IB provisional result 2012

liyinfai

I have no further comment on IB results! BUt I must say I m putting emphasis on IB results .
Bty, may i ask all parents here how to improve or prepare your kids to get a better IB results? Any special approach? Any examination-orientated reference books recommended? Thanks again

bobbycheung

HKTHK 發表於 12-7-14 01:54
It doesn't feel right for me to judge a student's achievement on how much cost or effort was involve ...

Interesting.  First of all, we have got to define what we are after.  I am sure there are parents who do not put much weight on the IB result.  As tingtingting said, she wants her son to be an IB35 Renaissance man than an IB45.  It's a decision I respect.  However, for others, the IB result is important if his son wants to get into a better university and/or doing the course he wants.  If you are one of these parents, would you like your money be spent effectively on achieving this goal?  If you spend a few million dollars more, would you like the school to use these sums to employ better teachers and get better facilities etc?  If these teachers and facilities can't get you a point more than the school next door which has a lot less resources, shouldn't we ask why?  Is it too much to expect perhaps a slightly better result?  Of course, the students play a part in it as well.  But in the case of ISF and CSS, I wouldn't say the calibre of CSS students in general are higher than that of ISF.  

As to your 2nd question, if I spend all day studying but I still get the same point as another student who spends only one hour per day on it, shouldn't I ask why?  Could it be something wrong with my approach or method?  

As I said, I am commenting on the IB result alone.  For those parents who have different priorities, my comments are probably irrelvent.

By the way, does any parent know how many ISF students took English A2?

bobbycheung

kfy 發表於 12-7-14 01:34
Well I cannot speak on behalf of ISF parents with kids taking IB exam. As an ISF parent with kid sti ...

I rather to have my wife asking for promise from the school than from me.

HKTHK

It doesn't feel right for me to judge a student's achievement on how much cost or effort was involved.  By this argument, do you think a student is better if they achieve the same score but spent less time studying?  

bobbycheung

HKTHK 發表於 12-7-14 00:57
This thread makes an interesting read.  Not sure how to interpret all these results.  ISF results lo ...

1)  Not quite sure what you meant by "adjusting for bilingual diploma".  Anyway, as ISF spent a lot of time learning Chinese, I guess that's reason why 78% of its students are able to get a bilingual diploma by taking English and Chinese.  (Please correct me if I am wrong)  If you don't take Chinese, it's by no means easy to do another foreign language instead.  For example, if you look at the 2011 IB result of FIS, only 6 out of 19 students got bilingual diploma and I don't even know if they all did French.  Some of them could well be doing Chinese as well.  
2)  I think all ESF schools had their first batch of IB students graduated in 2009 (except Shatin College which started IB a few years earlier).  I guess they just get better after doing it for a few years.  
3)  Perhaps you could look at them in the light of CIS's result.  This is their result for 2011.
http://www.cis.edu.hk/admin/upload/CIS_IBDP_Grade_Distribution_2011(3).pdf

kfy

Well I cannot speak on behalf of ISF parents with kids taking IB exam. As an ISF parent with kid still too young to talk about IB exam, I honestly think the graduating class are doing fine and I am proud of them.

Sometimes all the discussions about ISF eventually convert into the same old argument -> because it's charging such a high tuition fee, it must deliver! "True bilingualism" "High IB scores" "Best university placement" ... whatever...

I find it uneasy because the above deliverables can only be achieved by the students themselves, with the schools, teachers and parents as the facilitators and enablers. Then, the real meaning of the argument becomes -> Because your parents are paying such a high tuition fee, you must deliver! "True bilingualism" "High IB scores" "Best university placement" ... whatever...

May I say ISF is just a school. As a parent I do not need to "believe" it because it is not a mystery or religion. I would never ask a school to keep their promise ... I only ask for promise from my husband ...

BTW, I am reading a book "Thinking, Fast and Slow" written by Daniel Kahneman. He talks about "priming" (pp. 55 - 56). Quote: "Living in a culture that surrounds us with reminders of money may shape our behavior and attitudes in ways that we do not know about and of which we may not be proud." It certainly gives me some insights.

bobbycheung

HKTHK 發表於 12-7-14 01:12
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Agree with most of your message but am surprised that you adjust results ba ...

