Tenth Edition
IB Americas May eNewsletter Welcome to the May 2012 edition of the IB Americas eNewsletter Dear Educators, Hundreds of blue and white balloons were spotted recently at IB offices in Buenos Aires and Bethesda, and in Edinburg, Texas, USA at the South Texas Business, Education, and Technology Academy (BETA), to th celebrate a milestone in IB history: the 2000 IB World School in the Americas (see page 9 for more details). This important milestone would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of you—our IB coordinators and heads of school. I would like to personally welcome BETA and all of the new IB World Schools (found at the end of this eNewsletter), to the IB community. As the end of the northern hemisphere 2011-2012 school year approaches, it’s worthwhile to reflect on how our growing community of IB World Schools have recently been recognized for how they are impacting student outcomes in the classroom. Recently, 24 IB World Schools, nearly one in four, were named to the U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the top 100 high schools in America. Also, The University of Chicago recently released a significant study showing that Chicago Public School (CPS) students enrolled in the Diploma Programme were 40 percent more likely to attend a four-year college, 50 percent more likely to attend a more selective college and significantly more likely to persist in four-year colleges for at least two years, compared to similar students not enrolled in the DP. You can read more about Charles Allen Prosser Career Academy, a CPS high school offering the DP, starting on page 4. Details of the research study can be found on page 10. In terms of fulfilling IB’s strategic vision to develop a more inclusive IB community by enabling access to an IB education, we have made significant progress through the full scale roll out of the the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC), as well as a number of state school expansion projects in areas such as Chicago, Costa Rica and Ecuador. As we focus on various initiatives in 2012, we will continue to work on improving the support that we provide to you and your students. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with your ideas and feedback at iba.director@ibo.org. Registration for the 2012 IB Conference of the Americas in Riviera Maya, Mexico, is quickly filling up. Our lineup of keynote speakers includes spoken word poet, Sarah Kay and service learning expert María Nieves Tapia, among others. This year, we will offer more Spanish language sessions than ever before, in addition to several new sessions in English. We will also offer a strand of breakout sessions dedicated to the roll out of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI), of great relevance to public school educators teaching a US curriculum. To learn more about the conference and to register, please visit our conference website. I personally look forward to seeing many of you at the Americas Regional Conference in Riviera Maya in July! Warm Regards, Drew Deutsch Director, IB Americas
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