Back in early 2007, when International Baccalaureate programs were beginning to proliferate in Denver Public Schools, the district asked a respected local educator to look into the effectiveness of IB programs in closing achievement gaps and boosting the learning of low-income students.
Rob Stein, then the Head of School at Graland Country Day, conducted the analysis. Stein is now principal of Manual High School, but back in January 2007 he was not connected to the district, and conducted this research as a volunteer. He submitted the study in draft form. Apparently, it has rested on a shelf ever since.
Now, with the controversy swirling around Lake Middle School, the report takes on new relevance. Here it is, with a few paragraphs highlighted in yellow by me. As Rob told me, “this is not definitive,” but it does raise questions about whether IB is the best option for Lake’s current low-income population.
Let the debate begin.
Popularity: 33% [?]
I don’t know enough about the history to answer this myself. Was IB selected to meet the needs of low income students attending Lake or the middle income students around Lake who don’t go there but might?
I didn’t read the whole report but I found nothing surprising in the highlighted parts. I have never understood IB as a turn around strategy and I’ve never heard anyone associated with an IB school claim they could or were closing any achievement gaps.
I taught overseas and I know many people who do or have worked in IB schools outside the US (where the majority of them are). Maybe I’m over generalizing but in my experience the students mostly come from expatriate and wealthy local families – highly educated and economically advantaged people.
This is not meant as all as a criticism of Rob’s report, since our study came out in 2008 (after his report) and since it is actually NOT intended as a study of IB effectiveness. But …
We studied a school district in Long Island that does use its IB program to close the achievement gap, and their results have been impressive. The key to their success is that they challenged and supported all of their students — they refused to set the IB option apart, as an exclusive enclave for only their most high-achieving students.
See Burris, C. C., Wiley, E. W., Welner, K. G. & Murphy, J. (2008). Accountability, Rigor, and Detracking: Achievement Effects of Embracing a Challenging Curriculum as a Universal Good for All Students. Teachers College Record. 110(3), pp. 571-608.
http://www.colorado.edu/education/faculty/kevinwelner/Docs/Burris,Wiley,Welner_Accountability_Rigor_and_Detracking.pdf
Thank you for your post, Kevin.
Studies such as the one that Kevin here speaks of are not incredibly difficult to complete. Individualized student assessment data are available through CDE and we could run a statistical analysis which would likely respond to the assertion that “There seem to be no available examples of IB schools where high student achievement can be explained by anything other than demographics or student selectivity.”
From my experience in IB schools, it seems likely that the level of rigor required propels students at a rate that is less likely in many other programs. HOWEVER, it also seems quite apparent based on demographics, acceptance, and attrition rates that these programs practice the type of selection that inherently biases communities raised in environments which engage in the dominant discourse, and thus needlessly fail to meet the needs of young and gifted students from diverse backgrounds. In addition, when fighting for their students’ education, parents of these IB students (often the more active and vocal members of CSC’s and PTA’s) find themselves advocating for the primacy of the IB program despite its inequitable relationship to the school as a whole (see class sizes lower than the general population).
I look forward to future studies that can display the error of creating exclusive enclaves of IB communities within urban schools.
I was on Lake’s CSC that explored and ultimately selected IB. I joined the CSC when my kid was in the 3rd grade. She was going to a far away magnet school and I was sick of driving.
When I joined the CSC, Lake offered only Language Arts, Science and Math in an attempt to raise the scores of the subjects that were tested. Dave Debus was the new principal. He presented the idea that if Lake didn’t do something dramatic, it could face closure like Gove had that year. The CSC had considered replicating the program at DSST, but I remember worrying about the cost of the technology and the ongoing costs of replacing technology to keep current. It also didn’t seem to be a school concept that would appeal to a broad range of students.
We then visited Lincoln Junior High in Fort Collins. They have a similar demographic as Lake Middle School and at the time were rated an “Average” school. Lincoln uses the same “Whole School” approach to IB.
We had speakers from IBO present information to the staff and the parents. I pushed for IB because it mandates 8 core classes including art, technology, foreign language, PE, social studies, language arts, math, and science. I also liked that IBO would pull the accreditation if these classes were removed from the schedule. The CSC voted to become an IB school.