I am a C9.  I thought if you put more resources into it, the outcome would be better.  Of course, the school might have spent the money on other areas of learning not related to IB.  This I don't know.  But then if we are talking about a capital note of HK$4.5M each, we are really talking about huge sums here.

HKTHK

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Agree with most of your message but am surprised that you adjust results based on cost of tuition.  Does any ranking of universities adjust for costs?

HKTHK

This thread makes an interesting read.  Not sure how to interpret all these results.  ISF results look so-so.  Not excited about it and it is not bad either.  A couple of things stood out for me though:

1)  Should one adjust for bilingual diploma?  If so, how should it be done?  The % of bilingual diploma seems to be all over the place from 78% at ISF to 3% at KGV.  [CIS was at 35% for 2011]

2)  South Island and KGV published results for 3 years back.  Interestingly, their results look so-so in 2010 (avg around 33.8 with 10% of students achieving 40+) and then things just took off to now look excellent.  Does anyone know the reasons behind these improvements?

3)  For parents like me who wants to reap the benefit of their Mandarin and English curriculum, how would you interpret the results of Chinese A1 (5.83), Chinese A2 (5.90), English A2 (5.91) for ISF?

ANChan59

bobbycheung 發表於 12-7-14 00:36
I believe those who get admitted into DBS are top students already.  From this group of "selective"  ...

Compare with IS and ESF schools, you are right!
Thanks for your clarification. I just ensure we are on the same page .

bobbycheung

ANChan59 發表於 12-7-14 00:27
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What do you mean "double selective" of DBS.?

I believe those who get admitted into DBS are top students already.  From this group of "selective" students, DBS will again screen for those who are suitable for the IB program.  That's why I call them "double selective".  I might be wrong.  If so, please correct me.

ANChan59

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What do you mean "double selective" of DBS.?

ANChan59

bobbycheung 發表於 12-7-14 00:19
I agree.  But in practice, if your kid is one of those who are taking the IB exam this year, it woul ...

Point taken.

bobbycheung

ANChan59 發表於 12-7-13 23:31
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We need to be patience for new schools and new programs....

I agree.  But in practice, if your kid is one of those who are taking the IB exam this year, it would be very difficult to remain patient as any significant improvement in a few years' time will not really benefit your kid.   Anyway, I am just commenting on the IB result alone.  As tingtingting rightly pointed out, there could very well be other benefits in studying in ISF that are not yet reflected in the IB results and which are valued by the parents more than anything else.   

Jane1983

其實好多對ISF的批評，部分係因為佢學校實在貴，foundation
 year一個月要~12000元，當然要看是否物有所值。如果佢係ESF和CAIS的價錢，大家一定寛容好多。

tingtingting

原帖由 liyinfai 於 12-07-13 發表
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Dear Tingtingting,

Dear liyinfai, I don't have any figures. As for the turnover rate, as you can imagine, the best students who can easily get into CIS and Sevenoaks have chosen to leave instead of taking a risk with a new school. Quite a number of parents I know take a wait and see attitude. "Why not? If things do not turn out fine, we can always leave. But, for the time being let the kid learn more Chinese and find out more about real Chinese culture", that's kind of the attitude shared by some parents (myself included to a certain extent). I expect the turnover rate to drop as the school becomes more established.

tingtingting

At the risk of sounding like an ISF apologist, I shall add that ISF does truly embrace diversity. Students who love design and dream to be the next Frank Lloyd Wright can make full use of the first class design tech lab and are encouraged to pursue their dreams; drama lovers can hide themselves in the black box theatre learning everything about sound and lighting. Embracing diversity, accepting difference, seeing not just one but many different ways to success, and being open to the meaning of success, isn't it exactly the purpose of education? In any event, I am confident that in three or four years' time when the first batch of students who have the full benefit of ISF education leave the school, they will wow the world and silence those who doubt the bilingual immersion programme.

ANChan59

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We need to be patience for new schools and new programs....

liyinfai

so Tingtingting, what grade is your son studying ?

tingtingting

But he way, speaking only for myself, I want my son to be an IB35 Renaissance man than an IB45.