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            Boundaries of the Summative Evaluation

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Focus of the International program: To “build a better world through intercultural understanding and respect” (Ibo.org) through the rigorous programme available for students  in the PYP, MYP, and IB program. Students are given the opportunity to develop their critical thinking skills, and inquiry skills with an international/global minded focus.

 

The DP program in IB has 6 subjects, and an additional Extended essay (EE), Theory of Knowledge course (TOK), and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) where students create a  project focused on those three aspects. The 6 subjects consist of studies in : language and literature, science, math, art, language,and individual society (economics, business, history, psychology etc.). There are Standard Level courses (SL) and Higher Level courses (HL), and each student must take 3 (no more than 4) courses at the HL level, and the rest must be SL (Ibo.org).

 

Goals of the DP program is to develop the student according to the DP learner profile:

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1. “Inquirers

2. Knowledgeable

3. Thinkers

4. Communicators

5. Principled

6. Open-minded

7. Caring

8. Risk-takers

9. Balanced

10. Reflective”

(Ibo.org)

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Mission statement:

IB’s mission is to create global-minded students who are inquisitive, empathic, knowledgeable, lifelong learners. As a collaborative effort, the IBO works with schools, governments, and other organizations to create a curriculum that develops compassionate empathy, critical thinking, and the ability to value diverse perspectives (Ibo.org).

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History of IB:

The IB was created in 1968, and was influenced by the works of John Dewey, A.S Neill, Jean Piaget, and Jerome Bruner, who all all theorized about the different aspects of IB: academic intelligence, child centeredness, self-discovery, learning and learning through inquiry. Robert Leach, the actual first promoter of the IB, created a program,a  syllabus, exam, and pedagogy that would enable the development of critical thinking. This, then lead to other influencers such as Alec peterson who design the IB curriculum, and Kurt Hahn whose work also nspired one of the elements of the IB DP curriculum, the CAS project. In a 12 year span, the philosophy structure, extended essay, theory of knowledge component, and CAS were introduced to the curriculum. After the structure was finalized, the talks of a “pre-IB” program were initiated for students ages 11-16, which lead to the creation of the MYP (middle years programme) program in 1980, and the PYP (primary years programme) in 1997 (Ibo.org).

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IB statistics:

1971-7 worldwide IB private schools with 749 students

2018-4937 worldwide IB private and public schools with approximately 1, 250, 000 students

Between 2012-2107, the growth of the IB program has increased by 39.3%

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(Ibo.org)

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 Participants—

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The primary objectives of this program evaluation is to analyze the socio-emotional levels of the IB students in my school (grade 11 and 12 DP) and compare these levels to the general education senior level students (grade 11 and12) in my school. The participants come from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and the students are aged 16-18.

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The intended student participants of the IB program are those who not just academically strong, but those who enjoy challenging themselves, see the value of being civic-minded by participating in creating a strong school climate, and are dedicated students who have a strong work ethic. This ultimately, will motivate students to become internationally minded, life-long learners.

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Staff—

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The staff for this program are IB teachers who are trained, and responsible for teaching the program to the students. These teachers have the opportunity to join the IBEN (IB educators network) where there is consistent professional development available, teaching resources,instructional strategies, and other teacher support (Ibo.org).

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Teachers can become IB trained in 3 different categories by attending regional workshops:

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Category 1 workshops-new teachers learning the philosophy of IB, and how to implement it (assessment, content)

Category 2 workshops- teachers who learn to make connections between frameworks and teaching practise, and standards of practice

Category 3 workshops- teachers who want to master a particular subject

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Site managers/administrators—

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The IB coordinator at the school is responsible for managing overall operations for both teachers and students

IB counsellor responsible for educating parents, promoting IB, and recruiting for the program, helping with university admissions

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Local or regional managers—

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The IB regional office for “ The Americas” is in Northwest Washington,  Maryland, United States. This regional office provides PD opportunities for teachers, and evaluates IB schools in the region. Paul Campbell is the head of the Regional development, Colleen  Duffy O’Brien is the communications and marketing manager, and Dalit Halevi is the IBEN manager, supporting teachers within North, and South America (Ibo.org).

