John Eppolito Former K-12 Teacher Father of four Incline Students www.MyInclineVillage.com

IB is not a good fit for Incline Schools 1

What we have now at I.H.S.

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In 2009 - 69 of our 75 of our graduates were college bound

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In 2010 we had 84 graduates - 34 earned honors diplomas, and 14 earned advanced diplomas, very impressive for a school our size!

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Strong AP program with 16 AP classes – second most in the District

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By many measures IHS is the best high school in Tahoe and WCSD

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Here is a list of where our 2010 graduates will go to college and/or have been accepted:

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                John Hopkins University University of Chicago Pomona College UCLA Cal Poly Syracuse University Tufts University University of Colorado Southern Methodist University SUNY Cortland University of Edinburg University of the Pacific Weber State University Annapolis Naval Academy UNR SNC Boston College Boston University University of Pennsylvania Duke Georgetown Northwestern Berkeley USC University of Virginia NYU Claremont McKenna University of Cambridge Washington University Santa Clara University Tulane Waitlist: Princeton, Yale, Columbia 3

Many of the students getting into these top schools went to Incline public schools K-12 4

What can we expect with IB?

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The IB supporters compare us to Aspen & Yosemite

When compared to these high schools we can expect between 2 – 6 IB diplomas per year

  Aspen (started IB 2002)- 530 high school students – 10 IB diplomas last year. Equates to 6 IB diplomas for IHS, 337 high school students Yosemite (started IB 1997) almost 1,000 students – 5 IB diplomas last year. Equates to 2 IB diplomas for IHS. 

In the 09-10 school year we had 80 students who took at least one AP class.

 We will be going from about half of our students taking at least one AP class prior to graduation to maybe 5% of our graduates getting an IB diploma.

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IB Will  Only benefit the few kids who get the IB diploma  Put the top students (who do not get the IB diploma) at a disadvantage when applying to top colleges 

Eliminate flexibility and hurt our lower level

students who currently have the option to be exposed to a college level class while in high school. With IB most of our straight AP classes will be no longer be offered 7

Increase college cost for most of our graduates  45% of Incline High’s 2009 college-bound students went to UNR or TMCC.  UNR gives credit for all our AP classes. UNR only gives elective credit for the IB diploma and no credit for an IB certificate  TMCC gives credit for all our AP classes . TMCC gives no credit for IB even if the student has an IB diploma.

 Some of our 09 graduates got up to a year of college credit because of their AP classes.

 Just between UNR and TMCC - 45% of our college-bound students would see increased college costs if IB is implemented.

 With AP many graduates from WCSD schools have entered schools like UNR and BYU as sophomores.

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College Credit  According to Crux Research “More than 90% of colleges and universities in the US accept AP exams for credit and/or placement. While the percentage of US universities recognizing IB is less than

50%.”

 A majority of the schools that give college credit for IB classes ONLY give it for the HL courses which are TWO YEAR classes.

 List of credit/advanced placement for 23 top colleges  http://www.princeton.k12.oh.us/HighSchool.cfm?subpage=416 9

AP to IB/AP  The District has told us that since our school is so small many of our AP classes will be combined with IB courses. When this is done, per the IBO, the IB curriculum must take priority. So our AP classes turn into IB classes and 

By definition:

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AP = College Level

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IB = College Prep.

 For IHS IB is a downgrade 10

Most schools do not attempt to combine AP & IB because the curriculum is very different, especially in math, social studies, and the sciences.

      Wooster – Magnet Program - Over 1,600 kids - AP/IB combined Granite Bay High School – 2,200 students - 17

AP classes - IB & AP classes are taught

separately (except French & Japanese). 2010 1 st IB diplomas Oakmont High School, Roseville – 1,700 students - 12 AP classes. Most IB & AP classes separate. 2010 1 st IB diplomas Luther Burbank High School, Sacramento – 2100 students - 8 + years with IB; no AP classes left, IB only. Three (3) IB diplomas in 2009. Most ever IB diplomas - 11 one year.

Mira Loma High School, Sacramento – (Magnet ?) Al-Arqam Islamic School, Sacramento – (Private) 11

Our high school is too small – IB MUST dominate the schedule  For the IB diploma 11 th and 12 th grade students MUST take 10 required “courses”  As of 5/13/10 “some of the controversial TOK classes would be evening classes.”  IB will most likely have a negative impact on: AP, WtP, JROTC, the PLC program, and sports 12

 Athletic director left IHS  The way we are attempting to save We the People is not ideal (see fact sheet).  Some say WtP will not survive if IB is implemented 13

Reported by Washington Times  Mrs. Hurley, the admissions director for the University of Virginia, said; “If you are at an IB

school and you are not going for the IB diploma, don’t waste your time applying to UVA or any other top-rated schools. Your child’s application will go to the bottom of the admissions pile.”

