The IBCC at Rockville High School
Coordinator: Laurie Ainsworth
Telephone: 301-517-5595
IBDP and IBCC Powerpoint Slideshow for Parents and Students (.ppt version)
What is the IBCC?
The IB has developed a framework of international education that will incorporate the vision and educational principles of the International Baccalaureate (IB) into local programmes that address the needs of students engaged in career-related education. In this context the IB wishes to collaborate with a range of agencies, including schools, colleges, local or regional education authorities and national education ministries (providing organizations), to develop this certificate, known as the IB career-related certificate (IBCC). The IBCC is an academic qualification designed to support schools and colleges that offer career-related courses to their students.
It is increasingly recognized that to prepare students to become effective participants in the rapidly changing 21st century society, schools must not only equip them with the necessary skills and the learning dispositions, but also the ability to manage and influence change. The IBCC will help:
1) to develop a range of broad work-related competencies as well as deepen understanding in general areas of knowledge
2) to develop flexible strategies for knowledge acquisition and enhancement in varied contexts
3) to prepare students for effective participation in the changing world of work
4) to foster attitudes and habits of mind where students become true lifelong learners willing to consider new perspectives
5) to involve students in learning that develops the capacity and will to make a positive difference
The IBCC is an IB academic qualification, taken over two years, designed to support and complement career-related courses.
Vision statement
The vision of the IBCC is:
By 2020, the IBCC will be acknowledged throughout the world as the leading international career-related qualification providing students with the academic, practical and social skills required by the 21st century learner.
Mission statement
The mission of the IBCC reflects the preamble of the IB learner profile, being:
To develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.
Values statement
The values statement for the IBCC is, in fact, the IB learner profile, which outlines the values we hope will be developed in IBCC students.
What are the COMPONENTS of the IBCC?
At RHS the IBCC will begin in grade 11 and continue through grade 12 and consist of the following elements:
-continuation of and completion of the PLTW courses
-completion of the IBCC CORE components:
• A reflective project. The reflective project is an extended piece of reflective writing or a presentation in some other format.It emphasizes the ethical dilemma associated with a particular issue drawn from the student’s career-related studies. The reflective project will be submitted at the end of the course and will be an opportunity for the student to draw the various strands of the programme together. It will be submitted in any of the IB working languages (English, French or Spanish).
• An approaches to learning course. The approaches to learning course emphasizes the development of transferable skills needed to operate successfully in society
• Community and service. The community and service programme emphasizes the affective development of students and concentrates on the concepts of partnership and learning.
• Continued study of a modern language – Spanish or French
• TWO IB Diploma Programme subjects (minimum) The subject(s) can be studied at either higher or standard level. One course must reflect two years of study.
Assessment of the IBCC
There will be a blend of direct IB assessment of student learning and of internal assessment performed by the schools themselves.
• The chosen Diploma Programme courses will be assessed in the usual way by the IB, combining external and internal assessment.
• Part of the core (approaches to learning and community and service) will be assessed and authenticated by the school. The IB will monitor the school’s internal assessment through review of school documentation and completed student work as part of the evaluation process. The reflective project, however, will be moderated by the IB.