The hope was that the school would serve the current population and attract the middle class families also living in the area. The idea was to create an inclusive, whole school IB that would truly work for all students who live in the neighborhood.
We created marketing materials and engaged in a campaign to recruit students which seems to be somewhat effective.
I would also like to add that the district did not offer any technical or research assistance to the Lake CSC in this endeavor.
My kid then got into the school of her dreams and I left the CSC.
I, too, was on the CSC at Lake that decided to bring the IB program to Lake International School. I felt that regardless of which direction we took, it needed to be inclusive of the whole school. Not just a select few.
I am a single mom with 2 kids. My oldest just graduated from the Career Education Center. My youngest just started there. I live in southwest Denver. I choiced into Lake before it became IB. I suppose that I am one of the lucky ones that has a strong support system. I, personally, don’t consider myself to be low income. However, given the demographics of my area, I am. I take offense at the notion that “low-income” children cannot excel in an IB program. To paraphrase “it does take a village”. Well, the teachers and staff at Lake are the village that has helped my children to succeed.
Thanks, Alan, for finding this DPS gem. It is unclear what Rob Stein’s value is as a education reformer, being that when he wrote this report, he was working with student population that could not be more different from all of the IB schools in DPS and the fact that now that he is serving the DPS population, he is having no better success than the rest.
That aside, your highlights and my comments that follow serve as a great example that we all perceive that which fits our purposes. Honestly, as Cathy and Elisa state above, one of the real values of IB at Lake, as well as at Smiley, Henry, and other schools, is that the community chose the program for its students. It was a sound choice given that IB is one of the most successful education models in the world.
As to IB’s effectiveness with at-risk students, the evidence is pretty thin, from what I can tell. However, there are examples of IB program schools that are succeeding with at-risk students. According to a presentation by prepared by the IBO in 2006 (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ibo.org%2Fibna%2Fdocuments%2FUrbanSchoolIBSuccess_000.ppt&ei=egQpS8KMO4z0NbGZwJQM&usg=AFQjCNG1KgPkKyQutb7KJj_7xvUwIv-jKg&sig2=ScXsu5BBJQSxA_oW-k9EVw), the National Association of High School Principals and The Gates Foundation identified 21 high schools serving a majority of at risk students (50% of the population or greater) and that graduated more than 90% of their student and send more than 90% of these to college (see Slide 13). Four of the 21 schools are IB program schools (see Slide 14). The fact that NASSP and Gates could only identify 21 schools meeting these criteria speaks to the difficulty of achieving our goals. The fact that 4 of the 21 schools are IB centered says that we need to have a better understanding of how these programs function and how they might be implemented in DPS.
Not highlighted, Alan, are Mr. Stein’s Strategies for Future Implementation. Many of these strategies are the same as those requested by the schools implementing IB, the parents in these schools, and some members of the Board of Education. Others make good business sense on the surface. DPS has implemented none of them.
Most amusing to me, however, is the discussion of the challenges faced by East Side IB Programs. On page 6 of the report, Mr. Stein reports that on principal stated to him that “Separate but equal is inherently unequal.” Mr. Stein then enumerates the reasons for this and why it is difficult to have an IB program within a school where a non-IB program is being offered:
“Class sizes in the IB and IP programs are smaller than in the general programs in the same buildings; teachers are more experienced, highly educated, and trained; and more outside resources, in the form of program fees (the IB program 7 Draft: January 22, 2007 coordinator estimates $800 per student for textbooks and test fees), flow into the international programs than into the general programs.”
These are the same reasons that many community members, their representatives, and DPS educators have opposed the co-location model currently in favor in DPS. I have to hand it to Mr. Boasberg and his team, though — they do a beautiful job of ignoring all Mr. Stein’s recommendations equally. I guess none of them fits the ideology of reform at DPS.
