1. International Baccalaureate
Presented by Amanda Phelps
Instructional Leadership
June 13, 2007

2. What is International Baccalaureate?
International Baccalaureate is a not for profit educational foundation founded in Switzerland in 1968.
IB is designed to offer programmes of international education to a worldwide community of schools.

3. Where is IB? There are more than 540,000 IB students in the world.
They are educated at 2,061 IB World schools.
IB World schools are located in 125 countries.

4. What is the Mission of IB?
The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
Mission
The International Baccalaureate (IB) is more than its three educational programmes.
There are three main points to its mission.
It is motivated by a mission to create a better world through education.

5. What is the Mission of IB?
To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.
IB achieve its goals by working with partners and by actively involving our stakeholders, particularly teachers.

6. What is the Mission of IB?
These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
It promotes intercultural understanding and respect, not as an alternative to a sense of cultural and national identity, but as an essential part of life in the 21st century.
All of this is captured in the IB mission statement.

7. What does IB offer?
Three programmes of international education to students ages 3 to 19.
Primary Years Programme or PYP
Middle Years Programme or MYP
Diploma Programme
Three programmes at a glance
What are the three programmes?
The International Baccalaureate (IB) offers three programmes of international education for students aged 3 to 19.ﾊ
The IB is a recognized leader in the field of international education.
It is a non-profit, mission-driven foundation that offers three challenging programmes for pupils aged 3 to 19.
･The Primary Years Programme (PYP) for pupils aged 3 to 12 focuses on the development of the whole child in the classroom and in the world outside. 

･The Middle Years Programme (MYP) for students aged 11 to 16 provides a framework of academic challenge and life skills through embracing and transcending traditional school subjects. 

･The Diploma Programme for students aged 16 to 19 is a demanding two-year curriculum that meets the needs of highly motivated students, and leads to a qualification that is recognized by leading universities around the world.

8. Primary Years Programme
Curriculum framework
At the heart of the programme’s philosophy is a commitment to structured, purposeful inquiry as the leading vehicle for learning.
Six transdisciplinary themes
Teachers are guided by these six transdisciplinary themes as they design units of inquiry that both transcend and articulate conventional subject boundaries.

9. Themes in the PYP
Six transdisciplinary themes of global significance provide the framework for exploration and study:
who we are
where we are in place and time
how we express ourselves
how the world works
how we organize ourselves
sharing the planet

10. The PYP Curriculum
The programme can be illustrated by a hexagon with the six transdisciplinary themes surrounding six subject areas:
language
social studies
mathematics
arts
science and technology
personal, social and physical education.
The themes and subject areas outlined above form the knowledge element of the programme.
The curriculum is expressed in three interrelated ways:
the written curriculum: what do we want to learn?
the taught curriculum: how best will we learn?
the learned curriculum: how will we know what we have learned?

11. Essential Elements of the PYP
Five essential elements appear at the centre of the hexagon.
Concepts
Knowledge
Skills
Attitudes
Action
Five essential elements
The five essential elements listed above are incorporated into this framework, so that students are given the opportunity to:
･gain knowledge that is relevant and of global significance
･develop an understanding of concepts, which allows them to make connections throughout their learning
･acquire transdisciplinary and disciplinary skills
･develop attitudes that will lead to international-mindedness
･take action as a consequence of their learning

12. The MYP Curriculum
The curriculum is illustrated by an octagon with eight academic areas or subject groups surrounding the five areas of interaction.
The personal project appears at the centre.
The emphasis is on the fluidity of the curricular framework and the interrelatedness of the subjects.
Aspects of the areas of interaction are addressed naturally through the distinct disciplines.
In particular, the framework is flexible enough to allow a school to include other subjects not determined by the IB but which may be required by state or national authorities.
The overall philosophy of the programme is expressed through three fundamental concepts that support and strengthen all areas of the curriculum.
These concepts are based on:
intercultural awareness
holistic learning
communication.

