IB degree

[demig]

Is the district looking into an International Baccalaureate degree? I am aware the district commitment is 3 years but it seems that with the preparation that your district is offering this degree would certainly fit your school district.

[Dr. Skilling]

Oxford Community Schools is exploring the IB program K-12. It takes three to four years to complete the process. However, we have already initiated many programs that put us ahead of the curve once we become IB certified. We decided first to focus on improving teaching and learning K-12 so that our students will be competive in the global economy. We are training all teachers to teach “Quadrant D" lessons. Quadrant D is where higher level thinking such as synthesis and evaluation intersect with high application. We are training all our teachers to use the Rigor, Relevance, and Relationship framework (Created by Dr. Willard Daggett from the International Center for Leadership in Education http://www.leadered.com/index.html ) to accomplish this goal. Our teachers are incorporating quadrant D teaching in their lessons. (NOTE: We are the only school district in Michigan that is providing this type of K-12 training.) As a result, our students are learning to problem solve in areas they are totally unfamiliar which will lead to the students eventually creating and inventing their own problems to solve. Why is this essential? It is essential because the truly employable workers of the twenty-first century are those who can create and invent their own work in order to solve age old problems and to create new employment opportunities. Therefore, it was more important for us to train teachers how to teach and what to teach before instituting the IB program. Our students will be ahead of the curve once they are in an IB program. The secondary IB program is not based on best teaching practices. It still uses a 1960’s model of massive content and memorization versus incorporating the best practices based on latest brain base research. The elementary and middle school level IB programs are much more progressive in utilizing today’s best practices.

In addition to the teacher training, we have focused on developing new educational programs and curriculums. We have increased our K-12 world language offerings and are providing the opportunity for all students entering kindergarten this coming school year to be fluent in two languages upon graduation. We have instituted honors math, honors language arts and honors science curriculums starting in the sixth grade. We have instituted pre-engineering classes from sixth through twelfth grade. And we have provided more interventions for students at all grade levels for those who need it. Finally, we have greatly enhanced and increased our fine arts programs K-12th grades starting with a new strings program in kindergarten.