 

 

Governing board—

 

The Government Board consists of the Board of Governors, the Director General, and the Senior Leadership Team. The Board of Governors are responsible for creating policy, working on developing strategy, financially managing,overseeing assessment and evaluations. Currently there are 16 members on the board, including 1 Chair and Vice-Chair. These members have different roles and are affiliated with different sectors such as finance, auditing, governing, and human resources. 14 of the roles have been elected, the other two have been appointed, and all have impressive educational and professional experience. These members work closely with the current Director General, Dr. Siva Kumari, who is the first woman to hold the position. Her role mainly consists of hiring the SLT (Senior Leadership Team), holds them accountable for their roles, works with the Heads Council on the advisory board, and also publishing the annual progress reports. Finally, the SLT deal primarily with the core of the DP program: assessment, teaching and learning, finance schools, academics, and strategy implementation. The last council in the governing board is the Head Council, currently with 12 members. Each of these members are elected, and there are 4 members from each of the regions: Asia, Americas, Europe, and Middle East. They also work with the Director General, and examine issues with IBO schools internationally. Lastly, the examination council  focuses on the valuations of the DP program, academic honesty/dishonesty, oversees examiners, and maintains academic standards. Overall, all these governing bodies have a critical role in the IB/DP program as they all consistently collaborate to ensure the program runs effectively, efficiently, and aligns with the core philosophy and mission (Ibo.org).

 

Community members/Stakeholders—

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The community members of this program is essentially parents of the students, governments, and organizations that can be connected to the IB. The program takes pride in being an organization that works closely with the government to inform policies and legislations. Organizations like Universities work with IBO to ensure equity is achieved with admissions and also work with researchers to evaluate the impact of the program on students in postsecondary education (Ibo.org).

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The community members for my specific program evaluation are the teachers in my school, and the local community to which we serve in. We used to be considered a "neighbourhood" school where students who just did not want to join any regional program such as the IB, and the Specialist High Skills Major, or an Arts program would attend. However, with the growing demand of regional programs, we decided to bring in the IB, and be one of the only schools in the Southern area of our rather large city to provide this opportunity to students. Most of our IB students do not actually live near the school, and are bussed in, but, regardless of their proximity to the school, our city is a major stakeholder of the program as these students  often have the opportunity to serve the local community through their CAS projects, volunteer in the community, and work in the community. Our parents also are the stakeholders of the program, and advocate for the program as it prepares students well for post-secondary, challenges their children, sets them on a standards with the rest of the wold and equips them with skills needed for life such as developing empathy and becoming civic-minded.

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Resources to obtain candidacy----

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There is about a 3 year long process of becoming an IB school. First IBO needs to be informed of the potential candidacy through a short application,, a candidacy fee must be paid, followed by a thorough application, and finally, a site visit happens for the school to be considered as an option for the IB/DP program to run. It is only after the verification report is available to the school is when the first year of teaching can be planned.

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During the candidacy phase, the school needs to take necessary steps in order to be equipped for when the school can start offering the program to the first cohort of the DP program. Information such as teaching and learning strategies, research on the impact of the program, and connection with the IBEN are established. The major step in this process is the consultation phase with the regional team, where there are on-site visits, and lots of opportunity to provide feedback on anything that can help teachers prepare for the DP program. Teachers then need to be trained to become IB certified teachers (teachers from each of the 6 core disciplines are needed), and finally the school can start advertising that it is an IB school using the IBO wording (Ibo.org) if a letter is received in writing on the acceptance of the school as an IB school. IB school are evaluated every 5 years to ensure the school is meeting IBO standards.

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Criterion 2:

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Purpose: The purpose for my evaluation is to “clarify an important issue or policy question about the program” (Herman, 1987). As a Special Education teacher, and an IB English teacher, my responsibilities range from creating IEPs, creating Proactive Behavioural plans and safety plans, de-escalating students, speaking to social workers, speaking to guidance counsellors,providing academic and behavioural strategies to students, and also teaching the core IB/DP Language and Literature course. As I reflect specifically on this last year, I realize that the heaviest load from my year was navigating the emotional luggage that students carried with them, leading some of them down the spiral of mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and sometimes, suicidal thoughts, whereas others were able to navigate the socio emotional issues that affected them without spiralling. WHY IS THIS SO?!

  

Throughout my extensive research of this program, and my experience teaching it in 3 different schools, I have seen a common trend regarding students in the DP program and how in perceived stressful environments they excel academically and emotionally. After reviewing reports found on the IBO program, all I came across were outcome evaluations such as IB educational outcomes in comparison to the rest of the world, quality assurance of the curriculum, skills achieved, and university preparedness. I asked myself the question: where is the outcome evaluation of the mental health and well-being on the students? Is there an evaluation looking specifically at the coping skills developed by IB students ? What about for their general education counterparts? If so, what leads to the development of these strong coping skills, specifically speaking in my school?  After some literature review on this subject (written below), I have learned that these students who graduate from the IB program have an “easier transition”” to post-secondary, have stronger leadership skills, etc. and excel even in a rigorous program like this. I also asked myself, in a stressful situation, does the student demonstrate good mental health status, or does the stress emotionally paralyze the student, thus negatively affecting his/her mental health? My original hypothesis was that even though the high stress levels may not negatively impact student’s GPA, it probably does negatively impact their emotional and social well-being affecting their overall coping mechanisms: disengagement from friends and family, feeling isolated, “internalizing behavior”  and/or substance abuse (Suldo, Shaunnesy, & Hardesty, 2008). However, the quantitative and qualitative studies that I read proved otherwise. Even though the stress levels are high for academic rigorous programs like the IB, the coping strategies for stress are strong and thus proves that students know how to effectively manage stress and seek appropriate help when needed compared to their “general education” counterparts (Suldo et al. 2008). I understand there are limits to the study, as the sample sizes were small, and perhaps not a true representation of the whole program, but this profound finding lead me to these 3 evaluation questions that I'm itching to delve in to...

