IB proposal is a complicated subject
The rigorous program could boost the county's academic prestige or cause infighting.
By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published July 2, 2006
INVERNESS - Rene Fonseca is every high school's dream student.
She's got impeccable grades and test scores. She's a top contender at the annual state science fair. Her mother is one of the most involved parents at Inverness Middle School.
But the Citrus school system could lose this talented student if she decides to go to Vanguard High School in Marion County.
Sophia Diaz-Fonseca thinks Vanguard's prestigious International Baccalaureate program will better prepare her 12-year-old daughter for the rigors of being a college student, particularly if Rene is to end up at Harvard.
"She's very ambitious," her mother said. "She wants to make sure she gets a good high school education."
The loss of students like Rene - bright, motivated youths who want to pursue a more challenging curriculum - has prompted at least two Citrus County School Board members to push for a local IB program.
But the idea is encountering some resistance from school administrators who say the prestige of the program would start a bitter fight for the county's smartest students. Only one Citrus high school can host the program.
* * *
The baccalaureate program was developed in the mid 1960s for children of international diplomats who moved frequently from one country to another. It was designed to offer a challenging but standard curriculum.
IB students today take courses in six core disciplines, including a foreign language and advanced math, science and social studies. In that sense, the IB curriculum is similar to the Advanced Placement classes that students at many high schools take for college credit.
But the IB program also requires students to produce independent research, perform community service and complete rigorous written and oral examinations. Earning an IB diploma can put students on top of college admissions lists.
Karen Briggs said she agreed to send her daughter, Kelly, to Vanguard High after hearing other parents praise the school's program.
Students chosen for Vanguard's IB program are admitted based on academic performance, test scores and an essay. Kelly's application was so impressive that she was accepted after seventh grade.
"I would have been bored all through high school," said Kelly, now 14. "Going to Vanguard gives me a chance to apply myself harder."
Kelly is now preparing to enter the 10th grade. She hopes her friend, Rene Fonseca, will soon join her.
Like Kelly, Rene wants more intellectually stimulating classes. When she was in the seventh grade, she said, her English teacher went over grammar lessons that she mastered in second grade, simple things like when to use periods and commas.
"We also read books that were extremely easy," she said.
Her mother agrees that gifted students should have more opportunities.
"For children below grade level, (Citrus) has a ton of things: speech therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, one-on-one tutoring, small group learning, mentors, one program after another," Diaz-Fonseca said. "But for those kids above grade level, they only have the gifted program."
School Board members Pat Deutschman and Linda Powers are worried that Citrus could lose more gifted students like Kelly and Rene as teachers devote more time and resources to help the lowest-achieving students. Schools are penalized heavily if students in the bottom quartile don't make gains on standardized tests.
"There are a lot of people who say, 'Oh, well, they're smart kids, they'll be fine,' " Deutschman said. "I've worked with gifted students and I know that they need academic challenges just as much as any other kid. ... That's what keeps them locked in school."
Deutschman, who is seeking another term, said she will work to establish an IB program at one of the high schools in the next four years if she is re-elected.
Patrick Simon, principal of Crystal River High, said starting an IB program takes time and considerable resources. To gain entrance into the elite group of schools that offer the program in the state, Citrus must hire and train more teachers in the IB curriculum. It must also ensure that there is enough student interest in the program.
"It's a four-year curriculum that is highly intensive and highly involved," Simon said. "We don't have the framework in place to do that yet."
It's also an expensive proposition.
Hernando County, which expects to offer an IB program in 2008-09, is spending $121,000 over three years to begin the program.
Afterward, schools must pay thousands of dollars in annual membership fees. Besides busing students across the county, schools with IB programs also incur the costs of having exams graded by scholars all over the world.
In Citrus, one of the toughest decisions may be which school will host the IB program. Some think Lecanto High is better equipped to launch an IB program than the district's two other high schools.
But the school is already overcrowded, and adding the IB program could make matters worse. Crystal River High, on the other hand, is the least-crowded high school. An IB program could help the school polish its image as an underachiever.
What's more, high school principals worry that an IB program could hurt the two other high schools by robbing them of their brightest students. They don't want to lose students who can help raise FCAT scores.
The high achieving students also tend to have the most supportive parents.
There were some problems in Marion County, for example.
Sara Dassance, who recently retired as the IB program coordinator at Vanguard High, said Ocala's two public high schools had a "huge fight" over which school would offer the program when the idea was first floated more than a decade ago.
Dassance said some resentment continues to linger between the schools. But she said the program has been hugely successful.
"I have never had a student come back from college who has said anything other than that he or she was more prepared than anybody else there," Dassance said. "We're giving them the best preparation that we can give them anywhere in the county."
Vanguard High now has 435 students in grades 9-12. Of the 125 incoming freshmen, two are from Citrus. Four other Citrus students are entering the 10th grade. The majority hail from Marion.
Dassance said most students graduate from Vanguard with an IB diploma. Many have gained admission into prestigious universities such as Stanford and Harvard as well as competitive state schools.
She said the state is generous to schools with IB programs. Rather than funding them based on the number of students enrolled, the state gives the schools money based on student performance. She said Vanguard made $400,000 more under that formula this past year.
Deutschman, who wants to establish a program in four years, said money should not be an issue when the future of the county's most talented students is at stake.
"The whole message is we need to have a more highly educated work force," Deutschman said. "I don't think we can just say that it's okay to be mediocre, and I'm not saying that anybody is mediocre. I know it's an expense, but its investing in the future of our country."
Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.