Many students at George School, especially 10th graders in the course planning process, hear much information regarding the IB (International Baccalaureate) Diploma. Oftentimes, they hear about the difficult nature of the Extended Essay or the amount of CAS IB students have to finish before the next deadline. Still, there is less conversation surrounding the ideology at the crux of the IB diploma. The George School IB diploma was fully chartered in 1985, being among the first boarding schools in the US to offer the IB diploma. Over the past 38 years, the program has developed and had much great success as the IB diploma at GS has one of the highest completion rates in the world in the mid-90th percentile.
Kim McGlynn, George School’s IB coordinator, shared how the structure of IB differs greatly from other standardized testing courses. Rather than having the final motive of students simply memorizing masses of information and then regurgitating it on a final exam to score well, the IB approaches education more holistically. Perfectly described by Kim, “IB does not simply teach students what to think but how to think. In other words, it’s not just about content but process and reflection as well.” To ensure they are able to provide the strongest and most up-to-date curriculum, the IB regularly restructures their curriculum every 7 years. Throughout this period, they conduct many pilot programs and case studies to continuously test areas of improvement.
George School has always stood out as a secure IB school, and this reputation has fostered a strong connection with the IB organization. In past years, the GS IB Theatre program acted as a pilot for the IB, meaning they used George School as a case study to determine whether the IB Theatre class should be a universally offered course in the program. After testing this for a few years, the IB decided to adopt the course into their global curriculum and it is now taught all around the world. This year, due to the longstanding and outstanding nature of the IB program at George School, the IB Economics program was chosen to be a special pilot class for the “OBE” (Open Book Examination) model of IB testing.
The IB describes an OBE examination as “a situation where students use permitted resources to complete an assessment.” This model allows GS students to use a self-made notecard during their exam to refer to information on real-world examples they must know for the course. By providing the students with this information, they can ensure they spend more time studying and thinking critically about these real-world situations and their applications instead of simply remembering insignificant facts of these examples. This marks a large shift in the IB program which could potentially benefit students who are less enthused by the amount of memorization other standardized testing courses require.
While this poses a large advantage for George School students in the IB Economics class, the IB program is considering this advantage. Although students in this pilot class can use their notecards for Paper 1, this part of the exam will be reviewed separately. All other components of the test will be reviewed with the same standards as years past.
In such rapidly changing times, standardized testing has undergone great changes in the past few years, the IB Diploma program remains steadfast in its holistic approach to learning. By creating a more equitable testing process, the program continues to demonstrate its ability to adapt and assist students. As we look towards the future changes in the IB diploma, it brings great hope that changes to ensure students gain a multidisciplinary and comprehensive education will continue to be made.
