High school students who want to challenge themselves academically have many options.
Some may want to try to complete a comprehensive diploma program, such as the International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement diploma programs. The IB program has been around for decades, but its AP Capstone counterpart launched just last fall.
“They are both rigorous academic programs that offer a very strong curriculum and foster independent thinking and research,” says Montserrat Paradelo, instructional supervisor for advanced academic programs for Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida, which has schools that offer each program.
Learn more [about the difference between AP and IB classes.]
In the IB diploma program, students generally complete six courses in five or six different subject areas, including a second language and the sciences, said Gloria McDowell, a regional senior head of school services for the organization, in an email.
Additionally, students complete a philosophical course on knowledge, a required, independently created research paper and an extracurricular component.
“You can’t just play to your strengths in high school. You have to get a well-rounded education in IB, whether you want to or not,” says Brad Coltrane, IB Coordinator at Hoover High School in Alabama, on the benefits of the IB diploma. His school offers both the AP and IB diploma programs.
The foundational seminar of the AP diploma program, which students usually take in 10th or 11th grade, helps develop critical thinking and research skills, among others, while exploring different issues .
The topics have all been student-driven, says Jason Rogowski, who is teaching the seminar course this year at Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida. “The role of the teacher is really a facilitator, just kind of oversee and make sure the kids are on the right track and then kind of evaluate as soon as the finished product is there.”
Upon completion of the seminar course, students will complete a research course, during which they create an extensive research paper. Students must earn scores of 3 or higher on the AP exams in these two courses and on four additional AP exams of their choice to earn the AP Capstone Diploma.
Students may be able to earn college credit in both programs.
The College Board, which administers the AP program, also awards an AP International Diploma certificate to U.S. students interested in studying overseas and high school students abroad who earn high scores on a number of AP exams in specific subject areas.
Coltrane, the IB coordinator in Alabama, says while he has no firsthand experience with the new AP diploma program, there seem to be some similarities.
Find out [how the AP exam pass rate has nearly doubled in 10 years.]
“Both the capstone and the IB diploma aren’t so much about taking high school classes for college credit — they are more about the whole learner — and in that regard, I think they are both very good,” he says.
But the programs have their differences.
“The IB curriculum is a little more structured,” since students have to take particular courses in specific subject areas, says Paradelo, the official in Miami. With the AP diploma students have a little more flexibility in how they choose the required additional classes.
But the higher level writing and research students complete in both programs prepares them for postsecondary success, says Lisette Rodriguez, executive director of advanced academic programs in Miami-Dade.
“I’ve already had a couple of our students here that are helping their siblings off in college — just through the research process — whether it’s annotated bibliographies or just general research information gathering,” says Rogowski, the Florida teacher.
Paradelo says these programs each have their own benefits.
“They really help the student capitalize on the strengths and particular interests,” she says. “There’s really not one program that is better than another because no two students are the same.”
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AP, IB Diploma Programs Offer High Schoolers a Challenge originally appeared on usnews.com
