Which preparatory curriculum for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is best? The challenge for international schools with regard to mathematics and science
Author(s)
Date
2014Source Title
International Review of Education
Print ISSN
0020-8566
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Volume
60
Issue
6
Pages
793 - 801
Language
English
Type
ArticleItem Usage Stats
136
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Abstract
There are two mainstream curricula for international school students at
the junior high level: the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme
(MYP) and the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education
(IGCSE). The former was developed in the mid-1990s and is currently being relaunched
in a 21st-century approach. The latter programme of study was developed
by University of Cambridge International Examinations in 1985 and has become
popular in recent years among British domestic and international schools worldwide
due to the clarity of its learning content. The prevailing uncertainty about which
curriculum is best to prepare students for the IB Diploma Programme represents a
challenge for international schools. The purpose of the current study is to develop a
methodology through causal models which can explain the relationship between
student performance in the IGCSE and the Diploma Programme with regard to
mathematics and science. The data evaluated here consisted of external examination
scores of students who attended a private international high school between the
years 2005 and 2012. Two structural equation models were developed. The first
model employed a maximum likelihood estimation, while the second model used a
Bayesian estimation with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. Both models fit the
data well. The evidence suggests that the IGCSE provides a good foundational
preparation for the Diploma Programme in mathematics and science.
Keywords
International schoolsMiddle years programme (MYP)
International general certificate of secondary education (IGCSE)
Diploma programme (DP)
Mathematics education
Science education
Structural equation modelling