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Leander High seeks balm for IB growing pains

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District to ensure IB doesn't stand for ‘It's Broken'

Leander ISD's efforts to enroll more students in the rigorous International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme appear to be paying off. However, the growing number of IB students poses significant challenges for teachers, students, and district resources - challenges school officials are determined to overcome.

LISD is in the process of forming an IB improvement task force to address growth and other concerns, such as the need to increase the number of IB diplomas awarded to students.

In January, LISD recognized 12 IB diploma recipients from Leander High School's May 2007 graduating class. While that set a record, participation in the program over the next three years is expected to increase by as much as 600 percent; 149 of this year's LISD freshmen have signed letters of intent to pursue the program in their junior and senior years.

That growth will put pressure on LISD to provide enough IB classes and teachers. Leander High School Principal Brad Mansfield is confident the school and district are up to the task.

“Growth actually makes the problem go away, because with more demand we can justify offering more sections of the IB classes,” Mansfield said.

IB diploma - in a nutshell

IB is a rigorous program designed to prepare students for college. Currently, only half of the LISD students who begin the program receive IB diplomas. The other college-prep program offered at LISD is the Advanced Placement (AP) program.

Only three Central Texas high schools offer the IB program today: Leander High School, Round Rock ISD's Westwood and Austin ISD's Anderson. RRISD's Stony Point High School will begin offering the program for the first time next year. There are only 39 high schools in Texas certified to teach the diploma program, and only four school districts in the state have more than one IB-accredited high school, according to the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO).

Unlike AP, the IB program is “whole-curricular.” While AP students can choose college-credit courses based on their strengths and interests, IB students must take a specific set of courses during their junior and senior years.

To earn an IB diploma, a student must pass a series of tests, complete 150 volunteer hours, and prepare numerous in-depth essays including a 4,000-word independent research project. Work is not only graded by a high school's teachers, but is sent to an international panel of experts for review and approval. Students who don't meet enough requirements for a full diploma can receive certificates for phases that were completed satisfactorily.

Texas, Florida, Colorado and California guarantee diploma recipients a minimum of 24 college credit hours.

While the district's IB program is hosted at LHS, the program is available to any LISD high school student. The district provides transportation to IB transfer students regardless of their residential location in the district - unlike other student transfers who must provide their own transportation from their home campuses to other schools.

IB schools are regularly reviewed by the IBO to ensure standards are being met. If a school is not up to par, the IBO can pull the program from a school. Leander High School, which began offering the program in 1999, recently received results from a five-year review. While the program at LHS has improved, the international panel had two recommendations: grow the program, and increase the number of students receiving the IB Diploma.

Poised for growth

LISD's IB program has grown slowly, but growth is accelerating. Last year's 12 diplomas was an all-time high. Twenty-one LHS seniors hope to earn the diploma this year. This year's junior IB program boasts 60 students; 76 sophomores plan to join the program next year, and 149 freshmen have signed letters of intent to pursue the program in their junior and senior years - including 75 who transferred from other campuses to participate in the program.

“We are reaping the benefits of better promotion,” LHS Principal Brad Mansfield said.

LISD works hard to get as many students as possible on a college-bound path, said Bill Britcher, LISD's executive director of school and community relations.

“The school board is absolutely devoted to providing the maximum amount of challenge and to ensure LISD provides not only a college-going culture, but to make sure kids who leave here have skills once in college,” he said. “We are trying to get more kids into IB and AP classes.”

These numbers are expected to increase, as LHS IB Coordinator Judy Guerra and members of LISD's advanced programs staff conduct informational sessions in the district's middle schools each year.

IB promises to grow even faster in the future, since LISD decided to implement a related IBO program at the elementary level. In March 2007, the school board voted unanimously to begin the three-year accreditation process for an IB Primary Years Programme at Grandview Hills Elementary. Britcher said LISD will soon need a Middle Years Programme for students graduating from Grandview Hills.

“We want to be certain the LHS program is meeting our students' needs, and we will examine when the district may need to expand the program to a second high school,” Britcher said.

Growing pains

LISD currently offers only one section for each senior IB course. That works for this year's diploma candidates, but will stretch teacher resources in the future. Scheduling IB classes, electives, and other state-required courses has already become difficult, according to Mansfield.

LISD Advanced Programs Coordinator Adriann Ivey agreed that scheduling conflicts exist for IB students who participate in other classes. “Band and athletics take a lot of blocks in a student's schedule. It becomes a time conflict,” she said.

Scheduling IB classes will become harder still, thanks to “4x4,” the new state graduation plan. Starting with this year's freshmen, state math and science graduation requirements have increased from three to four years each.

“The state's ‘4x4' plan is not that great for IB,” Guerra said. “The kids can't fit it all in. Kids are going to have to do things outside of high school to get it all done,” she said.   

Taking classes off campus is not unheard of for IB students. Last year, Westwood IB students completed IB diplomas with courses including Mandarin, Russian, Hindi, Japanese and Korean. According to Westwood's IB Coordinator Kathryn Fleming, students taking IB tests not offered as a part of the school's curriculum must seek those classes privately.

Mansfield, Ivey and Guerra all agree LHS needs more IB teachers. Teachers currently employed by the district have been encouraged to attend IB training, which is paid for by the district and subsidized by the state.

However, according to Guerra, the training budget is based on the previous year's training expenditures, rather than on the anticipated growth of the program. Mansfield said efforts to recruit more IB teachers must be stepped up.

As LISD prepares to open its fourth high school next year, the district is hiring new teachers and transferring others within the district. Mansfield said he would prefer the district's employment advertisements include requests for IB-certified teachers.

On Monday, LISD's employment website listed only four high school teacher openings: one each in chemistry, math, physics and a band director. None of the listings mentions a preference for IB certifications.

Even if the district begins hiring more IB teachers immediately, the question remains: will more IB students and certified teachers equal more diplomas?

Next Wednesday, Hill Country News will examine possible explanations for the difficulty of obtaining the IB diploma and LISD's plans to improve students' opportunities for success in the program.

Editor's note: Kathy Goeke is a freelance writer for the Hill Country News, and is also the parent of an IB senior.

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