1. Running head: EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 1
Examining the International Baccalaureate’s Effectiveness on Student Preparedness for
Postsecondary Studies
Anja Centennial
Northcentral University

2. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 2
Abstract
The proposed study will evaluate the International Baccalaureate Programme with respect to its
effectiveness in preparing students for postsecondary education. The literature suggests that the
IB program leads to higher student achievement and college preparedness. While this is
supported by scores on standardized tests, such as college entrance exams, the research is lacking
in examining IB graduates’ college careers. Therefore, the proposed study will compare grade
point averages, drop-out rates, and degree completion time of undergraduate degrees of IB
students with those of non-IB students. In congruence with the claim of college preparedness, it
is expected that IB students fare better throughout their postsecondary education than non-IB
students.

3. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 3
Introduction
There appears to be an increasing number of schools that turn to alternative education
programs in order to better prepare their students for college. No longer do parents have to send
their children to schools that solely rely on a traditional program of education with curriculum
dictated by districts or states. Parents have choices besides expensive private education. They
can pick schools for their children that offer classical education or a core knowledge curriculum.
They can decide between schools that offer Advanced Placement (AP) classes or the
International Baccalaureate Programme (IB). Most of these programs have a rigorous curriculum
at their cores. They aim to prepare students for life in post-secondary education. College credits
embedded in the IB and AP programs have an additional appeal. That is one reason why these
two programs in particular have seen more widespread and pervasive utilization throughout the
United States in the past decade or so (Rhodes, 2007).
The International Baccalaureate Programme is an international educational program that
has seen rapid growth specifically in the United States. According to the International
Baccalaureate Organization (2009), as of 2009, there were 1039 schools in the US that offered an
IB program, including the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme
(MYP), and the Diploma Programme (DP), with another 466 schools going through their
candidacy status. There appears to be congruency between the growing popularity of the
program and the growing globalization of education and business in general. While the program
was developed to fulfill entrance requirements for universities in several countries and therefore
allow the international student the opportunity to apply to international universities regardless of
the country where they received their secondary education (Varner, 2009), the appeal to of the
program to schools in the United States has a much more national focus. It is not the primary

4. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 4
goal of every school in the US to equip their students with the qualification that allows entrance
into universities worldwide. While this is certainly a commendable aspect of the program, much
of the success of the IB program lies with the preparation the students receive for postsecondary
education within the US. Only a small percentage of high school graduates will ever journey
through international universities. A much larger percentage will, however, apply to universities
within the United States. Research has shown that the IB program gives its graduates an
advantage over other high school graduates when it comes to university acceptance rates
(Varner, 2009). The perception, as supported by research, is that the IB program successfully
prepares its students for postsecondary education. But how do these IB Diploma graduates fare
in postsecondary education? Just how well are they prepared when compared to their peers?
Research that has examined these questions is minimal to nonexistent. What is clear is that the
IB program gives university applicants an edge when it comes to admissions. The proposed
study sets out to examine how the IB Diploma graduate performs in their undergraduate
education as compared to other high school graduates.
Literature Review
There is a common theme that runs through much of the research on the IB program, and
that theme focuses on student preparedness. Most of the parties involved - teachers, students, and
parents seem to agree that the program successfully prepares students for their postsecondary
studies. Much of the literature on the IB program focuses on individual schools. Many of those
case studies show improved academic achievement after the implementation of the IB program.
For example, one study examined the impact of the IB program on an urban High School
(Mayer, 2008). Mayer examined the effects of the IB program on social minority students in a
particular High School and concluded that the implementation of the IB program had very

5. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 5
positive effects on student achievement. It paved the way for postsecondary education for many
of the school’s students as evidenced in a continued increase in college bound High School
graduates. A case study by Batey-Stepancic (2006) focused on yet another school participating in
the International Baccalaureate (IB) program of the International Baccalaureate Organization
(IBO). Specifically, the study sought to identify practices of the IB program in this particular
school that lead to higher student achievement and a positive building culture. Batey-Stepancic
was able to isolate academic aspects as well as social/interactive aspects that contributed to the
success of this IB school. Academic aspects included a rigorous curriculum that connected to
global, real world issues, the professional development teachers and administrators continued to
go through, and a continuing system of student and teacher assessments. Again, the end result of
the implementation of the IB program in the school was higher student achievement. Similarly,
in a study conducted by Kyburg, Hertberg-Davis, and Callahan (2007), the results showed
improved academic achievement in three urban High Schools with an increase in confidence in a
successful college education.
When comparing college admission data, students who have completed the IB Diploma
Programme have much higher acceptance rates than their non-IB counterparts. Some of the more
extreme examples include the University of Southern California, which, in 2004, had an overall
acceptance rate of 30% of its applicants. However, when applicants were singled out based on
having received the IB Diploma, the acceptance rate jumped to a staggering 76.7% (Varner,
2009). This is a reflection of the value placed on the IB program by US universities and colleges.
Throughout the past decades, once college admission offices “saw how well IB students were
doing when they got to their campuses, they began to praise the program and admit more IB
graduates” (Mathews & Hill, 2005, p.122). This is a trend that has not gone unnoticed by

6. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 6
institutions of secondary education. But what does this mean for schools? What does the IB
program consist of that contributes to the perceived preparedness of its graduates for college?
In his description and evaluation of the IBO’s 3 programs, the PYP, the MYP, and the
Diploma Programme, Walker (2004) lists the aspects that are the basis for all three programs:
* Contain a strong international dimension.
* Require study across a broad and balanced range of knowledge domains.
* Offer the opportunity for in-depth study.
* Emphasize the importance of learning languages.
* Examine issues from different perspectives.
* Encourage the application of learning to situations outside the classroom.
* Promote the development of learning skills.
* Provide opportunities for both individual and team work.
* Include a community service component.
* Mandate the related professional development of its teachers (p.19)
At the High School level, in addition to a rigorous academic curriculum throughout the four
years of a student’s High School education, there are additional specific requirements a student
must meet in order to receive the IB Diploma. All students aspiring to receive an IB Diploma
have to receive a specific amount of instruction in seven different academic areas, have to take a
Theory of Knowledge course, have to complete community service, and have to write an essay
of at least 4000 words in their final year of High School (Walker, 2004).
For students to successfully move through the program, they obviously need teachers
dedicated to the program as well. Teachers’ views of the IB program were examined in a
dissertation by Getchell (2010). Getchell reviewed relevant literature and combined his findings

7. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 7
with the results of an online survey that was answered by 100 teachers, support staff, and
specialists involved in a school district’s IB program. While younger and older teachers alike
were impacted by teaching at an IB school, Getchell found that with increasing age, experience,
and IB training, teachers and staff were more positively influenced by the IB philosophy. They
adjusted their own philosophies of teaching to reflect the IB philosophy and grew more excited
about teaching. This, as Getchell states, is most likely to have a positive impact on students in the
classroom.
Such positive impact could partially be seen in test scores of IB students, which have
been studied to some extent. Therefore, if preparedness for postsecondary education is in part
measured by scores on college entrance exams, IB students generally do appear to have
conquered these exams with great success. Wilkerson (2005), who studied the efficacy of
teachers in an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program as measured by students’ ACT,
SAT, AP, and IB exam test scores, reviewed and analyzed responses to a survey she constructed
and compared available test scores of IB and traditional students. The survey was sent to and
completed by IB coordinators of 100 IB schools that were randomly chosen out of the registered
502 IB schools in the United States. Wilkerson specifically examined verbal/English and math
test scores. Overall, Wilkerson (2005) concluded that “the findings… [of] this study showed
significant gains in student achievement of those participating in the International Baccalaureate
Diploma Program” (p.46). Therefore, congruent with the previously reviewed studies,
Wilkerson’s study supported the literature available on IB programs that show a positive impact
on student learning and achievement.
How do students involved in the IB program feel about the program? The responses to
this question are two-fold, one focusing on the academic part and one on the non-academic part.

8. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 8
Most students find their participation in the IB program challenging (Taylor & Porath, 2006;
Foust, Hertberg-Davis, & Callahan, 2009). The students interviewed in Foust’s, Hertberg-Davis’,
and Callahan’s study also expressed a better class atmosphere in their IB classes. Overall, studies
seem to suggest that IB graduates themselves feel better prepared for postsecondary education
because they have acquired not only content knowledge, but also critical thinking skills.
Research Problem
While the current literature on IB programs suggests that students who graduated from an
IB Diploma Program are well prepared for postsecondary education, there is no specific data
available that examines how these students actually perform in college. What is known is that
universities tend to accept IB graduates at higher rates than non-IB students, and that IB
graduates perform well on college entrance exams. What is missing is comparative data that
shows their journey through postsecondary education. Therefore, this study will examine how
well IB graduates perform in college based on the claim that they are well prepared, and even
better prepared than their non-IB peers. Do IB graduates actually perform better in college as
measured by their GPA’s and the time it takes them to complete their undergraduate programs
when compared to non-IB graduates? Do they drop out at lower rates than their peers? These will
be the questions addressed in the proposed study. If the claim that IB graduates are better
prepared than their non IB peers, they should have, on average, higher GPA’s, lower drop-out
rates, and shorter degree completion times than those students who did not complete an IB
program.
Methodology
The proposed study will utilize a quantitative approach to research that non experimental
and descriptive in nature. This study will examine data available from United States colleges and

9. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 9
universities. A random sample of twenty universities will be determined. From those
universities, the grade point averages of the graduating classes from the past three years will be
analyzed by separating IB Diploma recipients from all other students. In addition, time of
completion, including drop out rates, of an undergraduate program of IB graduates will be
compared to non-IB graduates.
Conclusion
The IB program is growing in popularity across the United States. Its academic rigor and
focus on critical thinking challenges students to not only acquire a breadth of content knowledge,
but also to think critically and apply knowledge to real world problems. The growth of the
program in the US has not so much to do with the fact that IB Diploma recipients have fulfilled
entrance requirements to universities in many countries, but with the perception that it effectively
prepares students for postsecondary education in the US. Most research available on the IB
program focuses on the academic impact the program has as measured by test scores on
standardized tests, such as college entrance exams. Students, parents, secondary and
postsecondary teachers agree that the IB program prepares students well for postsecondary
education. However, little research other than test scores and college admission rates is available
to back up the claim of college preparedness. Therefore, the proposed study sets out to measure
this preparedness by examining undergraduate grade point averages, drop-out rates, and time of
degree completion of IB graduates compared to non-IB graduates.

10. EXAMINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE’S EFFECTIVENESS 10
References
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