Advanced Placement, or AP, classes seem to be the classes of choice for students looking for a challenging curriculum and for college credit hours while still in high school. The classes are centered on the taking of the AP Exam which determines whether or not a college would grant a student credit for an AP class they took. For me, a class revolving around the taking of a test does not hold a lot of promise. Still, it is all dependent upon how the class is taught. I don’t see the AP classes that are offered at LHS as only teaching to the test, but one could ponder what it might be like to take the alternative.
IB, or International Baccalaureate, classes are the alternative to AP courses for many schools. The IB program is not based on the idea of taking a test, but on writing comprehensive essays that relate to current events internationally. An author wrote on a tips website by Duke University: “The IB program provides greater opportunity for in-depth pursuit of a topic and greater emphasis on deep understanding than on the acquisition of information.”
So, rather than a regurgitation of information and fill in the bubble multiple choice questions, IB offers a more comprehensive approach in its teachings and testing. Essays, instead, are used to show whether or not a student knows and understands the material and in-depth meaning.
As a student looking to take higher level courses, IB seems more appealing to me in one large way: the basis is not to teach to the test. In our nation’s past, we have had problems with too much teaching to the test. AP only encourages students to swallow information and spit it back out when it comes time to take the exam in May. While AP Exams do offer essay questions, multiple choice questions, I feel, should be abolished altogether when taking a history or English exam, for example. In an essay, not only would you have to show that you know the basic material that would otherwise be quizzed on during the multiple choice section, you would also have to analyze the importance of that event and prove why and how it is a significant part of our history.
I think in a battle between IB and AP, IB wins hands down. Both courses are very good for high achieving students, but when trying to choose a side, you might ask yourself: Do I want to be taught to take a test or do I want to be taught the material well enough to write one?
