International Baccalaureate


The International Baccalaureate, formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization, is an international educational foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Diploma Programme and the IB Career-related Programme for students aged 15 to 19, the IB Middle Years Programme for students aged 11 to 16, and the IB Primary Years Programme for children aged 3 to 12. To teach these programmes, schools must be authorised by the International Baccalaureate.
The organisation's name and logo were changed in 2007 to reflect new structural arrangements. Consequently, "IB" may now refer to the organisation itself, any of the four programmes, or the diploma or certificates awarded at the end of a programme.

History

Inception

When Marie-Thérèse Maurette wrote "Educational Techniques for Peace. Do They Exist?" in 1948, she created the framework for what would eventually become the IB Diploma Programme. In the mid-1960s, a group of teachers from the International School of Geneva created the International Schools Examinations Syndicate, which would later become the International Baccalaureate Office, followed by the International Baccalaureate Organisation and then the International Baccalaureate.

First programme

The IB headquarters were officially established in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1968 for the development and maintenance of the IB Diploma Programme. The objective of this programme was to "provide an internationally acceptable university admissions qualification suitable for the growing mobile population of young people whose parents were part of the world of diplomacy, international and multi-national organisations" by offering standardised courses and assessments for students aged 16 to 19.
International Baccalaureate North America was established in 1975 by Peter Nehr, International Baccalaureate Africa, Europe and Middle-East in 1986, and International Baccalaureate Asia Pacific during the same period.

Other programmes

The IB Middle Years Programme was first offered in 1994. Within five years, 51 countries had MYP schools. A revised MYP programme was introduced in September 2014.
The IB Primary Years Programme was piloted in 1996 in 30 primary schools on different continents, and the first PYP school was authorised in 1997, with 87 authorised schools in 43 countries within five years.
The IB Career-related Programme was first offered in 2012.

Directors

was IB's first director general, followed by Gérard Renaud, Roger Peel, Derek Blackman, George Walker, Jeffrey Beard and Dr. Siva Kumari.

The IB learner profile

As the IB's 'mission in action', the learner profile ostensibly describes the aspirations of a global community which shares the values underlying the IB's educational philosophy, including education for international-mindedness. IB learners are thus encouraged to be:
Thinkers,
Communicators,
Principled,
Reflective,
Open minded,
Balanced,
Risk-takers,
Inquirers,
Caring, and
Knowledgeable.
The learner profile is intended as the basis for all four programmes.

Diploma Programme (DP) curriculum outline and classes

Age Range: 15–19
DP Core
Subject areas
Age Range: 16–19
Three-part framework
CP Core
Age range: 11–16
Six global contexts
Eight subject areas
Culminating activity for schools offering a 3- to 5-year programme
Age range: 3–12
Six trans-disciplinary themes
Six subject areas
Five essential elements
Source:

Organisation

The IB is a not-for-profit educational foundation. The IB maintains its Foundation Office in Geneva, Switzerland. The Assessment Centre is located in Cardiff, Wales and the curriculum centre moved in 2011 to The Hague, Netherlands. Three Global Centres have been opened: Bethesda, Maryland in the United States, Singapore and The Hague.
The organisation is divided into three regional centres: IB Africa, Europe and Middle East, administered from The Hague; IB Americas, administered from Bethesda; and IB Asia-Pacific, administered from Singapore.
Sub-regional associations "are groups formed by and for IB school practitioners to assist IB schools, teachers and students in their communities—from implementing IB programmes to providing a forum for dialogue." There are currently fifty-six sub-regional associations, including:
In 2003, the IB established the IB Fund, incorporated in the United States, for the purpose of enhancing fundraising and keeping funds raised separate from operational funds. In 2004, the IB approved a strategic plan to "ensure that programmes and services are of the highest quality" and "to provide access to people who are socio-economically disadvantaged." In 2010 and 2015 the strategic plans were updated after substantial consultation. The vision for the next five years was to more consciously establish the IB as a leader in international education and the Board outlined a vision and four strategic goals with key strategic objectives.
Access remains fundamental to the mission of the IB and a variety of initiatives and projects are helping to take it forward in Ecuador, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Spain, Philippines, Malaysia, and Japan
The United States has the largest number of IB programmes offered in both private and public schools.
The IB works with governments and non-governmental organisations across the world and has consultative status as a non-governmental organisation at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and has collaborative relationships with the Council of Europe and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.

