World class classes: International program expands

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 31, 2004

By Laura Diamond

All Gwinnett County seventh-graders study the history of India and Mahatma Gandhi. But Jason Lupuloff and his classmates at Pinckneyville Middle are going deeper.

They are discussing how Gandhi influenced future leaders and imagining how history would have changed without him.

It's part of the Middle Years Programme, one of the rigorous International Baccalaureate, or IB, programs that are becoming more popular in Georgia as educators look for ways to challenge and motivate students.

"Last year it seemed like we were learning stuff just because we had to learn it, but now I get why we're learning about these things," Jason said. "It is more work and it is harder, but I like it so much I don't even mind doing my homework."

Pinckneyville and Summerour middle schools in Gwinnett began using the program in select classes this year and plan to expand it next year. The two Norcross schools, along with another campus in Columbus, are the only Georgia middle schools with the program, according to IB officials. The middle school classes help prepare students for the rigor of the IB Diploma Programme, which is offered in high school.

IB programs combine exacting curriculum and effective teaching methods with an international focus that prepares students for a more global work force and society. With state and federal education laws focused on raising low test scores, the IB programs home in on high-achievers.

"There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about the importance of making sure students don't fall behind in school," said Nancy Tuomi, DeKalb County's IB coordinator, who also helped start programs in Gwinnett and Forsyth counties. "The public thinks we are only talking about lower achieving students, but we're not. There is a need to raise standards for all students, and that is why more schools are using IB."

The middle school program has existed for about a decade and is growing. Tuomi said two DeKalb County middle schools — Peachtree Charter and Shamrock — are preparing to use the program.

The high school program is growing, too. In 1997, three Georgia high schools offered the rigorous diploma program. This year, 21 public and private high schools provide it, including campuses in Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

The IB diploma is considered one of the highest levels of academic achievement for high school students. To earn a diploma, students must pass six final exams in different subject areas, including a foreign language. They are required to write a 4,000-word research paper and complete at least 150 hours of community service, sports or other activities.

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Baccalaureate started in 1968 for diplomats' children. It expanded in the 1980s as educators searched for ways to improve the rigor of public education and received a boost in the late 1990s when the federal government linked challenging courses in high school to success in college.

The IB diploma is not as well known as the Advanced Placement program, which allows students to take college-level courses while in high school and earn college credit. Students also can earn college credit if they earn a high enough score on certain IB exams.

Schools can offer AP in one or more specific subjects such as calculus, environmental science and English literature. Schools with IB, on the other hand, must offer all the courses in the curriculum, which is designed to provide a complete liberal arts program.

Schools undergo an extensive process before they can offer the program. They must submit an application, train teachers and undergo site visits from the International Baccalaureate Organization before becoming an authorized school. The process can take three to five years.

Tuomi said IB provides students with a competitive edge as they apply for college.

The IB diploma is recognized by top colleges in the United States and abroad, said Dan Walls, dean of admission at Emory University.

"The diploma program is very rigorous," Walls said. "The question that admission committees ask is, what does your school offer academically and how much of that rigorous program have you participated in. If [students] are applying from an IB high school, we hope they would have taken part in that program."

The middle school program is not a prerequisite for the IB diploma, but it emphasizes the global concepts that are integral to the high school courses. For instance, IB middle school students begin studying a foreign language in sixth grade and learn about other cultures. Also, the students learn how subjects are connected, and the teachers use strategies to make lessons more relevant.

In Traci Baldwin's math class at Pinckneyville, sixth-graders used sports data to understand the concepts of mean (average), median (the middle number when data is arranged in numerical order) and mode (number that appears the most). Students selected a baseball, football or basketball player. They researched the player's statistics and predicted how the athlete would perform next season.

Next door in a sixth-grade language arts class students discussed ways to interpret novels. Teacher Pat Hight encouraged students to be open to new ideas to improve their critical thinking skills. She asked them to define "adaptable." Student Ian Taylor used information from science to answer the question.

"You have to be willing to work in different situations," Ian said. "It's like how animals have to be able to live in different habitats. We have to be able to think about things in different ways."

IB encourages students to use lessons from all subjects when they complete assignments, said Tom Manning, a seventh-grade science teacher at Pinckneyville.

"We are still developing the program, but already you get a sense that students are beginning to see their education in a broader scope," Manning said. "We want children to have more than just academic information. We want them to learn why it is important to learn."

As students move from middle to high school, educators say the diploma program is for students who have broader interests and enjoy looking at subjects in an introspective way. That approach drew Kim Castle's two daughters into the program at Marietta High.

Jayne Castle, a sophomore, is in the pre-IB preparation program for ninth- and 10th-graders before they begin the actual curriculum in their junior year. Jenna Castle, a senior, is interested in studying international relations in college because of the issues she was exposed to in the program.

"They are not taking multiple choice tests. They are analyzing things. It is a different kind of learning that allows them to go more in-depth with their studies," the girls' mother, Kim Castle, said. "I don't think my daughters will have any trouble once they go to college."

International Baccalaureate Schools

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is recognized as one of the highest levels of academic achievement for high school students. In 1997, only three Georgia high schools offered the program. This year, 21 public and private Georgia high schools have the program. Here are the schools:

— Source: International Baccalaureate Organization

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