Alan,
As someone who respects you and at one time followed your lead on what makes a great urban school I’m a bit confused. I thought you were all about a socioeconomic mix in urban schools to make them great. And because of this belief you helped Northwest Parents for Excellent Schools and other community members choose the International Baccalaureate program for Lake Middle School as well as Brown International Baccalaureate as a well-researched curriculum that reaches all children.
I still want West Denver Prep in our neighborhood because it too has researched based results for one demographic of students in our neighborhood but there is no research how it will do in the way Lake will be configured with two completely different programs. How will the WDP students do in an environment of structure and that are not able to express themselves the way the I.B. students are encouraged to. And we really haven’t mentioned the most undeserved kids at that school, the kids with disabilities. What program best serves these children?
I still look to you as an educational guru…do you really believe this is the best for Northwest Denver students and families?
Wendy Silveira-Steinway
Crnic and Lamberty (1994) discuss the impact of socioeconomic status on children’s readiness for school:
“The segregating nature of social class, ethnicity, and race may well reduce the variety of enriching experiences thought to be prerequisite for creating readiness to learn among children. Social class, ethnicity, and race entail a set of ‘contextual givens’ that dictate neighborhood, housing, and access to resources that affect enrichment or deprivation as well as the acquisition of specific value systems.”
Hi, Wendy. Nice to hear from you. First of all, I put this IB report up on the blog not because I’m trying to argue against IB, but because it’s a piece of information that should be factored into the conversation. For unknown reasons, DPS commissioned this report and then sat on it. Second, you’re right: I worked to help bring IB to Brown and Lake when I was at The Piton Foundation. Further, my daughter attended the IB Diploma Programme at George Washington High School, and received a fantastic education in an environment severely lacking in diversity.
As you probably know if you read this blog, I still believe in socioeconomic integration as one of the best, if not the best strategy for closing achievement gaps. I’ve also become a believer in schools like KIPP and West Denver Prep, which have demonstrated that schools filled with low-income kids can be successful. So the two strategies needn’t be mutually exclusive.
Should WDP be placed inside Lake? I honestly don’t know. If I lived up there, or still worked as an advocate, I would be doing everything in my power to see that WDP landed somewhere in NW Denver, for the simple reason that it works. I understand the concerns about a proliferation of middle-grades seats in NW. Some programs are badly under-enrolled. That says to me that people, low-income and higher-income alike, are voting with their feet.
Perhaps Skinner can be turned into a great, diverse program. Nicole Veltze is a strong leader, and there seems to be a lot of energy behind this proposal. Perhaps Lake as an IB-only school can be turned around become a strong program also serving a diverse population. That would be wonderful.
But if NW Denver gives WDP the boot, it is depriving low-income kids of a great option. And I have to say that it smacks of paternalism to me. Let WDP in, somewhere if not at Lake. Let it make its pitch to families. Let Skinner and Lake do the same. And let those families choose, rather than depriving them of an excellent choice because others have decided what’s best for them.
And Christopher, thanks for your take, though taking a swipe at Rob Stein brings you right up to the line of what I won’t publish on this blog. All you do is weaken your points by engaging in that. And I think if you examine the data you’ll find that Manual is doing somewhat better than other DPS schools with similar demographics. Good enough? No one would claim that. Getting better? Evidence suggests it is. I’d suggest you go spend some time there.
It seems that colocation, particularly in two schools that figure so prominently in the community-driven efforts to create socio-economically diverse middle schools, is the great source of tension/frustration/outrage.
Meanwhile, administrators of Wheat Ridge schools should be sending DPS staff flowers. Each year, many of the best students from my NW Denver neighborhood enroll in WR middle and high schools. Cumulatively, that’s got to be worth considerable revenue and CSAP points. If Wheat Ridge had thought long and hard about a strategy to accelerate that process, and hired staff to implement the plan, I doubt they could have come up with anything more effective than the colocation plan.
The following comment comes from Christopher Scott. A technical glitch prevented him from posting it directly:
I am never sure where the line is, Alan. You hold Rob out as an expert, referring to him as being one of the most respected educators in Denver, without saying what his expertise is. Apparently, we are not allowed to question his authority in regards to your claim. Without doubt, Rob is well pedigreed, but his background in school reform was minimal, especially in 2007. By you holding him out as an expert, it effects the reader’s perception of the report, and, honestly, changes the scope of the reader’s willingness to question what is in it. I believe that is inappropriate.