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/jan/17/20 040117-115053-8186r/

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An IHS science teacher told me, “if your kid is good in math & science DON’T go for the IB diploma.” Then I mentioned it will decrease their chance of getting into a top college. He said, “yes I know.” 15

Last year we were told by the District IB would increase enrollment.

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And now Pedro is saying, it is “highly speculative” to think IB will increase enrollment!   This year we are being told by Mr. Martinez the primary goal of IB is “to increase graduation rates.” 2/11/10 Tahoe Bonanza http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20100210/NEWS/100219988&parentprofile=search 17

There is evidence of IB decreasing enrollment - when forced in Fairfax County, VA “Statistical data indicates an exodus from South Lakes coincides with the implementation of the IB program at South Lakes.”  http://www.fairfaxcaps.org/html/ap_vs_ib.shtml.

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There are people who will leave Incline if IB is implemented  Chad Miraglia, “It is an absolutely irrational path to convert IHS to IB. I’m not convinced IB makes sense anywhere. My kids will not attend an IB school, whether in Incline or anywhere else. If that means driving to Reno or moving out of Incline Village, so be it.”  http://myinclinevillage.com/2010/06/01/chad-miraglia-52110 people-are-leaving-because-of-ib-2.aspx

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When we wanted to find our true graduation rates we contacted Jim Grace the WCSD Reporting Specialist.

 Mr. Grace referred us to the Nevada Report Card website for IHS graduation information. According to the Nevada state website the graduation rate for IHS from 2007 to 2009 (three years) has been between 85 - 86%  http://www.nevadareportcard.com/Compare/selection.aspx?levelid=S 20

Pedro is misleading us by quoting a graduation rate for Incline that is much lower! 21

Even if Pedro’s graduation rates were accurate there is NO PROOF IB will increase enrollment OR increase graduation rates, when implemented as it would be in Incline.

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We all want better schools 23

If IB was the answer, the District would not have had to threaten to transfer teachers who do not support IB.

  Bonanza 1/14/2010 http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20100111/NEWS/100109945/ 1061&parentprofile=1050 24

Mr. Clark & Mr. Brown  Retired IHS principal Mr. Clark told the Bonanza: he expressed concerns about the method and pace of IB implementation at the Incline campus. He also said the WCSD should slow implementation and concentrate on collecting buy-in from teachers and parents. Mr. Clark also said, "The majority of teachers do not like IB. They do not want it.“  Steve Brown, science teacher, told the Bonanza majority of our faculty is hesitant about implementing IB.” , “a large   http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20100701/NEWS/100639992/1061&Paren tProfile=1050 http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20100518/NEWS/100519901&parentprofi le=search 25

Jay Matthews  Jay Matthews Washington Post education reporter, author of Newsweek's Challenge Index, and Supertest who is a big IB proponent, told an Incline parent: "I would NOT recommend a school dump AP if that program is thriving." He also said in relation to Incline’s AP program it is, "just about perfect." 26

IB is a UN sponsored programme. THE DISTRICT AND SOME IB SUPPORTERS WANT US TO RISK EVERYTHING THAT IS GOOD AT OUR HIGH SCHOOL, AND FORCE THE UN IDEOLOGY ON ALL OUR STUDENTS!

 http://myinclinevillage.com/2010/07/16/even-jay-matthews-admits colleges-give-more-credit-for-ap.aspx

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Dr. Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institute at Stanford

calls IB an, “indoctrination”, a “fad program that distracts American public schools from real education in real subjects.”  http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell022604.asp

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Only.2% of elementary schools in the US are IB  There are only about 200 elementary IB schools in the USA out of about 100,000 elementary schools total. IB is almost

always a choice!

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Incline may be the first schools in the country were IB is forced on all students and privately funded.

