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Dealing with the United States' educational crisis: Studying baccalaureate programs

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Dealing with the United States' educational crisis: Studying baccalaureate programs

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DEALING WITH THE UNITED STATES' EDUCATIONAL
CRISIS: STUDYING BACCALAUREATE PROGRAMS
by
Elizabeth Chaponot
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
(EDUCATION)
August 2000
Copyright 2000 Elizabeth Chaponot
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UMI Number: 1409623
Copyright 2000 by
Chaponot, Elizabeth
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UNIVERSITY O F SO U TH ER N CALIFORNIA
TWS SMADUATB SCHOOL
U N IV E R S IT Y PARK
LOS ANOELSS. C A LIFO R N IA *0 0 0 7
This thesis, written by
Za.
under the direction of hX lksJThesis Committee,
and approved by alt its members, has been pre
sented to and accepted by the Dean of The
Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements fo r the degree of
Master of Science in Education
Date May-4* . . - 2 0 . 0 0 .
' r- ; - ■ o ' c
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ii
Table of Contents
Introduction: America Today 01
Purpose of the Study 13
History of the Programs 17
a)The French Baccalaureat 17
b)The International Baccalaureate 29
Program Contents 36
a)The French Baccalaureat 40
b)The International Baccalaureate 47
Philosophical Issues Related to the Programs 57
Conclusion 81
Bibliography 86
Appendix 90
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1
INTRODUCTION: AMERICA TODAY
In the 1980s, the Secretary of Education
appointed a commission to look at the state of
education in the United States. The National
Commission on Excellence in Education came back with a
warning that the country was being overrun by
mediocrity in education. The report showed that
America's scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests had
declined since 1963 and that the average student
leaving high school did not possess the knowledge that
should be expected of him or her. America was, thus,
said to be in 1983 a "Nation at Risk" (Roberts & King,
1996, p 27). Since then, many have tried to analyze
the situation and to understand why America was
failing its children.
In the last 15 years, the country's schools have
been drowned by new innovations which all propose to
help solve America's problems in education. We have
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2
plans of setting standards, of imposing accountability
tools. We argue about whether or not to track our
students, about whether or not we should implement
voucher systems. We know that something has to be
done to increase student performance. We know that it
is embarrassing to see our students score so poorly
when compared to students in other nations. What
needs to be done is the question on which no one can
agree.
Sixteen years after the Nation at Risk report,
the country has still not found a solution to its
educational problems. In 1998, Jay Matthews wrote an
article for The New Republic in which he argued that
America did not challenge its young enough. He
explained:
The nonprofit group Public Agenda surveyed
1,300 high school students nationally and
found 65 percent thought they were not
trying very hard and 75 percent felt they
would learn more if pushed harder by better
teachers. More than 35 percent of first-
year college students surveyed by UCLA in
1996 said they had often been bored by their
high school classes. (1998, p 21)
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Yet, although Americans speak a great deal about
the need for a more demanding curriculum, it seems
doubtful that they actually truly believe this is a
necessity. Americans are shaken when they are faced
with the fact that their educational system is not
producing the quality students they feel it should
provide. In fact, basically, Americans are not
dissatisfied with the public education system they
find in their country. The 29th annual Phi Delta Kappa
Gallup Poll shows that "This year's poll data make it
clear that public schools continue to enjoy strong
public support" (Elam, Gallup and Rose, 1997, p 31).
What is in fact more nearly accurate is that
Americans feel the problem with schools does not
affect them directly as "people give the schools in
their own community much higher grades than they give
the nation's schools" (Elam, Gallup and Rose, 1997, p
36). Basically, when documents like the 1983 Nation
at Risk come out and the public hears about the
inadequacy of its educational system, its members are
shocked and they perceive that it is something that is
happening in schools other than their own. After all,
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they are not displeased with what is happening in
their local school.
The reality of the matter is that American
schools do what they are designed to do. America does
not understand why its schools do not compete as well
as they should when pitted against schools in other
developed countries. The fact is that the comparison
is not altogether a fair one. Americans have not
traditionally wanted the same thing of their
educational system. What a Frenchman, a German or
Japanese expects a high school education should
accomplish is diametrically opposed to what Americans
expect. The French, the German and the Japanese want
rigor. Americans place much more emphasis on
socialization of students. The whole system has "more
to do with conventional standards of sociability and
propriety than with instrumental and cognitive skills"
(Collins, 1979, p. 19). In a comparison of attitudes
of American high school students to those of Punjabi
immigrants, Margaret Gibson noted that teachers,
parents and students alike all "placed social criteria
for success ahead of academic ones" (1987, p 289)
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unlike their Punjabi counterparts. In fact "in
defining a successful high school experience, teachers
avoided ascribing success to intelligence or academic
achievement" (Gibson, 1987, p 287). If high school is
thought of by Americans as a time to have fun before
having to start the real world, it is not surprising
that students taking Advanced Placement classes
represent "barely ten percent of all juniors and
seniors" (Matthews, 1998, p 20). This figure makes the
American Advanced Placement student the exception
instead of the rule as he or she would be in countries
like France, Germany, or Japan. "American educators...
are convinced that, if they demand too much from
students, their young egos will bruise and their
already erratic interest in their studies will vanish"
(Matthew, 1998, p 20). These American educators are
encouraged by parents to continue thinking this way.
With an attitude like this, America cannot expect to
compete against European and Asian students. The
bottom line is that Americans cannot have it all.
They cannot produce schools full of quality high
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6
school graduates until they accept that high school is
a time for students to learn and not play.
In a nutshell, America's problem is two-fold:
parents are frightened of the results of their schools
and yet parents are basically pleased with the system.
Therefore, for any effort to succeed, an attitudinal
change towards education will be every bit as
important as any wonderful new innovation proposed.
In order to make people want to change, there has to
be an incentive, a reason for that change. Reports
like a Nation at Risk do provide a catalyst. Indeed,
the 1983 Nation at Risk report shook up America.
Since then, a plethora of innovations and reforms
has been popping up throughout the 50 states. Nothing
seems to have changed the system's foundation.
Nothing seems to have changed the fundamental approach
Americans have to education. Yet, the sheer quantity
of educational reforms that is being proposed does
suggest that there is the beginning of a shift in
attitude, a recognition, as it were, that there is in
fact a problem. The fact that California is so eager
actually to listen to the rhetoric about things like a
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7
California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) does show
that people are concerned.
Why the nation's politicians are so eager to jump
on the educational reform bandwagon seems evident.
California's State University System reveals
statistics which show that "54% of its freshman were
unprepared for college level math and 47% lacked the
skills for college English courses" (Weiss, 1999, p A-
3). This lack of preparation drains colleges of
resources thus making reforming education a financial
as well as a moral obligation. Yet, for now, each
state has its approach and each district within each
state plants its own seeds of reform. Masterminds of
education work separately to solve the educational
crisis.
To a French mind, it seems like a waste of energy
to have so many intelligent, educated and well-meaning
citizens working separately on a countrywide problem.
Especially as there is a commonality in what people
perceive to be the concern. All seem to agree that
something has to be done to produce more educated
citizens, citizens that compete successfully in a
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world market. All seem to agree that curriculum must
be more demanding for this to happen.
What seems odd is that states do not turn more to
other countries for models in their efforts to reform
education. Granted, no country has found the perfect
solution. Yet, clearly, many countries are doing a
better job at educating their young than is the United
States. It would seem that the United States would
benefit from gathering information and understanding
what other countries are doing. There is a mass of
knowledge about education and the United States does
not seem to want to benefit from others' experiences.
Much time and energy have been spent in several
states on "reinventing the wheel." Much of the
educational rhetoric these days is geared towards
accountability. How can states hold students,
educators, schools and districts accountable for their
results? How does one adequately measure the level
students attain?
The United States has traditionally stayed clear
of testing systems or examinations as requirements for
a high school diploma. Currently, examinations are
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9
placed in addition to other requirements for the high
school diploma as supplemental achievements. Students
do not need to pass and Advanced Placement examination
in order to receive a high school diploma. The New
York Regents examination is also just another
accomplishment rather than a sine qua non requirement
for graduating.
Americans have traditionally felt that testing
students is arbitrary and using a one-time way of
judging all the knowledge a student has acquired is
discriminatory. As such, it is unfair to place so
much importance on an examination that can impact an
adolescent's life so greatly. Especially when such
examinations are, in addition to all the importance
placed on them, made to be very solemn and place
candidates in an intimidating situation, which does
nothing to put them at ease and cannot, as such,
adequately test a student's normal behavior. Despite
the United States' allergy to national testing, it has
been forced to embrace it anyway. The albeit
"objective" testing techniques of the Scholastic
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Aptitude Test (SAT) are still testing techniques and
do definitely affect a student's future.
The SAT has been highly criticized for leaving
African American students behind. It has also been
criticized for not being an accurate predictor of
success in college, the only reason for which it
exists. In their article, Rosner and Rigol state that
the SAT is not an adequate predictor for college
success because it does not measure skills. They
state that "Standardized admission tests require
separate, different and more limited skills for
success than are required in the classroom." (1998, p.
