Faculty of Education and Psychology, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India

The aim of this project is to document and examine the impact of PYP adoption and implementation on learning, teaching and schooling in India. The mixed methods project will explore the salient factors that influence schools in India to embark on the PYP, and the success factors and challenges encountered by schools in their PYP implementation journey. The study will also examine how and to what extent the uptake of PYP contributes to school culture, pedagogical practice and learning outcomes for students and teachers alike.

Ling Tan & Yan Bibby, Australian Council for Educational Research

In 2009 the IB commissioned ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research) to report on how PYP and MYP students performed on the ISA (International Schools’ Assessment).  The ISA assesses performance in Grades 3 to 10 on math, reading, and expository and narrative writing. The reading and mathematical literacy portions are based on the internationally endorsed frameworks of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). As a follow up to this study, IB again commissioned ACER to further document student performance on the ISA from 2009-11, as well as investigate perceptions, attitudes and wellbeing of IB students through student questionnaires. The study sample included 270 schools (117 with the PYP and 86 with the MYP), and a total of 50,714 international students, of which 68% were IB students.  An analysis of student performance showed evidence that, on a global level, the PYP and the MYP students performed better than students from non-IB schools in all 4 assessment areas at many grade levels.  The grade 9 and grade 10 ISA scores of IB students also averaged significantly higher than the PISA 2009 OECD means in mathematics and reading. A multilevel analysis found that between-school variations across IB schools were smaller than the between-school variations across non-IB schools in all four ISA domains, implying that IB schools were more similar to each other than the non-IB schools with respect to the four domains of ISA performance. Across all dimensions of the primary-year and secondary-year student questionnaires, high proportions of agreement were observed among IB PYP and MYP students.

Research Summary

Full Report

Jacqueline R. Stillisano et. al., State of Texas Education Research Center at Texas A&M University

This study examines the impact of the PYP and MYP in Texas classrooms. No significant differences were found between IB schools and their comparison schools in math and reading achievement as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.   However, structured classroom observations indicated that favorable instructional practices and student behaviors and activities occurred more frequently in IB classrooms than in non-IB Texas classrooms. Researchers concluded that while this is suggestive that the overall quality of instruction is higher at IB schools, implementation varied from school to school, and some of the favorable instructional practices are used more often in some IB schools than in others. Positive outcomes of the IB as identified by teachers and administrators in case studies included increased teacher collaboration, authentic assessment, increased student motivation for learning, development of critical thinking skills, and increased student global and cultural awareness. Challenges identified by teachers and administrators included staff recruitment and retention, balancing the IB with state and district requirements, the additional time needed for collaborative lesson planning and paperwork, the difficulty and workload for students, student mobility, and lack of support from districts parents or teachers.

Research Summary

Ling Tan & Yan Bibby, Australian Council for Educational Research

This study, undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), investigated how International Baccalaureate (IB) students enrolled in the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) performed on the International Schools’ Assessment (ISA), relative to non-IB students. The ISA assesses student performance in Grades 3 to 10 across four domains: Math Literacy, Reading, Narrative Writing, and Expository Writing. The math and reading components of the assessment are based on the reading and mathematical literacy frameworks of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The study sample included IB students (N=23,575) and non-IB students (N=14,317) across Asia and Oceania, Europe, Africa and the Americas, who participated in the ISA in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. On the whole, despite some regional differences, the results indicate that IB PYP and MYP students outperformed their non-IB peers on the ISA across all four domains in a majority of grade levels, with the strongest effects noted in Year 10 Math and Expository Writing. IB students’ ISA scores in Grades 9 and 10 also compare very favourably to PISA benchmarks in Math and Reading. On the other hand, there was insufficient evidence to suggest that IB schools authorized for a longer period produce better student outcomes, and no clear patterns were noted in student performance across IB full continuum schools and single or dual programme schools.

Research Summary

Jori Hall, Tracy Elder, et. al., Education Policy and Evaluation Center, University of Georgia

This investigation of the authorization and implementation process of the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) in Georgia schools, which combines an online survey with in-depth case studies, was conducted to provide insights that might improve the IB’s work and guide the efforts of schools seeking to offer the PYP. With regard to how schools move from interested to candidate to authorized PYP status, it was found that district-level support was important and that schools strengthened teacher and parent buy-in by networking with other IB schools, sending teachers to IB workshops, and meeting with various stakeholder groups. With regard to PYP implementation, this study identifies six successful strategies: whole-school immersion, collaborative planning, continuous training, availability of resources, strategies to promote community involvement, and support from the school leadership. Challenges for implementation were limited resources, integration of state standards with the PYP curriculum, the transdisciplinary nature of the programme, and district and state expectations. Recommendations from schools for improving IB support, particularly during the authorization process, include systematic networking with authorized schools, additional consultative support, more training for special area teachers, and better communication regarding feedback on applications and notification of the outcome of authorization visits.

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Overview report