As an example, Mr. Stein states, as you highlighted, “As a whole-school design, the IB lacks a structure or practice designed to achieve a primary goal established by the National Middle Schools Association, that ‘every student should be well known as a person by at least one adult in the school who accepts responsibility for his/her guidance.’” Where does this conclusion come from? It appears to be based on nothing, no source cited, no explanation, just an opinion.
According to the IBO, the three aspects of the IB curriculum, aka the IB learner profile are (1) what is to be learned (the written curriculum), (2) how it is to be learned (the taught curriculum) and (3) how it is to be assessed (the learned curriculum). Based on this conceptual model, the IBO goes on to say,
“The successful implementation of these three dimensions of the curriculum in each IB programme depends on the culture and ethos of the school. The values and attitudes of the school community that underpin the culture and ethos of a school are significant in shaping the future of its young people. In a school that has a commitment to the values inherent in the IB learner profile, these values will be readily apparent in classroom and assessment practices, the daily life, management and leadership of the school.”
Does this suggest to you that a successful IB implementation ignores the relationships between a student, his/her teacher(s), classmates, and the outside world? Hardly. Instead, it pretty clearly says that the successful implementation of IB is closely tied to how the relationship between student and teacher, teacher and administrator, and school and community are manifested and managed, in other words the culture and ethos of the school.
So, why did you choose to call this sentence out of the report and bring it to the reader’s attention? Why hold it up as if an expert were putting it forth as fact? Given your background in education reform, and IB, you should have known better.
In preparing the report, Mr. Stein did a good service for DPS based on what he knew at the time. I see nothing in the report as being anything less than solid ideas occasionally based on some inaccurate assumptions. Still, he took the time and made the effort out of the goodness of his heart. I wonder, however, how he feels now that he is overseeing a school where 4% of the 9th grade kids were proficient in math in 2008 and 2% of them were proficient in the 2009 10th grade class? (These numbers are remarkably similar to North High School’s, by the way. Manual’s numbers don’t stand above anyone else’s. I would love to spend time in Manual, but I won’t judge the school by how it feels, as no one judges Lake, Henry, or Smiley by how they feel. Mr. Boasberg only holds up the numbers to the Post’s editorial board.)
For the report’s presentation here, I hold you accountable, Alan. I am curious — did you ask Mr. Stein how he felt about you holding his statements out there as an expert opinion before you did it? The question is germane. If Mr. Stein agreed, then he’d better know what he is talking about and have the data to back it up. I’d make him pony it up on this. Otherwise, Alan, you should provide the motivations supporting your highlighting activities and delivery methods, unless, of course, this was just an attempt to make the efforts of the community at Lake and other IB schools in DPS look ill-founded and “middle-class centric.”
Beyond that, I’d love to know how EdNews got this report. Did DPS or whoever gave it to you know you were going to publish it? Did you ask DPS why nothing ever came of Mr. Stein’s strategies? Why did the report come back to life now? Who benefits from its reappearance?
These questions are far more interesting than whether or not IB is a good education model for all kids. I think the world has already weighed in on that one. The real story here is, why does IB struggle in DPS and how do we solve the problem? Mr. Stein had some ideas, but apparently they were not worth highlighting.
According to SchoolVIEW, the state’s excellent data website, Manual had a 53 median growth percentile in reading in 2009, a 58 median growth percentile in reading, and a 51 growth percentile in writing. North had a 43.5 median growth percentile in reading, a 40 median growth percentile in math and a 53 median growth percentile in writing. This means that Manual students are slowly moving toward proficiency in all three subjects, while North students are falling steadily farther behind in nath and reading, while making gains in writing. So I would disagree that the Manual numbers are “remarkably similar” to North’s. Overall proficiency percentages (status scores) at Manual were 38 for reading, 6 for math and 19 for writing. at North, the corresponding numbers were 27, 5 and 13.