24) Therefore, if anything, the SAT tests a child's
testing prowess more than his or her knowledge and is
therefore more discriminatory than the very
examinations the United States tries to avoid.
However, this is not a thesis on the merits of
the Scholastic Aptitude Test as a testing tool.
Rather, the researcher merely brings up this example
as proof that despite the lack of testing as a
requirement for graduation, some form of national
testing does exist in the society as universities do
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11
need to know what a student is capable of. For, the
bottom line is that, as Gerard Renaud points out,
education consists of the acquisition of knowledge,
aptitudes and attitudes. Now, if there is
acquisition, there must be a way of measuring it and
the progress made, otherwise one remains in the dark.
(1974, p.41)
Whether or not the United States likes the
process, it is being used. Universities will
increasingly test students to see exactly what their
level of education is. As we have already seen in the
case of the California State University system, the
mere possession of a high school diploma is not in
itself enough to guarantee that a student has the
skills and education necessary to follow a college
curriculum. In fact, the answer may be closer than
the United States is willing to acknowledge. Indeed,
the United States could benefit by looking closely at
what is being done elsewhere. After all, testing
measures are built into many educational systems. The
English have the Level A examinations. The Germans
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have an Arbitur. The Swiss have a Maturite. The
French have a baccalaureat. Accountability is common
place in industrialized countries. In Japan, the
Juken Senso or entrance examination wars have led
students to suicide. This outcome of course is
probably not the direction most countries wish to
take, but the idea does remain, however, that an exit
examination at the end of high school is not uncommon
especially among developed countries. The United
States is actually one of the few nations that merely
has attendance as its criterion for obtaining a
secondary diploma.
This study proposes to look at two secondary high
school examination systems that are respected
worldwide, namely, the International Baccalaureate
Program and the French baccalaureat. Whether or not
the systems could fit as models for the United States
in whole or in part is questionable; however,
understanding these systems could help the United
States find inspiration to develop a program which
could better suit its needs.
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PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Accountability seems to be high on America's list
of priorities. The purpose of this study is to
understand better two separate educational programs
which both have strong accountability driven systems.
Both programs are used on a large scale in other
countries as well as in the United States on a more
limited scale. The two programs the researcher has
chosen to study, compare, and contrast are:
a) The older, traditional, country-wide system, namely
the French baccalaureat program, and
b) The more recent private initiative, namely the
Swiss-based International Baccalaureate program.
These specific programs were chosen because they are
often confused. Indeed, they are seen as being
similar in more than just name as they are both two-
year programs which involve having students sit for a
series of examinations at the end of twelfth grade in
order to obtain baccalaureate diplomas which help them
get into and prepare for universities worldwide. Both
programs are designed in such a way as to have student
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performances assessed externally by accepted
professionals. Both demand a great deal of work on
the part of the students and both require that
students acquire a strong educational foundation. Both
programs can be found throughout the world. Unlike
other European programs, both can be found in the
United States. Unlike many of the American testing
tools, neither program depends on multiple-choice type
examinations.
The International Baccalaureate Program is
offered in 696 schools in 96 countries (Laurent-
Brennan, 1998). There are nearly 250 International
Baccalaureate schools in the United States with 37
International Baccalaureate schools in California,
more than any other state (Engardio, 1998, p.2).
France has developed an elaborate network of
schools worldwide that dates back to colonial times
which it has continued to expand throughout the world
in an effort to both maintain and promote France's
cultural influence. There are 35 accredited French
schools in North America and 12 lead all the way to
the French baccalaureat.
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The ever-expanding popularity of the
International Baccalaureate in an increasingly unified
Europe seems to have made French officials at the
Ministry of Education a bit nervous. France cannot
altogether ignore the existence of the International
Baccalaureate as a quality program and it is forced to
acknowledge the diploma. Yet, it does so without
enthusiasm and underlines the fact that the
International Baccalaureate remains a foreign diploma
and therefore universities reserve the right to be
suspicious about candidates holding an International
Baccalaureate diploma.
France further has undertaken measures geared at
discouraging its satellite schools abroad from
adopting International Baccalaureate programs. In a
speech given at the 15th annual convention of the
Association of French Schools in America held in
Philadelphia in November of 1999, Jacques Verclytte,
the director of the Agence Pour 1'Enseignement du
Frangais a 1’Etranger (a branch of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs specifically in charge of educational
matters), discouraged French schools abroad from
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becoming more international. He explained that it was
doubtful that a school that prepared any part of its
student population for an International Baccalaureate
could be considered a French school. France currently
sponsors schools abroad through grants and through a
generous scholarship program that helps to pay the
tuition of French students who could otherwise not
afford to attend private schools. A threat to deem a
school as "not French" is great indeed and could
affect many private schools' budgets substantially.
Basically, the French refuse to see the International
Baccalaureate as being comparable to the French
baccalaureat and this in itself makes the comparison
worthwhile.
This study will therefore seek to answer the
following research questions:
1. What are the origins and histories of these
programs?
2. What do the programs consist of?
3. In what ways are the philosophies, goals and
objectives of each system similar or different?
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4. How are the programs designed to deal with lower
achieving students? How do they deal with and
compensate for cultural diversity issues?
5. How successful are the programs? What are the
pass/fail rates of the students?
6. How are these programs used in the United States?
Could they be adapted to provide the United
States with its own high school program?
HISTORY OF THE PROGRAMS
The French baccalaureat and International
Baccalaureate have very different beginnings. Their
origins help explain the differences they have as to
their respective philosophies, goals and objectives.
a)The French baccalaureat
The notion of a French baccalaureat dates back to
the Middle Ages and the designation of bachelier was
used for young clergy entering the orders on a trial
basis. By the XVIth century, the term referred to
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those holding a two-year diploma in logic. The
baccalaureati were those that were admitted to a
university to prepare for their license, the
equivalent to the Bachelors Degree for an American.
It was, however, with the imperial decree of the 17th
of March in 1808 under Napoleon's reign that the
beginnings of what the French currently view as a
baccalaureat diploma began. By this decree it is
ordered that, to obtain a baccalaureat, a student who
is at least 16 years of age, must answer questions
related to everything taught at the high school level.
At the time, the examination would be held at the
universities, as professors in high schools were
attached to the university structure. A panel of
professors would sit and question candidates on
subjects related to ancient Greek and Roman authors,
rhetoric, history, geography and philosophy. The
examinations were entirely oral and the panel would
question up to eight students at a time. The
importance of literary subjects is a sign of the time
and even students wishing to head towards more
scientific careers first had to pass the very literary
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19
examination before they were allowed to pass a second
set of examinations that were, in turn, more geared
towards math and science. Albeit very different from
the baccalaureat that is found today, this initial
baccalaureat was the starting block for a whole new
era and what would become a deeply engrained icon of
the French culture. The notion of this one
examination being the culmination of secondary studies
as well being the key to entrance into university life
had emerged.
Over the last 2 00 years, the baccalaureat has
undergone many transformations. The successive
reforms in the baccalaureat structure were very much
influenced by the trends and movements of French
society. The initial domination of the oral
examination would be slowly all but replaced as
written communication developed within the social
structure. In 1830, the first written examination was
incorporated into the examination. The initial
importance of the classical languages would also
diminish, as Latin would lose its status of
international tool of communication during the XlXth
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20
century. As times changed, so would the baccalaureat
and by 1821 a baccalaureat es-sciences, the first
scientific baccalaureat, was established and would
progressively gain in favor. In fact, by 1902 it was
declared that the baccalaureat title had to be treated
equally irrespective of the section taken, be it
literary or scientific. Thereafter, the scientific
sections gained in prestige and the scales tilted in
their favor.
Yet, despite the trend to create equality between
the sections, the baccalaureat was soon criticized as
being an elitist diploma. In 1925, in his
sociological study on the French bourgeoisie, Edmond
Goblot complained that the admission of any family
into the rank of the bourgeoisie depended on the
ability of its members to obtain a baccalaureat. The
baccalaureat he described was indeed a measure of
success but it was also a barrier that prevented
success for many (Solaux, 1995, p 16).
It is true that it was not until 1861 that the
baccalaureat was opened to women. Therefore from its
outset, it had served as a way of sorting or
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discriminating between members of society. The notion
of the baccalaureat being an elitist diploma was
confirmed by the fact that only 1.6% of the students
in a given age bracket received the baccalaureat
diploma in 1924 (Tronquoy, 1998, p. 30).
In 1874, the structure of the examination was
changed and the baccalaureat es-lettres was divided
into two sets of examinations to be taken over a two-
year period. This was the beginning of the two-year
examination structure, which has remained to this
date.
In the middle of the XXth century, the structure
of the French educational system underwent a major
reform. In a decree dated January 6th, 1959, it was
ordered that the mandatory schooling of all children
be extended to the age of 16. This decree would be in
effect at the beginning of the 1967 school year.
France was faced with a demographic explosion and its
schools had to deal with a huge influx of students.
On the 29th of October, 1964, the Minister of Education
of the time, Christian Fouchet, declared that it was
time to reform the educational system before it
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reformed itself in ways that would not be advantageous
to France or its citizens (Solaux, 1995, p 19).
