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Advanced Placement
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International Baccalaureate
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Gifted students who have excelled in previous courses and are recommended for AP by subject-area teachers.
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Academically talented, highly motivated students with conspicuous analytical & critical thinking skills.
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National standards of excellence.
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International standards of excellence.
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College-level courses taken in the student’s area(s) of strength only.
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Comprehensive curriculum of college-level work; all subjects taken at the IB level, weaknesses as well as strengths.
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Breadth of knowledge.
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Breadth & depth of knowledge: students study a few key topic areas in depth in each subject.
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Courses taught in isolation from one another.
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Interdisciplinary approach in course work, the TOK course & Extended Essay.
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Content driven: courses represent freshman level college courses
requiring assimilation of large quantities of information.
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Process driven: students learn "how to learn" & engage in more independent projects.
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Critical thinking is important for success
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Critical thinking is essential: students are evaluated on both the content &
process of academic achievement. Exams are based on broad, general understanding of concepts and fundamental themes.
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Course assessments emphasize multiple-choice (at least 50% of each exam) and essay-question formats.
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Course assessments emphasize essay and oral formats; multiple-choice format used little.
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AP scores are based solely upon external grades determined by qualified national examiners.
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IB scores are based upon a combination of internal grading of required assessments
by classroom teachers & external grades determined by 3,500 qualified examiners worldwide.
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Advanced Placement
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International Baccalaureate
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The entire curriculum as laid out must be covered but an indication is given of how much of the examination
will be from each topic.
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IB curriculum in each subject has a common core that must be covered and optional subject areas out of which
a teacher selects 1 or 2 or 3 options depending on subject area and level.
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AP suggests that students carry on personal research but does not require that they do
(with the exception of Art Studio).
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Each student has to do personal investigations in each subject and some of this work done during the course
becomes a part of the final IB mark in the subject area.
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Most AP examinations have 2 parts, total 2 or 3 hours in length, and are written on the same morning or afternoon.
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Most IB exams are written in 2 separate sessions on 2 different days.
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AP free responses questions are direct; they call for direct responses. (Student has had to engage in higher
level thinking and integration in order to do this.)
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Most essays are wide ranging in scope and require integration of material from different topic areas, the
citing of specific research, and evaluation of research and theories.
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