Governance

The IB governance is composed of an IB Board of Governors and six committees. The Board of Governors appoints the Director General, sets the strategic direction of the organisation, adopts a mission statement, makes policy, oversees the IB's financial management, and ensures autonomy and integrity of the IB Diploma Programme examinations and other student assessment. The structure of its different committees are based on respect, representation and collaboration.
The Board of Governors can comprise between 15 and 25 members. Members are elected by the Board on the recommendation of the governance committee, and from nominations presented from the Heads Council, Regional Councils and the Board. To encourage diversity of gender, culture and geography, there are only three ex officio positions: Director General, the chair of the Examining Board and the chair of the Heads Council.
Advisory bodies include the Heads Council and Regional Councils

Reception

CountryPrimaryMiddleDiplomaCareer-relatedSchools
United States500618893771,725
Canada821691712366
Australia11945671176
Ecuador992530253
United Kingdom141312513132
India63211080128
Mexico5535661106
China3727831101
Spain111493095
Germany231167271
Hong Kong32929156
Turkey251043060
Argentina7356057
Switzerland181142149
United Arab Emirates2718421348
Indonesia321429048
Poland6840045
PrimaryMiddleDiplomaCareer-relatedSchools
Total Schools Globally1,3751,2642,9971184,460
Countries & Territories1049714018151

The IB Diploma Programme was described as "a rigorous, off-the-shelf curriculum recognised by universities around the world" when it was featured in the December 18, 2006, edition of Time titled "How to bring our schools out of the 20th Century". The IBDP was also featured in the summer 2002 edition of American Educator, where Robert Rothman described it as "a good example of an effective, instructionally sound, exam-based system."
In the US, in 2006, as part of the American Competitiveness Initiative, President George W. Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings presented a plan for the expansion of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate mathematics and science courses, with the goal of increasing the number of AP and IB teachers and the number of students taking AP and IB exams, as well as tripling the number of students passing those exams. Howard Gardner, a professor of educational psychology at Harvard University, said that the IBDP curriculum is "less parochial than most American efforts" and helps students "think critically, synthesize knowledge, reflect on their own thought processes and get their feet wet in interdisciplinary thinking."
In 2006, government ministers in the United Kingdom provided funding so that "every local authority in England could have at least one centre offering sixth-formers the chance to do the IB." In 2008, due to the devaluing of the A-Levels and an increase in the number of students taking the IB exams, then-Children's Secretary Ed Balls abandoned a "flagship Tony Blair pledge to allow children in all areas to study IB." Fears of a "two-tier" education system further dividing education between the rich and the poor emerged as the growth in IB is driven by private schools and sixth-form colleges. While the number of Diploma Programme state schools has dropped under budget constraints, the new Career-related Programme has seen solid uptake in the UK with 27 schools in Kent alone.
In 2006, an attempt was made to eliminate it from a public school in Pittsburgh, PA. Some schools in the United States have eliminated the IBDP due to budgetary reasons and low student participation. In Utah in 2008, funding for the IBDP was reduced from $300,000 to $100,000 after State Senator Margaret Dayton objected to the program, stating, "First, I have never espoused eliminating IB... I don't want to create 'world citizens' nearly as much as I want to help cultivate American citizens who function well in the world." Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, meanwhile, believes that IB should be an option for students in Chicago Public Schools. Elizabeth Brackett reports on the IB in Chicago. A report by the University of Chicago concluded that Chicago Public School students who completed the IB programme were 40% more likely to attend a four-year college, 50% more likely to attend a selective four-year college, and significantly more likely to persist in college than their matched peers outside the program." The City of Miami Beach Commission entered into an education compact with Miami-Dade County Public Schools with one of the initiatives of the compact to implement the IB program throughout Miami Beach feeder schools.
In some other parts of the world, IB programmes have been well-received. In 2013, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the IB announced a plan that will expand the opportunities for Japanese students to complete the IB curriculum in Japanese. In Malaysia a project has been developed in response to interest expressed by the Malaysia Ministry of Education in working with the IB to implement the IB Middle Years Programme in select secondary state schools.
The Abu Dhabi Education Council signed an agreement with the IB in efforts to widen the options offered for parents and to meet the different needs of students in the United Arab Emirates. In April 2014 The King Faisal Foundation in Saudi Arabia and the IB signed a memorandum of understanding to develop IB programmes, including the IBDP, in up to forty primary and secondary schools, with the goal of developing these schools as centres of excellence as IB World Schools. In Peru President Ollanta Humala has committed to building a high performing schools network made up of IB World Schools. In early 2016 thirteen new schools were authorised by the IB as part of this programme. In Ecuador, President Rafael Correa has also committed to improving education in state schools by implementing IB programmes and by January 2016 there were over 200 state schools. With support from local organisations, there are thirteen state IB schools in Russia. In Spain, various models have been implemented and led to extensive growth with 140 schools.
Internationally the IB continues to be recognised as innovative, and in 2014 the World Innovation Summit for Education announced the IB Career-related Certificate as a finalist for their annual WISE Awards. However, the IB has came under heavy criticism around the world in 2020 for controversial estimated grades, set when Covid-19 precautions obstructed examinations.