Fouchet was responsible for restructuring the French
high schools and establishing the basic architecture
of the baccalaureat that is still in place today.
French high schools were organized to help deal
with the diverse array of students found there. By
the 10th grade students were placed into literary,
scientific or technological tracks which would in turn
determine which baccalaureat they would attempt.
There were five possible baccalaureat choices at the
time each having different majors namely, philosophy,
economics, math and biology, math and physics and math
and technology. In 1968, The technological
baccalaureat was created for students who were more
technically minded and typically did not plan to go on
to university. The trend towards specialized
baccalaureats continued until the end of 1970 when
there existed 27 different technical and general
baccalaureats.
As the list of options and specializations grew,
a new trend in education would emerge. The initial
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23
concept that the diversity of students had to be
accompanied by an equally diverse set of options was
replaced by a diametrically opposed philosophy.
Indeed, a new school of thought emerged in the
government which held that the extreme diversification
did nothing but reinforce the hierarchical structure
and inequality among the different sections. This in
turn reinforced inequality among students. To limit
the rigidity of tracking and thereby promote equality
between students, the government declared that it was
important to reduce the number of options available
and postpone students' time to ultimately choose a
section. Not surprisingly, new reforms led to the
reduction of the number of baccalaureats available and
the postponing of the time in which students would
absolutely have to choose their baccalaureat section
from the beginning of the 10th grade to the end of 10th
grade.
Despite the trend towards limiting options, a
third type of baccalaureat was created in 1985. The
professional baccalaureat was developed to help train
students who would otherwise drop out to be prepared
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24
for a trade. In 1988, Minister of Education Lionel
Jospin began a series of reforms which were followed
by successive ministers Jacques Lang and Francois
Bayrou again reorganizing and re-labeling the
structure of the baccalaureat. The reforms had a
double focus: that of increasing access to the
baccalaureat together with an effort to reorganize and
simplify the existing structures. Jospin declared
that by the year 2000, 80% of the students of a given
grade level had to obtain one of the three types of
baccalaureats.
Lionel Jospin wanted a clear and understandable
system to replace the overly complex and specialized
approaches that were found. He relabeled the sections
of the general baccalaureat; the seven existing
sections were reduced in number to three, literary,
economic and scientific sections. Each section was to
have subjects related to the major field, mandatory
general education subjects and supplemental optional
subjects that a student could elect to take or ignore.
Jospin's reforms met with opposition from the
National Union of Secondary Education (Syndicat
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25
National de 1'Enseignement Secondaire - SNES) that
objected to the division of subjects into categories
of general education or major related. It further
deplored the limit of choice in options available to
students which had been seriously reduced with the
Jospin reform. The union felt that limiting options
would eventually mean that some less sought after, yet
very important, subjects would eventually disappear,
such as the classical languages. The union also
rejected the notion that students could opt out of
picking an optional subject, as it felt that a
student's option should be to choose between subjects
and not as to whether or not he or she wanted to take
an extra class.
Jack Lang replaced Lionel Jospin in the spring of
1992 and launched a new reform that basically tried to
appease the wrath of the unions by increasing the
number of choices available in the optional subject
field. Whereas Jospin limited the students to one
option (except for the literary students who were
allowed up to two), Lang's reforms made the number of
options available unlimited; however the first option
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26
would hold a greater weighted score than any
subsequent option.
In 1993, Frangois Bayrou replaced Lang and
launched his own set of reforms which conserved
Jospin's limit of three sections but rejected his
division into major, general education or optional
subjects. He declared that students would have
mandatory subjects (which differed depending on the
section chosen) and optional subjects. He further
added that students had to choose one optional subject
which he labeled as being the specialization subject
of choice and, like Lang, he allowed students to take
as many optional subjects as they desired but re-coded
how their worth would be calculated on the final
examination.
The latest Minister of Education is Claude
Allegre. As his background is in university research
and not secondary education, most of his proposed
changes are related to program content rather than
restructuring the baccalaureat itself. His
relationship with the SNES (the major French teachers'
union) is, to say the least, quite strained. The SNES
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27
is vehemently opposing his current proposals.
Allegre's team wants to have part of the final grade
in given subjects include some form of internal
assessment. There is also a proposal to have
requirements for obtaining a baccalaureat include a
research based personal project (not dissimilar to the
International Baccalaureate's Extended Essay
requirement) that each student would have to write.
The unions feel that such measures would decentralize
the system and thereby threaten its status as being a
national examination.
There are currently three major types of
baccalaureats, namely the general, the technological
and the professional baccalaureat. Each of these
three baccalaureats is divided into sub categories and
each sub category has a choice of options available to
it. Despite the trend to try to simplify and limit
the number of baccalaureats available, the examination
remains extremely complex. The general baccalaureat
continues to be the most prestigious examination of
the three and, as a result, is the one that is
constantly being fine-tuned and reformed. It is the
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28
more erudite examination, the one which has a strong
focus on humanities, despite the specializations in
literature, science and economics. Students choose
this examination in hopes of obtaining entry into
universities. The second baccalaureat on the totem
pole is the technological one which maintains a
slightly lighter general education component and adds
to it a technological foundation which allows students
direct access to the job market without completely
closing the doors to university admission. The last
baccalaureat is geared to a more concrete training
program that prepares students for a trade and not
university life.
The French baccalaureat continues to be a work in
progress and has undergone in the last 35 years
countless reforms to add to or reduce the number of
sections and options in hopes that it will be suitable
to all members of society. For a citizen to say
nowadays that he or she has a baccalaureat is in fact
not very precise and can mean a whole plethora of
things and as such has very different levels of
marketability in society. In the next 20 years the
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29
baccalaureat will have undoubtedly undergone as many
transitions as it has in the past.
b) The International Baccalaureate
In direct opposition to this constantly changing set
of examinations is the Swiss based diploma: the
International Baccalaureate, that has remained all but
unchanged in the 35 years since its creation. It has
undergone minor revisions, but the basic structure has
held strong. This stability may result from the fact
that its genesis is far different from that of the
French baccalaureat, as it is more of a laboratory
creation, an example of action research at its best,
whereas the French baccalaureat is a product of the
society in which it survives.
After World War I, mobility of families from one
country to another became more common. Already,
educational exchanges in general were problematic but
an increasing number of families going abroad were
having difficulty adapting to the different
educational systems and, more importantly, students
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30
were having trouble getting foreign diplomas accepted
by universities in their countries of origin. There
were international schools but as no one curriculum
existed for them, they were forced to adopt either the
local school curriculum or a mix of several national
programs. In brief, there was no ideal situation for
the many varied cultures that these schools housed.
As early as 1951, many schools and nations voiced
their concerns and the United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) founded
the International Schools Association (ISA), a non
governmental organization (NGO) with consultative
status at UNESCO. Its goal was to study the different
educational systems in hopes of finding possible
solutions for adopting ways to integrate them.
Initially ISA worked to develop a modern history
syllabus that led to an experimental examination in
1964. The experiment was a success and it attracted
much attention by such establishments as Harvard,
which pushed for the research to spread it to as many
subjects as possible. The Twentieth Century Fund gave
ISA a grant in 1963 to continue research in curriculum
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31
formation that could lead to an examination system
International Schools could all adopt and would help
students get access to Universities.
In 1965, the ISA developed the International
Schools' Examination Syndicate (ISES) which took the
name of International Baccalaureate Organisation in
1967 as a chartered foundation under the Swiss civil
code, with headquarters in Geneva. It is a private,
non-governmental organization recognized by the
Council of Europe and has consultative status with
UNESCO.
The International Baccalaureate Office had as its
goal to set up a common curriculum and a credential
system that would give geographically mobile students
access to universities throughout the world. The
International Baccalaureate Organisation joined with
Oxford University's education department to set up an
International Baccalaureate research center at Oxford.
The Ford Foundation followed the Twentieth Century
Fund's lead and also gave generously to help support
the International Baccalaureate Organisation's efforts
from 1966 through 1968. Through the help of these
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32
foundations and others, work progressed and countries
like Morocco, Hungary and Spain showed interest in the
project and declared they would possibly integrate
aspects of it into their own national systems. A
conference was held in March of 1965 in Geneva that
was attended by 40 experts. This conference gave rise
to a general framework for the curriculum for the two
last years of high school that the International
Baccalaureate program had set out to deal with.
It was agreed that secondary education up to
university entrance level should provide a
balanced general education and enable the
student to learn to use his knowledge,
rather than stuff his head full of facts.
(Renaud, 1974, p. 9)
A basic structure of six subjects was adopted,
namely two languages (including the student's mother
tongue, whichever that may be and a second language),
math, a human science, an experimental science and a
sixth subject chosen by the school and subject to the
International Baccalaureate's approval. Students
would take examinations in all six subjects to obtain
a full diploma or they could take examinations in only
a few of the subjects and receive certificates for
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33
each subject they passed. The examination, designed
to be flexible, allowed students to choose any
language for their language one and two as long as
these languages had some form of written literature.
