Schools pursue 'international' curriculum for young students

Josh Kelley
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 7, 2006 12:00 AM

Arizona schools are beginning to offer children in Grades K-10 a teaching model used around the world that pushes students to become proficient in at least two languages, think critically instead of regurgitating memorized answers and learn from a global perspective by studying other cultures.

Within the next two years, hundreds of elementary students and young teens in three school districts - Mesa, Paradise Valley and Grand Canyon - could be enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program, which has 486,000 students in 124 countries.

Until now, high school juniors and seniors in Arizona have enrolled in the program to earn college credit and help them gain acceptance to prestigious universities from the Ivy League to Europe, where the IB Organization is based.

Mesa Public Schools could soon become the first school district in Arizona, and one of only a handful nationwide, to offer an IB program to students from kindergarten through the end of high school.

A new $6.5 million school in east Mesa, scheduled to open next fall, is planned to offer only IB instruction for elementary and junior high students, though it could take at least another year to gain formal authorization to offer the curriculum.

Elementary students in Mesa may be taught in two languages and even learn a third, such as Chinese.

There are 11 Arizona schools with high school IB diploma programs, including Westwood High in Mesa, and hundreds nationwide. The number of programs for younger students has grown rapidly since the programs were introduced about a decade ago.

Breaking new ground

A primary aim of administrators in Mesa is to give children from the city's poorest neighborhoods a chance to attend a public school on par with top private schools.

"Let's not make it based on income, and let's not make it based on their original language," said Gregg Good, IB coordinator at Mesa's Westwood High, which began offering the program last year.

The program is free, but parents, depending on their income, have to pay up to $700 for exams that determine whether a student earns an IB diploma. There is no formal admission process at Westwood, but Good meets with interested parents and students, whose test scores and past performance in school are reviewed before being accepted.

Good said administrators are still determining the best way to test young elementary students in a "culturally neutral" way to decide which children will attend the new school.

The IB organization, he said, stresses recruitment of students from all demographics.

Mesa administrators want to recruit students at a young age when the playing field is more even.

A kindergartner from a wealthy family who attended the best preschool on the block only has a limited advantage over a kindergartner from a working-class family in a low-income neighborhood, Mesa school officials argue.

The new school, with room for 400 students, may use dual-language instruction, teaching in English half the day and Spanish the other half.

In addition, students would likely learn a third language, such as French or even Chinese or Arabic, Good said.

The Mesa School Board is scheduled to hear and discuss plans for the new school today.

Unique curriculum

Beyond language skills, the curriculum model required by IB differs from traditional public-school instruction in several ways:


• Instead of simply memorizing answers and listening to teachers, students are asked to think critically and make inquiries. "It's almost like Philosophy 101 in college with a lot of questioning of what you know, what you believe," said Sandra Croyle, the organization's North American marketing and communications manager in New York.


• Teachers instruct children from an international perspective, exposing them to other cultures, languages and viewpoints so "they understand there's a world beyond their local community," Croyle said.


• Taking care of the environment is emphasized. For instance, elementary students are rewarded for picking up litter at a school near the Grand Canyon that is in the process of adopting the program.


• Community service is required for older students.


• Teachers receive extensive training from the organization. They have common planning periods and map out the subjects to be covered at each grade level.


• Students are given more homework than public schools typically assign, though the curriculum for younger students is not as rigorous. Instead of loading up elementary students with work, teachers focus more on broadening the children's perspective and getting them accustomed to the program's approach to learning, Croyle said.

Evolving purpose

The non-profit International Baccalaureate organization, based in Geneva, Switzerland, started in 1968 for children of diplomats stationed around the world.

"They were lacking a standard high school curriculum that would allow them to be accepted at many universities worldwide," Croyle said.

In the 1990s, the organization expanded its offerings to include a primary-years program for ages 3 to 12 and a middle-years program for ages 11 to 16.

"It's really evolved, and right now one of our strategic goals that we are focusing on is access to all students."

Two Arizona school districts are actually ahead of Mesa in implementing IB instruction for younger students, but neither one has immediate plans for a K-12 program.

The Grand Canyon Unified School District in Coconino County expects to soon be authorized as the state's first district to offer IB primary- and middle-years programs. The district serves the children of people who live and work at Grand Canyon National Park.

In the Paradise Valley Unified School District in north Phoenix, Vista Verde Middle School has started the authorization process to have a middle-years program.

The application process costs at least $8,800. Districts must pay an annual fee of $3,720 to remain in the program and $3,500 for a review three years after becoming part of the program. Reviews follow every five years, and they also cost $3,500.

In addition, schools pay for teacher training and IB publications.

This semester, 52 seventh-graders at Vista Verde have started taking courses taught by teachers trained in the program.

Eventually students through 10th grade will be included, which will feed students into the diploma program for juniors and seniors at North Canyon High.



Principals at elementary schools in the Paradise Valley district also have expressed interest in offering the program to their students, said Elaine Jacobs, principal at Vista Verde.

Jacobs said she's received numerous inquiries and e-mails about the program from parents around the Valley.

Controversy elsewhere

Despite gushing praise from school administrators, the program has faced scrutiny from parents and lawmakers troubled by an organization based in Switzerland that is influencing the education of American students.

The School Board for the Upper St. Clair School District in Pennsylvania voted to remove the program from schools, prompting a lawsuit and a backlash from parents and students.

One board member reportedly said the program went against "Judeo-Christian" values.

With the cost of the lawsuit piling up, the board reinstated the program in April, a move that frustrated parents who supported the initial decision to cut the program.

When lawmakers in Texas were considering a bill to mandate state universities to give credit hours to students with an IB diploma, the conservative Texas Eagle Forum, the group organized in the 1970s by activist Phyllis Schlafly, warned legislators about the program's international focus and philosophy.

But Good, the IB coordinator at Westwood High, and Paul Wright, development director for Mesa Public Schools, defended the program, emphasizing the district will maintain independent control.

"It's not as if this external agency is forcing this very tightly defined curriculum," Wright said. "But given that the world is only getting smaller, it's not a bad idea to get a global perspective."

Bob Kelso, principal for the Grand Canyon district's 300 students, said he has encountered concern and much discussion about the program's influence on curriculum.

"There's misinformation out that the International Baccalaureate agency is the shadow puppet of the U.N.," Kelso said.

In reality, he said, implementing the program has forced teachers to make positive changes, such as mapping out what is taught at each grade level for science and ensuring teachers don't repeat subjects or cover unnecessary material.

"It's really been a good thing for staff to spend this time working together," Kelso said. "This hasn't been a bowl of cherries. There's still some anxiety."

Lawmakers in other states, including Texas, Florida, California and Colorado, have passed legislation mandating that state universities automatically give their students with IB diplomas a minimum amount of college credit hours, Good said.