U.S. college applicants earn the credential.
I.B. started in Switzerland in the 1960′s. It keeps growing.
In a survey being issued Monday university admissions officers in Britain, the United States and Europe were asked to compare their own country’s secondary school qualification with the I.B. in nine different categories including business skills, communication skills, creativity, the ability to cope with pressure and detailed knowledge of a subject. British admissions officers rated the A-level superior in assessing detailed knowledge of a subject. However in every other category the I.B. was rated either equal or superior to other qualifications.
U.S. admissions officers were asked to compare the I.B. with a high school diploma. Selective colleges “view a diploma as a minimal requirement,” writes the Times. Grades, test scores and Advanced Placement results determine admission. Successful candidates “have taken the most demanding subjects offered by their particular school,” says Christopher Watson, dean of undergraduate admissions at Northwestern.
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