For the other four subjects, the student had to
initially be able to speak and write French or English
(Spanish was added later to the possible choices) as
the examinations were only available in these
languages. In addition to the six basic subjects, it
was decided that a student had to devote part of his
or her time to artistic, social and or physical
activities to avoid having an overload of purely
academic subjects. Students would also follow a
Theory of Knowledge course that would give a
philosophical perspective to their educational
experience and promote individual thought and cultural
awareness.
The examinations, it was decided, would use
varied methods of assessment including essays, short
answer, multiple-choice sections, audio-visual testing
and personal research projects to give all students
the ability to show their strengths.
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34
It was decided that the new system would be tried
and tested from 1964 to 1970. The International
Baccalaureate Office obtained student volunteers from
both national and international schools and until 1969
trial examinations were held for subject certificates
that had no official value. In 1970, the first
official examinations were held and 312 students sat
for complete diplomas or certificates. The students
taking these examinations had 49 different
nationalities and the examinations held a 69.4%
success rate. By 1974, the success of the program had
grown and the International Baccalaureate had
attracted 1050 candidates of 72 different
nationalities, 400 of whom tried for the full diploma
(Renaud, 1974, p. 16).
The program attracted much attention. Teachers
and students were eager to join despite parents'
initial resistance and concern about having their
children used as guinea pigs for the International
Baccalaureate, if that meant a diploma that could not
be used for entrance into the universities of their
choice. Indeed, concurrently with the syllabus
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35
development and the initial testing project, the
International Baccalaureate Office negotiated with
governments and universities to help get the new
program recognized and accepted for the purposes of
admission into tertiary education. The International
Baccalaureate Organisation was able to overcome in
part the understandable initial reservations
universities had about the new examination. Yet, the
biggest problem faced by the International
Baccalaureate was in having universities and nations
accept its diploma for their nationals.
In April of 1974, a general conference was held
in Sevres, France, to discuss whether the
International Baccalaureate project was a success and
one worth continuing. There were 64 participants, 30
of whom were International Baccalaureate Organisation
representatives and 34 others that had come from
various international organizations from 21 different
countries. The French government financed the
conference in an effort to show France's support for
the project. This is slightly ironic considering
France's current reservations on the International
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36
Baccalaureate. It was determined that the project
should be continued and developed and that the program
was of value.
Over the last 30 years, the International
Baccalaureate Organisation has been extraordinarily
successful at selling its program. In its statistical
summary for the 1999 examination session, the
International Baccalaureate Organisation declared that
631 schools presented 32,675 students for certificates
or full diplomas at the May 1999, session. Of these,
16,080 came from schools in the United States. Quite
a far cry from the initial 312 in 1970!
PROGRAM CONTENTS
The roads each examination has had to travel are
quite different. The French is tortuous and follows a
series of twists and bends continuously adjusting to
the politics and conditions imposed by the culture of
the time, while the other, the International
Baccalaureate, lays a straight foundation to cover
vast territories. Clearly, their audiences are
different: France's examination is designed to cover
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37
as many elements as possible within one society; and
the International Baccalaureate's is designed for a
multi-cultural, international populace.
France adjusts to socio-economic disparities in
part by creating "inferior" or less challenging
diplomas that can serve as training programs for
trades. There are currently three different types of
baccalaureats. In addition to the general
baccalaureat there is a technological baccalaureat
that is divided into four different specialties,
Medical and Social Sciences; Mechanics, Civil
Engineering and Electronics; Chemistry, Energy and
Industry or Biochemistry; and finally, Computer
Sciences or Accounting. Students who take a
technological baccalaureat can go on to university in
their specialty. The newest of France's family of
baccalaureats is the professional one. Students who
end up in a professional baccalaureat program have
followed a different academic path. Basically, they
go through the standard academic track through 9th
grade but thereafter spend two years in a vocational
high school which leads to a professional diploma
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38
called the Brevet d'Etudes Professionnelles(BEP).
After the BEP they spend two more years preparing for
the professional baccalaureat examination. This track
requires that students spend four years after the 9th
grade to receive a baccalaureat, odd in that this non-
academic track demands one more year of schooling than
the general or technical tracks do. Each option
within the professional baccalaureat program stresses
a specific professional sector, such as sales,
manufacturing processes in chemical industries,
computer-aided manufacturing, restoration of antiques,
or maintenance of audio-visual and electronic systems.
Students who follow these programs have the option of
entering the workforce directly or going on to higher
education in vocational universities, or trade schools
as they are called in the United States.
In 1985, France declared that its goal was to
have, by the year 2000, 80% of an age group obtain
some type of baccalaureat. The professional
baccalaureat is designed to help make this goal a
reality. In 1997, 76% of the students taking the
general baccalaureat passed it. However, only 55.5%
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39
of France's students were able to reach the level to
even take the examination, which means that only 42%
of French students actually received the general
baccalaureat in 1997 (Office of Examination Services,
p. 9, 1999). Thus, the general baccalaureat remains a
very selective examination and the technological and
vocational tracks appear to be necessary options for
France to meet the political expectations imposed by
governmental reformers. Nevertheless, 42% of the
population is in fact a very successful statistic. It
is doubtful that 42% of the United States' 12th graders
have a level of education necessary to pass an
examination like the French baccalaureat!
It is France's general baccalaureat that is most
comparable to the International Baccalaureate as they
are both humanities based programs. It is also only
the general baccalaureat that France exports
throughout the world. Inside France, the general
baccalaureat remains the most prestigious and the most
advantageous. Fifty-seven percent of the students
receiving a baccalaureat in 1996 were for the general
baccalaureat as opposed to the 28% for the
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40
technological track and 15% for the professional track
(Vasconcellos, 1998, p.30). In fact, despite the
existence of three tracks, when a Frenchman refers to
a baccalaureat he is speaking of the general
baccalaureat, as it is this one that represents the
cultural icon of secondary education. For these
reasons, this thesis will only attempt to discuss
issues related to this general baccalaureat and any
comparison between the French baccalaureat and the
International Baccalaureate will involve the general
track of the French baccalaureat. Therefore, the
researcher will only describe the structure and
content of this one track in the baccalaureat family
of examinations. As this general baccalaureat itself
is quite complex, it will suffice to keep us busy.
a)The French baccalaureat
As of the 1999-2000 school year, the general
baccalaureat is divided into three sections labeled L,
ES and S. The L stands for literary section; the ES
stands for economic and social sciences and the S
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41
stands for scientific section. Students choose a
section and specialize in a given field before the
beginning of 11th grade. The examination is a two-year
process. At the end of 11th grade, all students take
the French language/literature part of the
examination. This consists of one four-hour essay
examination and a separate oral examination based on
works of literature studied during that academic
school year.
In the 12th grade, all but the L section students
abandon literature classes in French. In 12th grade,
all sections are required to take a modern history and
geography course as well as a philosophy course that
covers major themes in western philosophy with a brief
synopsis of what major philosophers have contributed
to European thought. All students must also follow
classes in at least one modern language as well as a
physical education course. The physical education
subject is the only subject that does not have an
examination component (although it did in the past).
The assessment of the physical education examination
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42
is internal and the grade is based on student
performance during their 12th grade year.
Thereafter, the sections separate and each
section studies different math classes. The S
students have the most mathematics and have a strong
emphasis on calculus. The ES students focus on math
related to economics such as statistics and
probabilities. The L students have a course in
scientific education that consists of one hour of math
a week that is geared toward math concepts, one hour
of natural sciences and one hour of physics. This
course is different from others, as the students will
not take examinations in all three subjects. Rather,
sometime before the examination, students are notified
as to which subject (math, natural sciences or
physics) they will be tested on. The subjects are
chosen at random and in practice, once students know
which subject they will ultimately get on the
examination, they drop the other two altogether.
Each section then spends time on its own
specialization, which for the S student means physics,
for the ES student means economics and for the L
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43
student means additional hours of philosophy and a
French course in international literature. The L and
ES students are also required to take an additional
modern language. All sections are required to choose
one optional subject that can either be a
specialization in the first modern language chosen,
another science class or an artistic subject. What is
available as an optional subject differs for each
section.
At the end of the 12 th grade, students sit for a
series of examinations, usually essay examinations and
one or two oral examinations. The grading scale
ranges from 0 to 20. The scale does not really relate
to the American percentage ranking system. In France,
a score of 20 signifies perfection and that does not
exist. 19 and 18 are equally unheard of. In most
subjects for example, a 16 in the French system is
considered an exceptional grade. In the American
system a 16 would be an 80%, which is merely a low B.
In the French system, 10 is a passing grade.
The baccalaureat uses a system of weighed averages.
Each grade is multiplied by its assigned weight
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44
(coefficient) on the examination and thus each subject
holds a different overall value on the examination.
Subjects hold different values depending on the
section chosen. The math grade for example in the S
section is weighed seven times compared to the history
grade that is counted three times1. Points are counted
based on their weighed worth and a student must
receive a 10 average or above to pass the examination.
With an average above 8 but below 10, a student does
not automatically pass but is allowed to choose two
subjects that have caused him or her the most trouble
on the written examination and take another set of
examinations. These additional examinations are oral
and the grade the student receives on these two oral
examinations will replace his or her initial grade in
those subjects.
If the student passes these oral examinations and
raises his or her average up to 10, he or she then
receives the diploma. With an average of 12 a student
receives a baccalaureat cum laude or "mention assez
1 A table of the subjects and their coefficients (weighted value) in each section
is attached in the appendix
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45
bien. " An average of 14 obtains a magna cum laude or
"mention bien. " An average of 16 obtains a summa cum
laude or "mention tres bien. " Each section does not
hold the same prestige or marketability in society.
The S section is by far the most sought after.
In an effort to make the French baccalaureat more
attractive to its oversees market, the French Ministry
of Education has developed a International Option to
the French baccalaureat known as the O.I.B (Option
Internationale du baccalaureat). In the United States
for example, a student enrolled in the International
Baccalaureate program would basically be taking a
general baccalaureat in which the English language
examination would be literature based rather than one
based on basic communication skills. In addition to
the written examination, students also face an
additional oral examination in English based on a work
of literature studied in class. The weighted value of
the written English on the examination is also
stronger. English has a weighted value of 6 in L, 5
in ES and 5 in S. The oral examination is worth 4 for
L, S and ES sections. English would be the language
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46
of specialization in The United States. In another
country, the national language would substitute for
English.
The history and geography component of the
examination is much more complex for the O.I.B
candidate as well. There is both a written and an
oral part to this subject that does not exist in the
traditional general baccalaureat. The examination is
held in the student's native language and holds a
stronger weighted value in all sections. The written
examination is worth 5 in L and ES and 4 in S. The
oral part is worth 3 for L and S and 4 for the ES.
This O.I.B does represent a fair amount of additional
work for students but its advantage of course is that
students that might be weaker in French have a chance
of catching up on this handicap by adding more work in
their native language. This makes the French
baccalaureat more competitive abroad. In fact there
exists agreements between France and other countries
that allow students who successfully pass the
International Option of the French baccalaureat to
simultaneously receive foreign diplomas as well.
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47
Germany and the Netherlands currently allow this and
France is negotiating with other countries.
b) The International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate is a two-year
program. During the last two years of high school,
students are asked to fulfill set requirements in
order to obtain an International Baccalaureate
diploma. The students follow courses in six subjects
and at the end of the two years must sit for
examinations in each of these subjects. Their results
on these tests are worth approximately 80% of the
grade with the remaining 20% of the final grade coming
from an internal evaluation of student projects in
each subject completed during the two-year period.
The internal assessments are externally monitored.
All teachers send five samples to an outside moderator
who sees how closely the school and its teachers
follow the International Baccalaureate standards. The
percentage balance between internal and external
assessment varies by subject. Usually subjects have
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48
somewhere near a 20% internal and an 80% external
ratio.
The six subjects that students are tested in are
not selected at random. Each subject falls into a
"group of study" and students must take one subject
from each group of study. Students must chose to
take at least three but no more than four subjects at
a higher level with the remaining two or three at a
standard level. The difference between higher and
standard level class is both level of difficulty
demanded of the student as well as the amount of time
a student spends on a given subject. For higher level
classes, the International Baccalaureate Organisation
recommends 240 hours of coursework over a two-year
period. A standard level class requires 150 hours of
coursework over a two-year period.
The whole philosophy of the International
Baccalaureate is to create well-rounded individuals.
Students can be stronger in certain subjects but they
can not escape subjects all together. The six areas
of study or "groups" are:
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Group one: Language A1 or language of fluency,
mother tongue, best language. This is a literature-
based program. There is a prescribed book list and a
list of world literature from which the schools must
make a selection. The choice of what language to
choose is basically unlimited. The A1 language must
have its own literature but a student can choose
anything from English to Chinese, or Arabic to
Bulgarian. The external assessment in the language Al
category is 70% of the grade and the remained 30% of
the grade is based on an internal assessment that is a
taped oral presentation that may be sent to the
International Baccalaureate Organisation. At the
higher level the examination would consist of one
four-hour examination and two world literature papers
to be submitted to the International Baccalaureate
Organisation. At the standard level the student would
have one three-hour examination and one world
literature paper to submit.
Group Two: Language. A second language must be
studied. Again a student can choose almost any
language. The second language can be taken at four
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50
different levels. No matter what the level chosen,
students will have 70% of their grade based on the
examination and 30% based on an internal assessment
that is a taped oral presentation. For the completely
bilingual, students can take their second language
again at an Al level. Still for the very fluent,
there exists an A2 option that is similar to the Al
examination only there is less emphasis on literature
in the program. Taking a language at either the Al or
A2 level will result in a bilingual diploma if the
student passes. For the A2 language taken at a higher
level the student will take two two-hour examinations
both on the same day. A standard level student would
take two examinations as well on the same day— one
two-hour examination and one one and a half hour
examination. The internal assessment component is an
oral examination.
Students with more limited proficiency can choose
to take their group two language at the B or ab initio
level. The beginner level of ab initio is only
available to students who have taken that language
during the last two years of high school. Both B and
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51
ab initio levels result in two one and a half hour
examinations and one oral presentation for their oral
assessment.
Group three is the "Individuals and Societies
category." Subjects offered include history,
geography, economics, philosophy, psychology, social
anthropology, business and organization, and
information technology in a global society.
Requirements for each subject vary and percent values
of external and internal also differ. Internal
assessment requirements can be anything from 2500 word
in-depth studies, portfolios or field research. All
external assessment is again examination based.
Group four is the "experimental sciences"
category and offers a choice of subjects like biology,
chemistry, physics, and environmental systems and
design technology. For all but design technology
which has a 65%/35% external/internal assessment
ratio, there is a 76% to 24% ratio. The internal
assessments are composed of experimental
investigations (lab reports) and portfolios. External
assessment includes two to three examinations over a
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52
two day period depending on whether or not the subject
is taken at a higher or standard level.
Group five is the mathematics section. The only
choice here is the level of difficulty a student can
handle. The higher-level mathematics class is similar
although maybe more difficult than the French
requirement for an S section student. All levels of
math result in a series of two examinations taken over
two days that count for 80% of a student's grade. The
remaining 20% is based on a student project.
Group six is the elective category. The
student's options are limited by what his or her
school offers. Choice includes an extra subject
chosen from groups one through five, an additional
science or philosophy course for example. A student
can also choose to take classical languages,
art/design, music, theatre arts or computer sciences.
The assessment varies per subject chosen, as does the
ratio of internal to external assessment. Typically
for an artistic subject, an external examiner will
come visit the school and assess a student's
performance in person.
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53
The examinations are graded on a seven-point
system. Each examination can receive a maximum of
seven points for a total of 42 points possible.
In addition to the six core subjects in which the
students are eventually tested, students must follow
and complete 100 hours of coursework in a Theory of
Knowledge (ToK) class that gives them a philosophical
picture of their two years of study. Students must
also write an extended essay of 4000 words on a
subject of their choice. Finally, students must
complete the Creativity, Action Services (CAS)
component that requires that the students engage in
extra-curricular activities that include community
service, sports and artistic projects. Merit in the
extended essay, ToK work, or both can add bonus points
(up to three) which means a student could make up to
45 points on the examination. 24 points are needed to
pass. No subject can be failed altogether. A grade
of 1 received in any higher level subject results in
the diploma not being awarded whether or not the
candidate has more than 24 points. The International
Baccalaureate requires that students have a minimum of
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54
24 points but there are also failing conditions which
would result in the International Baccalaureate not
awarding the diploma whether or not the students have
the minimum points. These failing conditions listed
in the 1999 Vade Mecum published by the International
Baccalaureate Organisation include:
• A poor grade in both the Theory of Knowledge
requirement and the extended essay.
• A grade of 2 in any higher level subject.
• That grades of 3 in a Higher Level subject not
be compensated by grades of 5 or above in other
higher level subjects.
• A grade 1 in any standard level subject
• Two or more grades of 2 in standard level
subjects
• Four or more grades 3 all around
• Two or more grades 3 with a grade 2 at standard
level.
For candidates that have a barely passing score,
24, 25, 26 or 27 points, their diplomas will not be
awarded if they have any of the above failing
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55
conditions. Students with overall scores of 28 or
above are allowed one but no more than one failing
condition. The conditions are placed to ensure that
students not ignore any subject altogether, be it at
higher or standard level. The International
Baccalaureate Organisation also does not want to see
students placing so much additional emphasis on one
higher level course that they neglect other subjects
or hope to achieve "catch up points" with this one
subject.
Exams are given in May in the Northern Hemisphere
and November in the Southern Hemisphere.
Students have the option of not taking a full
diploma program. They can instead challenge one or
more subjects and receive certificates in the subjects
they pass. Students attempting the full diploma can
also receive the additional prestige of obtaining a
full bilingual diploma. To get a full bilingual
diploma a student would either have to have two
language Al or one language Al and one A2. One last
method of obtaining a bilingual diploma would be to
have the student take one language Al, a language B
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56
and to sit for the external examination of one of the
other subjects in their language B.
Group one and two, which are the language
subjects, can be taken in virtually any language. To
take an International Baccalaureate however a student
must be able to communicate well in French, English or
Spanish, as these are the only languages available for
examinations in subjects from groups three to five.
The International Baccalaureate Organisation
reassesses the program contents of each subject on a
regular basis (roughly every five years). There are
modifications made here and there. The basic
foundation of a six-subject examination that has a
strong language foundation has remained unchanged
since the examination's creation, however. The
International Baccalaureate demands that all schools
have their teachers participate in regular training
workshops. Schools must also provide the
International Baccalaureate Organisation with copies
of their syllabus contents in all subjects. Schools
are monitored to ensure quality. What a school
offers, however, is based on its available resources.
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57
There is a very clear element of choice in the program
that would be completely impossible in the French
system, which remains much more rigid and centralized.
PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES RELATED TO THE PROGRAMS
France, as was seen earlier, keeps its
baccalaureat in a constant state of reform. It is
forever reworked, relabeled, and restructured at such
a rate that it is almost impossible for someone
outside the loop of the educational structure to be
able to keep up with all the changes made. New
options, fewer options, new sections, fewer sections,
coefficient restructuring, program modifications - all
keep the educational world in a frenzy of activity.
For every change, there is a subsequent press
conference and a series of publications to explain
each new innovation. For every change there are
continuing education workshops. New textbooks are
developed and distributed, new baccalaureat self-help
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58
books reworked and of course new scholarly
dissertations to offer complex analyses.
Yet, despite all this, everything stays the same.
It does not really matter if the baccalaureat is
labeled L or A, S or C; the experience it offers
remains constant. The baccalaureat was and remains an
icon of the culture, a shared experience that many
face and hopefully will survive. But no matter the
final outcome, few will forget the experience. Most
in fact will remember it quite vividly. They will
remember the section and its label of the time. They
will remember if an honorable mention was conferred.
They may even remember their individual grades and the
essay questions on some of the examinations. They
will remember their teachers, their class and the
years in which the program took place quite vividly
whether their experience was good or bad. In
contrast, subsequent university life will never leave
the same impression despite the fact that university
diplomas can and do have as much of an impact on
career possibilities, if not more.
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The French baccalaureat is thus embedded in the
nation's psyche and a France without it would somehow
not be the same. This cultural rite of passage holds
such importance in the French world because it is a
national examination and as such it represents a
nation's shared experience.
In contrast, the International Baccalaureate is
not one nation's shared experience, and does not
therefore have the same collective hold, as does the
French baccalaureat. Although, the International
Baccalaureate cannot be a national icon as is the
French baccalaureat, the influence it has within a
given cohort of students is similar. To witness a
group of 12th grade students during the month of May a
few days before the examinations start, one would be
unable to discern which examination they were about to
face.
Indeed, despite obvious differences in program
content, there are hurdles to be cleared in both
examination systems and they are both laid out in the
final stretch of the 12th grade. Both sets of students
will be faced with several days of examinations, as
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each subject requires its own separate examination.
This multi-subject focus is what makes these
examinations different from other systems that require
students to be exposed to general education subjects
but are ultimately held responsible for only their own
field of specialization as with the English A-level or
the American Advanced Placement program. Indeed, both
the International Baccalaureate and the French
baccalaureat have as their starting block that all
students must obtain a solid general education
foundation to which is then added the ability to
specialize in other subjects. No one escapes any core
subject entirely and the value of a humanities based
education is a point on which all agree. The basic
philosophy of further having a global vision of a
given program and a clear picture of what each program
wants a student to accomplish at any given time is
also true for both systems.
This too is very different from the American
approach that consists of an accumulation of units
rather than the acquisition of an approved curriculum
with a very clear set of goals to attain and skills to
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61
be acquired. This is not to say that the American
system does not have any structure or a global vision.
For sure, the American system does have a reason
behind its unit structure and American students must
complete a given number of units in different areas of
study. It is a student's choice as to what class
he/she will take to fulfill a requirement for a field
of study. This, on the surface, could resemble the
International Baccalaureate format that allows for
choice within its six- discipline configuration.
However, unlike the International Baccalaureate, in
the American system there is a great disparity of
level between classes offered in a given discipline.
Based on student motivation and ability, a student can
follow an easy beginning algebra class or and advanced
calculus class. Down the line studies in either class
will ultimately lead to the same diploma.
The International Baccalaureate also has choices
but all courses are rigorous and there are no easier
ways out. In fact, both French baccalaureat and
International Baccalaureate programs are designed to
impose a hefty curriculum on all students. Students
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are allowed to choose which subjects will be more
intense; however, there is no way a student can avoid
a subject altogether by taking a watered down version
of it nor can a student avoid a large amount of hard
work. Basically, there is no easy way out other than
not entering the program at all.
Interestingly enough, hard work is actually the
key to success on both examinations. Obviously a
certain educational foundation is required but neither
program requires that students be incredibly gifted or
have superior intelligence (it would be nice to think
that such a large portion of the French population had
superior IQs but it is not particularly realistic).
Both, however, require a substantial commitment and a
large amount of work. More than anything it is the
ability to organize one's time and the intellectual
discipline that these programs instill that give their
students the preparation for university life that more
lenient structures are unable to accomplish. There is
little time left for “putting off until tomorrow" as
tomorrow brings a student one step closer to the final
examination.
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63
Added to the fear of the whole testing process,
of course, is the fact that both systems use external
methods of testing and therefore a student's work will
ultimately be judged by an impartial stranger
someone who will not be influenced by prior knowledge
of an individual. Further, the tests are not
objective in nature as are the American SAT or the
Japanese and Swiss exit examinations. Very little to
no time is given to multiple choice type structures.
This means a student must actually solve the math
problem rather than pick a possible correct answer
from a limited choice of options. In non-scientific
subjects, the focus is turned to personal reflection
in an essay format. This demands that students
acquire more than the ability to memorize facts. It
requires that they be able to think and express their
thoughts in a coherent manner. Personal thoughts and
ideas supported with acquired knowledge laid out in
the open, in a format ready for a perfect stranger to
judge and critique.
Be they sitting for an International
Baccalaureate or a French baccalaureat, the emotions
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64
students go through are similar. The fear and the
foundation are not unrelated and as such students do
have a common experience in spite of the fact that the
diplomas they will hang on their wall and use for
university admission have very different geneses.
For either system to be of interest to the
American eye, what they have most in common must be
seen as desirable. Indeed, as we have seen, currently
Americans see high school as a time to socialize every
bit as much as a time for learning. As a result, many
American high school students do spend three years
socializing instead of getting ready for university
life. More precisely, whether or not a student
challenges himself or herself is a result of the
student's own personality and/or of the family
environment and not a result of the schools' demands.
As such, the high school experience of one American
can and is very different from what another student in
the same school may have lived. This is diametrically
opposed to both the French and International
baccalaureate programs. Both these programs impose a
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65
structure that demands hard work on the part of all
students and not just a select self-motivated few.
Whether the United States wishes to actually deal
with its problems in secondary education will actually
depend on whether or not it is willing to lose or at
least diminish the importance of the socialization
factor that now dominates high school life. An actual
desire to ensure all graduates obtain a minimum level
of literacy has to be accepted as the requirement for
graduation. Therefore, the similarities of the two
examinations, their examination mentality and their
humanities foundation, must be seen as valuable before
one can decide whether or not either baccalaureate
program could be used in whole or in part as
inspirations for an American program.
This change of national expectations is the
hardest part to reach. High school is an institution
and changing the way an institution is run is
difficult. Admitting that it is at all possible, once
America has accepted the idea of an exit examination,
an accountability system, for high school, then the
study of different baccalaureates becomes of interest.
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However, it is not in the similarities of the two
programs that an American system will be found. A
philosophy can be found there. An actual solution for
Americans will be found in the analysis of the
differences between systems. It is in the analysis of
the dissimilarities that one can better judge just
which aspects of either program would best fit the
United States' specific circumstances.
It is in fact odd that two programs that have the
same emotional impact on students and provide
guarantees of similar educational foundations for
their graduates could be so very different.
The French system in general is somehow set apart
from the rest of the world by its extreme
centralization. The American system and the
flexibility it allows both schools and the students
within these schools horrify the French. Any notion
of choice is equated in the French mind as being, in
essence, the road to hell and to inferior and unequal
education. Lionel Jospin reaffirmed this French ideal
when he presented his vision of the baccalaureat and
defended his decision not to allow for students to
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67
have too many choices of options within each section
by saying:
An educational curriculum based on the
concept of electives would, in itself, breed
inequalities not only among schools but more
importantly among students. We know - as a
sociological law - that the freer the reign
in choosing courses of study, the more
difficult it is for those who are not
familiar with the educational institution to
make the right choices. (Solaux, p. 42)
Indeed, the French baccalaureat’s structure is
such that students may choose a section but once the
section is chosen, there is almost no choice (outside
of the optional courses) as to what subjects the
student will study. There is also no choice as to
what teachers will teach within each subject. Even
language teachers must choose their works of
literature based on set guidelines imposed by the
French government. In addition to this, the French
baccalaureat ultimately leads to national examinations
on which the student's entire academic career depends.
There is no room given to internal assessment and all
attempts to incorporate internal assessment aspects to
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68
the examination have so far been strongly opposed as
threats to the examination's national status.
If one tests Jospin's "sociological law" in the
American system, it does ring true. It rings true
because the American system deals with social
inequalities and disparities amongst students by
awarding identical diplomas for very unequal work.
Within fields of study, there is a very marked
difference between courses and the amount of work they
require as well as in the knowledge with which they
will ultimately furnish students.
However, Jospin's law (we will call it Jospin's
law, as this researcher has been unable to actually
find any such stated sociological law in textbooks)
falls flat when considering the International
Baccalaureate program. From the beginning the
International Baccalaureate was designed to be
flexible so that it would fit in a variety of
countries and cultural situations. As such, it does
adopt a very American approach to education with
schools picking and choosing subjects they will offer
students within a vast list of possibilities the
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69
organization is willing to accept. Yet, unlike the
American system, the range of courses differs in
content but not in level.
The International Baccalaureate allows for an
unlimited choice of languages but each language course
demands the same amount of work. There is in fact no
written law that states one elective within a group of
study has to necessarily be inferior. I suppose that
the French equate the notion of choice as being one of
absolutely free choice. This is where the
International Baccalaureate Organisation disagrees
when it sets up a vast array of guided choices
available to schools. Choices that try to help
schools by allowing the program to adapt to the
school's structure rather than forcing the school's
structure to adapt to the program. This non
centralized approach is further felt in that schools
choose subjects and design programs based on
guidelines and then submit them to the International
Baccalaureate for approval. This would be unheard of
in a French system. The International Baccalaureate
also maintains an element of internal assessment for
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70
each subject and stays away from the concept of the
make or break examination that controls the entire
fate of the student in its hands.
Ultimately, the International Baccalaureate's
decentralized structure makes for a very different
examination. The International Baccalaureate
basically believes that students should be allowed to
make guided choices and that no one type of student
exists. As such, the examination is structured in
such a way that specialization is tailored to each
individual case. All students are required to follow
a well-rounded curriculum with six key areas of study
but what they study more in depth depends entirely on
them. They have to take a minimum of three and a
maximum of four courses at higher level but which
courses they take depends on individual taste and
ability. A students could conceivable be both
literary and scientific and thus choose to take
biology, English and history at higher level. This is
not true in the French system. For the French,
students are scientific or literary. They are exposed
to both types of knowledge but their specialty is
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71
either one or the other. A student is in S or L but
cannot pick and choose between elements of both.
This specialization is reflected in more than
just the choice of subjects but also in the nature in
which the programs are set up and the way in which
credit is given for each examination. For the French,
students will specialize and their given area of
specialization will thereafter pull focus away from
other subjects. In a scientific track, students will
spend many more hours in class for scientific subjects
and ultimately, these subjects will hold a much
greater value to their final examination score. For
example, a math examination score will be coefficient
sept and thus it will be counted seven times whereas
the philosophy examination score will only be counted
three times and is thus worth less. It is also the
total number of points received that ultimately
determines whether or not a student passes the
baccalaureat. The scores of individual subjects are
thus unimportant as long as a student receives the
overall total number of points needed. Conceivably a
student could completely fail one examination and make
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72
up the score with high scores in other subjects. The
weight placed on each subject determines how realistic
it is that a student could make up points. Again, here
the student's specialization is reinforced, as it
would be harder to makeup a bad grade in a subject in
the student's area of specialization than it would in
what is seen as the general education component of the
examination.
All of this would be untrue for an International
Baccalaureate candidate. Specialization for an
International Baccalaureate means a slightly heavier
load in those subjects but in no way reduces the value
of other subjects. In fact, a student may choose
specific subjects as higher or standard level but
ultimately on the day of the examination each subject
holds the same weight. Each subject is graded on a
scale of one to seven and no one examination can be
failed altogether even if a student makes up the
points with other subjects. This is where the
International Baccalaureate's strong emphasis on the
value of a global well-rounded curriculum is most
felt. Indeed, the amount of time spent in each class,
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73
the fact that all courses hold the same value on the
final examination and that no subject can be failed do
imply that a student must be good in all subjects.
The differences in assessment go further than
just weighted/non-weighted scales or ability to
completely fail one subject. How a student is
assessed is also very different between the two
systems. The French baccalaureat basically has
students take essay examinations or solve problems in
scientific subjects. There is an oral examination
component that still exists but it is small,
especially for the scientific majors. The
International Baccalaureate varies its assessment
structure more. There is the already mentioned
internal assessment part of the grade for each
subject. There is also an oral examination section
for language subjects as with the French baccalaureat.
However, in addition to these things, each examination
is structured in such a way as to provide varying
methods of assessment to include multiple-choice
sections, short answer sections, and essay sections.
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74
This is designed to help all students shine by giving
different ways for them to express themselves.
Further, in line with the concept of internal
assessment, the International Baccalaureate adds
requirements to the diploma program that do not touch
upon any examination. The extended essay, the Theory
of Knowledge class and the Community Action Services
components are all requirements, can give additional
credit to students, but are themselves not part of any
externally-graded examination.
The requirements for obtaining an International
Baccalaureate are thus vast. The design of the
International Baccalaureate suggests a Renaissance man
mentality. The International Baccalaureate program
places a very strong emphasis on providing students
with a very well rounded education. Yet, the
International Baccalaureate offers a solution that the
French baccalaureat does not. The International
Baccalaureate allows for students to take parts of the
program and eventually receive certificates for
individual subjects. This would be unheard of in the
French system. A student either gets his or her
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75
baccalaureat or does not. There is no partial
solution.
This partial solution is actually odd and seems
to counter the whole notion of the well-rounded
education. The United States, in fact, despite its
233 schools offering International Baccalaureate
courses, does not currently as a rule have students
follow the full diploma program. The program is
indeed treated more like an alternate to the Advanced
Placement program and the typical American student
will sit for one or more certificates but not the
whole examination. Renaud points out as early as
1974 that the International Baccalaureate:
Originally conceived as a syllabus giving
access to university, has interested a large
number of candidates whose future intentions
lie elsewhere. The possibility of taking
individual subject-certificates means in
effect that those who do not wish to take
the full diploma may qualify for further
study in diverse fields by this means alone.
Up to now almost half of all International
Baccalaureate candidates have not sought to
continue their education in universities.
(p. 14)
Although the International Baccalaureate
Organisation insists that their full diploma program
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76
is not designed for only the exceptionally bright, it
does find it necessary to provide a big percentage of
their students an option that does not require the
work of the full diploma program. The certificate
mentality is the only way that the International
Baccalaureate has of dealing with students who are not
college bound.
This approach would be unheard of in the French
system. There is no such thing as a partial
baccalaureat. The French do acknowledge that all
students do not have the same capabilities and talents
but they deal with this reality by creating parallel
structures for these students. Actually, it is their
effort to reach more and more of their population that
forces the French to constantly update and reform
their system. In fact, the French system should be
praised for its constant attempts to reach more and
more members of its society. It has been heavily
criticized for its efforts because these efforts have
been said to bring about a bastardization of the
program and that the whole notion of obtaining a
baccalaureat no longer means as much when
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77
technological and professional baccalaureats exist.
Yet, in most of its reforms, France struggles to find
ways to bring as many students up to the level of the
general baccalaureat rather than bringing its
baccalaureat down to the level of its students. The
possible exception to this would be the ridiculously
low expectations in math and sciences in the current
literary baccalaureat. Yet, a scientific baccalaureat
requires every bit as much work today as it did 30
years ago.
The problem of the bastardization of the diploma
is actually more a result of a worldwide phenomenon
than of one specific to France. The world as a whole
finds itself faced with a problem of what Fagerlind
and Saha describe as the Law of Zero Correlation
(1989, p. 268). As the world's general levels of
attainment have risen, the status of each level of
education is not as great. As Fagerlind and Saha
explain:
As participation rates at any level, for
example secondary school, increase, the
aggregate social benefits to those reaching
that level will decrease.... On the other
side of the coin, if almost the entirety of
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78
the population increasingly attains certain
levels, then for those who have not done so
there is increasing liability, (p.268)
At least France's parallel structures do provide
students with actual skills and marketable diplomas.
The International Baccalaureate's certificates are not
diplomas, nor do they give any specialized training to
the students who opt for this way out. Just how
marketable certificates alone are would vary by
country.
In the United States, this option is quite
successful as it presents an alternate to the Advanced
Placement program currently available most everywhere.
In 1999 of the 16,080 candidates taking some form of
International Baccalaureate examination, only 5,154
were enrolled in the full diploma program. 3,883
diplomas were awarded which means a 75.34% pass rate
for diploma candidates in the United States
(International Baccalaureate, 1999, p. 9). This
statistic is alarming when one considers the way in
which most American schools screen their International
Baccalaureate candidates. The International
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79
Baccalaureate is currently used as an option to the
Advanced Placement for gifted students. Very few
schools use the International Baccalaureate as a
complete curriculum to follow for all students even at
a reduced intensity. Melissa Matczak studied Millard
North High School in Nebraska that offers an
International Baccalaureate program. This school
invited more than 600 incoming freshman from
throughout the district to apply to take
part. Administrators narrowed the pool to
7 0 by considering applicants' course work
and grades. Of those, Principal Linda Wyatt
expects that 10 or so will earn the diploma
(1999, p 9)
This selective nature is by no means an exception
for International Baccalaureate schools in the United
States. It is basically the rule. This seems like a
waste when the program is such that it could be used
in whole or in part for all students.