13. Assessment in the MYP Continuous Assessment Final Assessment
Validation of Grades
Continuous assessment
Teachers organize continuous as
sessment over the course of the programme according to specified assessment criteria that correspond to the objectives of each subject group. Regular school assessment and reporting play a major role:
･in the students’ and parents’ understanding of the objectives and assessment criteria
･in the students’ preparation for final assessment
･in the development of the curriculum according to the principles of the programme.
Teachers are responsible for structuring varied and valid assessment tasks (including tests and examinations) that will allow students to demonstrate achievement according to the objectives for each subject group.
These include:
･open-ended, problem-solving activities
･investigations
･organized debates
･hands-on experimentation
･analysis and reflection.
In keeping with the ethos of approaches to learning, schools also make use of quantitative and qualitative assessment strategies and tools that provide opportunities for peer- and self-assessment.
The recording and reporting of individual levels of achievement are organized in ways that provide students with detailed feedback on their progress as it relates to the assessment criteria for each subject group.
Final Assessment
Final assessment takes place at the end of the programme in order to determine the levels individual students have achieved in relation to the stated objectives for each subject group and for the personal project.
Teachers administer appropriate sets of assessment tasks and rigorously apply the prescribed assessment criteria defined for each subject group.
The type of assessment tools available to teachers include all forms of:
･oral work
･written work
･practical work.
Teachers select appropriate tasks and assessment tools according to:
･the resources available within the school
･the subjects to which they are being applied
･the particular objectives that are being measured.
Grades from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest) are awarded to final-year students, for each subject and for the personal project, according to predefined grade boundaries based on the levels students have achieved.
There are no formal examinations set or marked by the IB.
Instead the IB validates the grades of final-year students in schools that request this service, and issues certificates to those students who reach a required standard.
Validation of grades
Schools that choose to have the grades of their final-year students validated by the IB are required to submit samples of student work for external moderation.
In this way, standardization of assessment according to world standards for the programme is ensured.
Grades are awarded by the school as a result of rigorously applying the prescribed subject group criteria and corresponding achievement levels to the work of students.
Samples of this work are reviewed by external moderators, appointed and trained by the IB, who apply the same criteria and achievement levels.
The results of this process are:
･the application of a moderation factor where needed (ie where subject teachers have been too generous or too harsh)
･detailed advice for the school in relation to understanding subject-specific objectives and applying the assessment criteria.
Once the moderation process has been completed, each student receives:
･an official IB record of achievement displaying the grades achieved for each subject and for the personal project
･an official IB certificate (providing certain stated requirements have been met).

14. Diploma Programme Curriculum
Programme model
The curriculum is modeled by a hexagon with six academic areas surrounding the three core requirements.
Over the course of the two-year programme students:
･study six subjects chosen from the six subject groups
･complete an extended essay
･follow a theory of knowledge course (TOK)
･participate in creativity, action, service (CAS).
Normally:
･three of the six subjects are studied at higher level (courses representing 240 teaching hours)
･the remaining three subjects are studied at standard level (courses representing 150 teaching hours).

15. Assessment in the Diploma Programme
Internal Assessment
External Assessment
Methods
A variety of different methods are used to measure student achievement against the objectives for each course.
External assessment
Examinations form the basis of the assessment for most courses because of their high levels of objectivity and reliability.
They include:
･essays
･structured problems
･short-response questions
･data-response questions
･text-response questions
･case-study questions
･multiple-choice questions (limited use of these).
There are also a small number of other externally assessed pieces of work, for example, theory of knowledge essays, extended essays and world literature assignments.
These are completed by students over an extended period under teacher supervision instead of examination conditions, and are then marked by external examiners.ﾊ
Internal assessment
Teacher assessment is also used for most courses.
This includes:
･oral work in languages
･fieldwork in geography
･laboratory work in the sciences
･investigations in mathematics
･artistic performances.
Assessments are checked by external examiners and normally contribute between 20 and 30 per cent of the total mark.
Some of the arts courses, for example, music, theatre arts and visual arts, have assessment of a major practical component, which can account for as much as 50 per cent of the total mark.ﾊ

16. IB Learner Profiles IB learners strive to be: Inquirers Knowledgeable
Thinkers
Communicators
Principled
Open-minded
Caring
Risk-takers
Balanced
Reflective
The IB learner profile is the IB mission statement translated into a set of learning outcomes for the 21st century.
The learner profile provides a long-term vision of education.
It is a set of ideals that can inspire, motivate and focus the work of schools and teachers, uniting them in a common purpose.

17. IB Learner Profiles In Action

18. Thank You…
Thank you for allowing me to share my knowledge of International Baccalaureate with you today.