International Baccalaureate offers alternative to Advance Placement program

The International Baccalaureate, or I.B., is becoming popular in U.S. schools as an alternative to the College Board’s Advance Placement program, long viewed as the best option for giving students a head start on college work and a potential edge in admissions.

A New York Times story by Tamar Lewin reports that the rigorous two-year I.B.  curriculum, which was developed in the 1960s at an international school in Switzerland, is now offered at more than 700 American high schools and nearly 200 more have begun the long certification process.  Many parents, schools, and students see the program as a rigorous and more internationally focused curriculum, but the I.B. is not without its detractors.  Read more at the New York Times website.