The International Baccalaureate Program

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Author	Topic: The International Baccalaureate Program
Kelandon Off With Their Heads Member # 4045	written Monday, June 27 2005 22:03 Profile Homepage #25 You'd be surprised how hard an "agree or disagree" essay can be. I get a lot of students who try to be perfectly right by acknowledging both sides in a 25-minute essay (which is what's on the SAT). You just don't have time for that, but a lot of people don't figure that out until after they've done it a couple of times. I know the SAT essay begs for coaching. It sounds as though these could be the same way. And for reasons I don't entirely understand, some people just need test prep if they're going to take standardized tests. I had a student recently for SAT II: Physics who had already taken Princeton Review (who I work for) courses for SAT I and SAT II: Math IIC. He came in with a 510 on the Physics and walked out with a 720. (That's going from about average to near the top, for those who aren't familiar with SATs.) Apparently his score improvements in the other classes were comparable. We don't do that all the time, but we do it a fair amount of the time. This is part of the reason that I don't like standardized tests very much. They started as an absolute standard to level the playing field, but now they discriminate against everyone who can least afford discrimination. -------------------- Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens. Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever Posts: 7968 \| Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Talent in a Previous Life This Side Towards Enemy Member # 3098	written Monday, June 27 2005 23:16 Profile #26 In Britain standardised tests are de rigeur. We don't have such things at the GED. Instead you take GCSEs at 16, AS levels at 17 and A2 exams at 18. Certainly there are answer techniques that will help you in some subjects, but that's not so much coaching as teaching somebody to write a decent essay, which is a useful skill to have. My objection to the IB, which my school doesn't do but the local sixth form college does, is entirely different. The Baccalaureate, at least in the form I'm familiar with, requires that students take their native language, at least one other foreign language, a science, a humanities and (I think) Maths plus one other choice. This makes it very difficult to specialise. And I want to specialise. I did 11 different subjects across the curriculum at GCSE and got very high marks in almost all of them. I have proved I can do well enough, up to that level, in almost any academic subject you care to name. And having done my GCSEs, I wished to carry on with the subjects I wanted to do, not what the IB think a well-rounded candidate should do. If I wish to study Ancient Greek and Latin, that should be my prerogative. If I don't feel that taking a science will benefit me, I shouldn't have to. I think the IB's attempt to make everyone a renaissance man is a waste of time. -------------------- Voice of Reasonable Morality Posts: 961 \| Registered: Thursday, June 12 2003 07:00
Thuryl ...b10010b... Member # 869	written Monday, June 27 2005 23:19 Profile Homepage #27 quote: Originally written by Unpleasantness for its Own Sake: If I don't feel that taking a science will benefit me, I shouldn't have to. I think the IB's attempt to make everyone a renaissance man is a waste of time. Please do keep in mind that you don't have to do the IB if you don't want to. You can't very well fault a program for being structured in accordance with its goals and intentions. -------------------- My BoE Page Bandwagons are fun! Roots Hunted! Posts: 9973 \| Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Drakefyre Triad Mage Member # 7	written Tuesday, June 28 2005 02:26 Profile Homepage #28 Well, guessing strategy is different in the SAT and all College Board tests because incorrect answers subtract points. You'd be surprised how much you can teach to any test. In school, do English teachers hand out past GAT essays for practice and spend time looking over rubrics used to grade them? -------------------- "At times discretion should be thrown aside, and with the foolish we should play the fool." - Menander ==== Drakefyre's Demesne - Happy Happy Joy Joy desperance.net - We're Everywhere ==== You can take my Mac when you pry my cold, dead fingers off the mouse! Posts: 9436 \| Registered: Wednesday, September 19 2001 07:00
Thuryl ...b10010b... Member # 869	written Tuesday, June 28 2005 03:14 Profile Homepage #29 quote: Originally written by Drakefyre: You'd be surprised how much you can teach to any test. In school, do English teachers hand out past GAT essays for practice and spend time looking over rubrics used to grade them? Nope. But as I said, there wouldn't be much point doing so because it's such a minor part of assessment. It generally only comes into play if a student has very high GAT scores and very poor results, or vice versa. It's more often used as an index of how well schools are performing (comparing students' subject scores to the results that would be predicted based on their GAT scores) rather than to assess individual students. In theory, schools actually have an incentive to keep their students' GAT scores low. [ Tuesday, June 28, 2005 03:17: Message edited by: Thuryl ] -------------------- My BoE Page Bandwagons are fun! Roots Hunted! Posts: 9973 \| Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00