Controversy

2020 Grading Scandal

After the International Baccalaureate released its results for Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme candidates on July 5 2020, tens of thousands of people signed petitions protesting the grades. One of the largest petitions, started by student Ali Zagmout, collected 24,000 signatures. It said: "What we've seen is a great deal of injustice... the IB has lowered some students by up to 12 points! This is the first time in the history of IB that we see such substantial differences between the predicted grades and the final grades."
The outcry arose after the IB organisation cancelled exams for the first time in its history, a response to the worldwide COVID-19 epidemic, but nevertheless issued grades for about 170,000 graduates in 153 countries.
Students, parents, and teachers registered concern on social media. Instagram received over 4,500 negative comments on its "Congratulations! Class of 2020!" post. The IB organisation was accused of deleting some of these comments.
The IB organisation said it used students' teacher predicted grades, coursework, and historic school data to calculate the grades. Grading is normally based on in-person exams and moderation of students' coursework; "this process was subjected to rigorous testing by educational statistical specialists to ensure our methods were robust. It was also checked against the last five years’ sets of results data," a spokesman said.
One headteacher wrote to the UK Department for Education calling for clarity over "what appears to be a set of randomly generated" grades.
Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, urged schools, universities and students to recognise that the results “are not real grades”.
Howard Stickley, the IB Coordinator at TASIS school in Switzerland, said it is "obvious that the use of historic data was flawed from the outset".
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, the UK's exam regulator, issued a statement on July 9th 2020, saying it would "scrutinise" the grades. We want to "satisfy ourselves that results have been delivered in line with our extraordinary regulatory framework," a spokesman said.
After some students in Norway had their university offers rescinded because of their IB grades, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority issued an Order to Provide Information to the IB, under the General Data Protection Regulation.
Some argued that using a school's historic data to produce grades was unfair to black or low-income students, or students from smaller schools.
Others said the IB's appeal process for marks made little sense, since the original mark itself was arbitrary; the lack of a functioning appeal process added to the injustice felt by many students.

Research

The IB conducts its own research or commissions research from renowned universities or research institutions around the globe. Research is used to understand and track the implementation and impact of the IB's programmes or to support development of the programmes. There is also a wealth of third party research available: