Supertest: How the International Baccalaureate Can Strengthen Our Schools

Jay Mathews, Ian Hill

Open Court Publishing, 2005 - Education - 237 pages

Recognized by universities throughout the world, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is a college entrance examination that students can take in any country. A school that adopts the IB curriculum ensures that its academics are brought up to international standards. Over 500 U.S. high schools currently participate in the International Baccalaureate program. As the IB concept gains ground with students, parents, and teachers in North America, Supertest tells two illuminating stories: how the IB program came to be and eventually reached the United States, and how it came to be implemented at Mount Vernon High in Alexandria, VA. The book provides insight into how ideas first conceived by a small group of educators in Switzerland eventually helped improve a typical American public school.

Contents

• A Difficult Start at Mount Vernon High: 1
• A Test to Unite the World 5: 5
• A High School Needing Help: 7
• Getting Ready for IB: 12
• An Idea from Geneva: 17
• Betsy Calhoon Gets Started: 24
• Talking to Parents: 28
• Thomas Aquinas Comes to Fairfax County الله الله: 37
• Welcome to Mount Vernon: 42
• Three Big IB Ideas: 45
• Training in New York: 55
• The First IB Exams: 59
• Hot Chocolate and Peanut Butter: 70
• Preparing Average Kids for IB: 74
• Too Much Homework: 78
• IB Comes to America: 81
• Slow Response from Geneva: 85
• Treating Plato Like Michael Jordan: 90
• A Rookie Teacher Tries IB: 94
• Raising American Standards: 98
• One Big Question: 103
• Geneva and New York Fight about Money: 108
• Mr Rosenfelds Students: 113
• IB and Rigor in America: 119
• Thinking in the Fishbowl: 125
• A School That Dumped IB: 130
• Ordering the Class Ring: 136
• A Teacher Struggles to Make the Grade: 140
• Inside the IB Exams: 147
• IB in New Places: 154
• IB or Not IB: 157
• Peterson Looks Back: 161
• Andrew Johnson Bill Clinton and Christin Roach: 163
• Signs of Success: 167
• The Comeback Teacher: 170
• Making It Harder to Get IB: 173
• Why Nazis Are Like Marxists: 177
• A New Principal Wants More IB: 181
• The Theory of Knowing Paganini: 184
• Still Pushing at Mount Vernon: 188
• Too Many Tests for Rosenfeld: 193
• The IB Credit Problem: 196
• Teaching Socialism Disarmament Radical Environmentalism and Moral Relativism: 201
• Rousseau in Locust Valley: 207
• The Rise of IB: 214
• You Cant Make Me Earn the Diploma: 218
• Starting Late Finishing Strong: 223
• Index: 231

Bibliographic information

• Title: Supertest: How the International Baccalaureate Can Strengthen Our Schools; Education Series
• Authors: Jay Mathews, Ian Hill
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Open Court Publishing, 2005
• ISBN: 0812695771, 9780812695779
• Length: 237 pages
• Subjects: Education / Curricula; Education / Schools / Levels / Secondary; Education / Testing & Measurement; History / World