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At the elementary and middle schools  IB will do nothing to get our schools off the watch lists 30

Elementary Level IBO website “Six trans-disciplinary themes’ which are  who we are  where we are in place and time  how we describe ourselves  how the world works  how we organize ourselves  sharing the planet” “Teachers are guided by six trans-disciplinary themes as they design units

of inquiry that both transcend and articulate conventional subject

boundaries.” Then they talk about the five traditional subject areas plus physical,

personal* and social* education

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* Many people feel Personal and Social education should be taught at home NOT with a UN sponsored ideology

It is easy to see why only .2% of elementary schools in the US use IB http://www.ibo.org/pyp/curriculum/index.cfm

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Some people have religious concerns with IB  http://www.wpaag.org/International%20Bbaccalaurea te%20Program%201.htm

 http://www.gtbe.org/news/index.php/1/22/18 6.html

 http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/08250 9_unesco.pdf

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Will people stay away from Incline because of IB?

 Politically we are a “center-right” community. I acknowledge the fact that some in our community like the UN. But FORCING the UN (or any) ideology on ALL our students is problematic.

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The biggest impact of IB over time would likely be the people who DO NOT move their families to Incline because IB is the only choice in our public

schools. One of the high school teachers predicted with IB our high school will go from 337 down to about 200. 33

THE RESIDENTS OF INCLINE HAVE MUCH MORE TO LOSE THAN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IF IB FAILS!

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If the Superintendent, Heath Morrison, and Deputy Superintendent, Pedro Martinez truly cared about Incline they would not rush IB implementation. They would listen to our community; be honest with us about the negative implications of IB, especially on the h.s. schedule and attempt to get teacher and parent buy-in to IB. IF WE HAD ENOUGH PEOPLE TO SPEAK UP WITH THEIR CONCERNS ABOUT IB WE COULD FORCE THE DISTRICT TO LISTEN TO US!  Heath’s (and possibly Pedro’s) contracts with WCSD expire in spring 2013.

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According to Pedro Martinez (WCSD) There are only 16 K-12 IB districts in the country.

 Four of them have had major problems with IB including  A law suit with the ACLU forcing a District to keep IB in place against its will  Dropped IB programs  Controversy and people leaving the schools because of IB 36

General regulations: All Three Programmes IBO website  “ Any dispute … shall be finally settled by one arbitrator in accordance with the Swiss Rules of

International Arbitration of the Swiss Chambers of

Commerce. The seat of the arbitration shall be Geneva, Switzerland .” 

With IB we will be giving up control of our dominate K-12 educational program to the IBO .

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www.TahoeBonanza.com

 Two IB Polls in the on-line Bonanza Do you support the implementation of International Baccalaureate at Incline's public schools?

 1 st poll ended 10/7/09 (BEFORE I got involved)  46% against IB  34% for IB  2 nd poll ended 1/11/10 

2 to 1 AGAINST IB

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Petition  Currently we have 275 signatures (about 200 are local) on our petition to stop IB (our goal was 200), pretty impressive for Incline. “We

the under signed do not believe that IB is a good fit for Incline Village.”

http://www.petition.fm/petitions/noibiniv 

The District has decided to ignore the petition!

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IB is typically implemented as a magnet program at low performing schools OR as an optional program.

INCLINE IS TOO SMALL FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE A CHOICE - IT’S IB, LTS (if you can afford it), OR MOVE!

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At least 13 Schools Drop IB Since 2/19/10  2/24/2010 Santa Ynez, CA – Similar to Incline. They raised $70,000 and had $70,000 in matching funds promised, http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/local/education/article_a00ff190-2117-11df-a079 001cc4c002e0.html

 2/19/10 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Chino CA Reports “…discontinuing the International Baccalaureate programs at Don Lugo High School and Anna Borba Elementary School” http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_14438613  2/22/2010 the Arapahoe Herald (CO) reported - “The board recommended eliminating the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Field Elementary School and Newton Middle School” http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/articleid/337276/newspape rid/782/Budgetary_problems_Tough_Decisions_Ahead.aspx

 3/12/10 Redwood City Elementary School District , CA (at least one elementary school will drop IB) http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=126690&title=District%20approve s%20140%20layoffs 41

 3/24/2010 William Fleming High School, will drop IB, Roanoke, VA http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/240973  3/25/2010 Falcon School District, CO drop IB program as reported in The Gazette – They had 2 PYP, 1 MYP, and 1 DP http://www.gazette.com/articles/school-96152-district-falcon.html

 4/4/2010 Hoboken, NJ – Hoboken Reporter announces they will drop IB, http://kidsfirst2009.blogspot.com/2010/04/no-new-taxes.html

 4/27/2010 Prior Lake-Savage School District, MN drop MYP, as reported in the Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com/local/south/92274904.html?cache=n&uccb=1272458181# post_comments 42