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Evaluation Questions:

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1. How does the IB program in my school develop "positive relationships between perceived stress and psychopathology" in its students in comparison to students who are receiving solely a “general education”? (Shaunessy et al. 2006) (socio-emotional survey)

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2.How does the IB's highly competitive classroom environment in my school affect student's ability in developing strong coping mechanisms, that do not adversely affect the student?

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3. To what extent does my school's climate affect the IB student's ability to effectively develop strong coping mechanisms?

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4. How does my student's level of "perceived stress" affect their overall socio-emotional levels?

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5. To what extent does our student's academic achievements, and level of self-efficacy affect how one manages stress?

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                                              Literature Review (context):

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Introduction

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The focus of this evaluation is on the IB program at my school. The IB is consistently evaluated on the quality of their program, how students measure up internationally, and postsecondary success on IB alumni. There is also the abundance of outcome research, assessment research, and   curriculum research that is available for teachers, parents, and other stakeholders alike. While I was researching the program for September (it will be my first time teaching the Language and Literature course), I started to question IB student’s mental health status: are they more susceptible to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, because the program is measured by international standards? What about their stress levels? How do non-IB students measure socio-emotionally to IB students? As I did more research, I realized that there has been limited research conducted on the relationship between perceived stress and coping strategies to decrease the chance of psychopathological tendencies. The research that is done out there  regarding coping strategies and adolescents (non IB related) focuses more on what the negative indicators of mental health are, and less so on the importance of academic achievement, school climate etc on mental health. Thus, it needs to be understood that just because there is no mental illness present, does not mean that an individual has mental health (Stress and coping, 2008). Moreover, on the topic of stress, there is no argument that stress is a contributing factor for mental health disorders. Stress is defined as “a state of distress in an individual in response to an environmental precipitant. This physiological response of an organism can be measured by increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and the presence of hormones and neurotransmitters (cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine) that heightened arousal of an organism (Suldo et al., 2008). Thus, when external factors contribute to one's perception of stress, one becomes “physiologically and cognitively” distressed, leading some to experience the stress without “experiencing compromised [socio-emotional] functioning” because they are able to  utilize their effective coping mechanisms, whereas with others, the environmental factors are so powerful that they “exceed his/her emotional and behavioural repertoire designed to negate the harmful effects of external stressors” causing one’s mental health to be at risk because they are unable to use effective coping mechanisms (Suldo et al., 2008).

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Current state of knowledge

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As mentioned above, there is an abundance of research outlining the effects of stress on adolescents, and the negative effects that stress plays on the academic functioning of high school students. The research  that I came across outlines the impact of positive and negative indicators like how life satisfaction, school climate, academic achievement has on the socio-emotional functioning of students and how this leads to possessing effective or ineffective coping mechanisms. For the purpose of my study, I have chosen to focus solely on the idea of perception, and how perceived school climate (support from school, support from peers, school resources, etc.) , and academic achievement can negatively or positively affect the coping mechanisms that one develops and utilizes on the onset of stress.

 

Conclusion

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I think that based on the research I have found, the information is limited in the sense that the study that I have looked at (ranges from 2008-2013)is still one of the only studies out there done on the mental health of students, perceived stress, and effective coping mechanisms ( relationships). The group of students focused on was rather small, and may not be a true representative of all IB students, but the evaluation that I will do will test this hypothesis in Canada. What has been proven though is that even in stressful situations like the rigorous IB program, students emotional and social well being is not negatively impacted, disproving the common understanding that stress can paralyze all individuals from succeeding in life. Stress, whichever way one looks at it, can predict, and be the outcome of psychopathological tendencies like anxiety and depression, and the usage of negative coping strategies like anger, blaming others, and frustration can just make matters worse. Thus, regardless of the program that students are in, they must all be taught the skills and strategies, must all be given the same opportunities regarding school climate and academics in order to develop positive coping strategies.

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                           Criterion 3:

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Program Statement: If we successfully implement all of the surveys and questionnaires then we can expect to see that school climate, individual socio-emotional levels, and one's perception of stress factors into how IB students and general education students combat stress and if they are able to develop strong coping mechanisms.

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                         Criterion 4:

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