The French baccalaureat does not offer this
flexibility and yet, the results obtained in the
United States on this examination are surprisingly
good. There are eight schools in the United States
that go all the way to a French baccalaureat. 218
candidates sat for the June, 1999, session in the
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80
United States. 189 came from these eight schools and
29 prepared for the examination via correspondence
courses. 194 of these candidates obtained their
diploma, which translates to an 89% pass rate overall.
Of the 194 that passed, 82 received some form of
honorable mention (Office of Examination services,
Washington). The pass rate would be slightly higher
if the correspondence course students were taken out
of the totals. Overall statistics for French
baccalaureat results in France show that in 1998 75.2%
of the students taking the general baccalaureat
passed. Why the French schools in the United States
do so much better could be a result of candidate
screening. It should be noted that candidate
screening does not seem to help United States schools
for the International Baccalaureate. Further, in
theory, such screening practices are not allowed by
the French Ministry of Education.
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81
CQHCUJSIOH
The United States could learn much from the
experience of these two programs. It would be
unrealistic to assume that either program in its
entirety would be able to fit right into the United
States' mold. In fact it would be unrealistic to
think that any one system would fit into the United
States' mold. The fact that the United States'
educational system is as unionized as the French
system means that any change to the structure would be
subject to collective bargaining issues that would be
tiresome and painstaking and most likely quite
fruitless. However, because the United States does
not have a satisfactory program in place, it could
approach the issue much in the way that the
International Baccalaureate did, in other words in a
laboratory creation type of approach. For one, this
method of laboratory fabrication that is tried and
tested may avoid the anguish of the constantly
reforming system.
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It would seem at any rate that both the French
baccalaureat and the International Baccalaureate have
qualities that could benefit the United States.
Because the Americans use the International
Baccalaureate as an Advanced Placement rather than an
actual full diploma program, it is clear students
choose to specialize in one or more subjects but are
not interested in the broad general education the
International Baccalaureate would be capable of
providing. A more specialized French baccalaureat
structure may in fact be more suitable to the
Americans' focused approach to education. However,
the International Baccalaureate's ability to allow
schools to choose to offer subjects within a list of
many as well as its flexibility on language issues may
be better suited for America's decentralized, melting
pot environment. Further, the International
Baccalaureate is really geared to teaching the child
how to learn and this research, personal project type
education would suit the American mind more than the
rigid fact ridden structure found in the French
program.
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Basically, The United States could pick and
choose elements from both baccalaureate systems that
best fit its needs and thus create its own system.
The International Baccalaureate offers possibilities
of choosing subjects, which could fit the existing
United States' educational structure. France's
vocational tracks could provide more practical hands-
on education tor students who would not be college
bound. All this, of course, would require a
commitment, a vision and the support of the community
at large which have yet to be found.
The citizens of the United States have a terrible
fear of handing over too much power to their central
government. Their fear that any countrywide
innovation in education would result in that very
abnegation of state rights in favor of federal ones.
The French system of course would send chills down an
American back as such central control is an
abomination! However, it is false to think that one
system necessarily means complete centralization. The
International Baccalaureate is a good example of how
one program can adapt and fit many different needs. In
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84
fact, The International Baccalaureate offers enormous
freedom - within reason. To use a term that might
hold dear to the American mind, despite the freedom of
choice allowed individual schools, the International
Baccalaureate has its own checks and balances. The
exam structure and the organization's right to approve
program content make sure schools are doing their jobs
honestly.
Although there are 50 states, they all belong to
one country. This one country may have slight
differences between states in requirements for
graduating from high school but, in fact, all states
offer the same diploma. States may tinker with their
system and throw in a few innovations here and there
but the fundamental structure is a countrywide
phenomenon. It is not slight innovational changes
here and there that this country needs. It is a major
restructuring that has to be done if there is any hope
of reducing the numbers of students that are unable to
follow university level courses after graduating from
high school. If restructuring and changing the
philosophical objectives of secondary education are in
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
85
fact the goal, then Americans cannot afford to
continue tinkering with an inadequate system. The
states must come together to do something about
secondary education. The United States has to come to
terms with the fact that education is a national issue
and that it should be treated as such.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
86
Bibliography
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Requirements for Baccalaureate Degrees in AACSB-
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Folmar, K. (1995, October 23). Van Nuys:
Birmingham Panel to Review Special Classes. Los
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Laurent-Brennan, C. (1998). The International
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Matczak, M. (1999, June 21). Millard Gets Global
Program. The Omaha School District also is Looking at
the International Baccalaureate and its Rigorous
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196.
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Solaux, G. (1995). Le baccalaureat. Paris: La
documentation frangaise.
Thomas, P. B. (1988). Students across Frontiers.
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BS) . Paris: La documentation Frangaise.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission o f th e copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Literary Section («*rle L)
Mathematics Modern language Latin/Greek
specialty specialty specialty
Length
of exam Weight
Max
Pts.
Length
of exam Weight
Max
Pts.
Length
of exam Weight
Max
Pts.
Written Examinations:
French Literature 4hrs 3 60 4hrs 3 60 4hrs 3 60
Philosophy 4hrs 7 140 4hrs 7 140 4hrs 7 140
World Literature 2hrs 2 40 2hrs 2 40 2hrs 2 40
History-Geography 4hrs 4 80 4hrs 4 80 4hrs 4 80
Science education lhr 2 40 lhr 2 40 1.5hrs 2 40
Modern Language 1 3hrs 4 80 3hrs 4 80 3hrs 4 80
Modern Language 2 3hrs 4 80 3hrs 4 80 3hrs 4 80
Mathematics 3hrs 4 80
Latin/Greek 3hrs 4 80
Oral examinations
French Literature
2
40 2 40 2 40
Modern Language 4 80
Marlnssa Points Possible 640 640 640
Physical education: the student is given a global grade at the end of the school year.
The weighed value is 2 for a total point potentioal of 40 for all sections.
s
APPENDIX
Reproduced with permission o f th e copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Econoad.cs and Social Sciancaa Saction (sdrie ES)
Economics Mathematics Languages
specialty specialty specialty
Length Max Length Max Length Max
of exam Weight Pts. of exam Weight Pts. of exam Weight Pts.
Writtan Examinations:
French Literature 4hrs 2 40 4hrs 2 40 4hrs 2 40
Philosophy 4hrs 4 80 4hrs 4 80 4hrs 4 80
History-Geography 4hrs 5 100 4hrs 5 100 4hrs 5 100
Economics 5hrs 9 180 4hrs 7 140 4hrs 7 140
Mathematics 3hrs 5 100 3hrs 7 140 3hrs 5 100
Modern Language 1 3hrs 3 60 3hrs 3 60 3hrs 3 60
Oral Ex salinations
French Literature 2 40 2 40 2 40
Modern Language 2 3 60 3 60 3 60
Modern Language 2 40
Mawlas— Points Possible 660 660 660
Physical education: the student is given a global grade at the end of the school year.
The weighed value is 2 for a total point potentioal of 40 for all sections.
Reproduced with permission o f th e copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Mathoaatica and Sciancaa Saction (aaria S)
Mathematics Physics-Chemistry Biology Technology
specialty specialty specialty specialty
Length Max Length Max Length Max Length Max
of exam Weight Pts. of exam Weight Pts. of exam Weight Pts. of exam Weight Pts.
Writtan Kxaadnationa:
French Literature 4hrs 2 40 4hrs 2 40 4hrs 2 40 4hrs 2 40
Philosophy 4hrs 3 60 4hrs 3 60 4hrs 3 60 4hrs 3 60
History-Geography 2hrs 3 60 2hrs 3 60 2hrs 3 60 2hrs 3 60
Modern Language 1 3hrs 3 60 3hrs 3 60 3hrs 3 60 3hrs 3 60
Mathematics 4hrs 9 180 4hrs 7 140 4hrs 7 140 4hrs 7 140
Physics-Chemistry 3.5hrs 6 120 3.5hrs 8 160 3.5hrs 6 120 3.Shrs 6 120
Sciences and Biology 3.5hrs 6 120 3.5hrs 6 120 3.5hrs 8 160
Technology 4hrs 6 120
Oral Sxaadnationa
French Literature 2 40 2 40 2 40 2 40
Mawlawan Fointa Foaaibla 680 680 680 640
Physical education: the student is given a global grade at the end of the school year.
The weighed value is 2 for a total point potentioal of 40 for all sections.
vO
N)

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Creator Chaponot, Elizabeth (author)

Core Title Dealing with the United States' educational crisis: Studying baccalaureate programs

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Master of Science

Degree Program Education

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Education, Secondary,education, tests and measurements,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Rideout, William M. (committee chair), Lee, William (committee member), Stromquist, Nelly (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-287474

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Legacy Identifier 1409623-0.pdf

Dmrecord 287474

Document Type Thesis

Rights Chaponot, Elizabeth

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

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