Most Districts that drop IB usually do it within the first 10 years of paying for and implementing the program and the reasons most often stated are:      Cost Lack of student participation in IB Less flexible than AP No improved student performance Lack of college credit for IB 43

Middle School Program (MYP) Research Currently Available One of the only quantifiable and in-depth study of Middle Years Program (MYP) I could find to date, compared test scores of IB MYP students with those of non-MYP students. The study was conducted by a doctoral student at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2006. In her thesis, Dr. Jackson concludes: 

“that the outcome of the IBMYP group on standardized exams did not achieve a level of statistically significant difference (<.05)”

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http://myinclinevillage.com/2010/07/31/dissertation-found-no statistically-significant-differences-between-ib-and-nonib students.aspx

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Denver Public Schools IB Prospectus by Rob Stein  “ There is

no available evidence that the IB will increase student achievement

in DPS schools or that the IB has had a positive effect on student achievement in similar districts or schools. A thorough search of the literature has netted

no empirical studies on the effects of IB on student achievement. The IBO, itself, publishes no such results.”

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http://blog.ednewscolorado.org/wp content/uploads/2009/12/IB-Plan.pdf

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IB is the most controversial educational program available!

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More IB Facts

IB has divided communities through out the country and created law suits –

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Already mentioned one law suit here are a couple more

Fairfax County, VA – law suit DeKalb, GA – Discrimination law suit 3/3/2010 

“There is no evidence of a school ever being turned down for IB, provided all the checks clear.”

www.TruthAboutIB.com

IB is hardly ever forced on ALL STUDENTS!

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Other Programs That were NOT considered by The task force

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Advanced Placement International Diploma

(APID) – Wouldn’t cost anything to implement at IHS The APID (college level) more rigorous than IB (college prep.) “AP is the most widely-utilized school based academic program in the world,” according to Crux Research. SpringBoard (6-12) get that up to 60 – 70%. SpringBoard is a program from the college board to prepare students to be successful in AP classes. We have over 40% of our IHS kids being exposed to a college level class while still in high school (which is high). The SpringBoard program could help us 48

Core Knowledge K-8  Where educated/professional parents have a choice between Core Knowledge and IB in Colorado - it is the

Core Knowledge neighborhoods that have seen increased demand for real estate.

 It is much cheaper, not controversial, and

there is evidence to show increased student

performance with Core Knowledge. 49

As Harry Haaser (retired elementary and middle school principal and task force member) told the Bonanza in March 2010 – The Task Force recommended an

Investigation Stage of IB but it never occurred-

 http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20100331/NEWS/1 00339982&parentprofile=search 50

The IBO required feasibility studies were NOT done.

  Question on IBO application - "Please indicate any major difficulties and/or concerns that you have encountered during the feasibility study and how you have, or intend to, overcome them.“ IMS Answer - "There was no feasibility study done.“  http://www.truthaboutib.com/images/MYP.pdf

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THE DISTRICT DOES NOT WANT OUR COMMUNITY TO HAVE AN OPEN AND HONEST IB DISCUSSION! Not only did the District skip the investigation stage and Feasibility Study, they successfully killed the Bonanza sponsored community forum, by silencing our first three AP panel member choices. 52

Bill Horn told the School Board  “It will be disastrous if the School District does not slow down and listen to those who are opposing the implementation of an IB Program in IV and CB.” 53

The “fast track” implementation of IB is common through out the country! This is what just happened last year in St. Helena.

 I recently spoke with a high school teacher from St. Helena who told me, “IB is the worst thing

my district has ever done.”

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Lisa McLoughlin from TruthAboutIB.com

 Jay Matthews calls Lisa, "the liveliest and most intelligent IB critic in the country." Recently told our school board,

"The situation in Incline Village is the ugliest, most egregious and controversial attempt to force IB into a public school system that I have witnessed to date."

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Websites – Email    www.IBO.org

(one sided pro IB) www.TruthAboutIB.com

(one sided con IB) www.MyInclineVillage.com

(Incline specific – Several links to research – IB Blog)  Add you to my community email list – [email protected]

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What can we do now?

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Legal assistance Email

 school board, superintendent’s office  Bonanza, RGJ  Reno TV stations School Board Meetings – 2 nd & 4 th Tuesdays in Reno Bonanza Meetings – Every Tuesday 9:00 AM

PTA Meeting - Jr. Boosters Meetings - Boosters Meetings Community Forum

Consider other programs - Core Knowledge, SpringBoard, APID etc.

Educate others and STOP DONATIONS

Organize group AGAINST IB in Incline

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