The Foreign Service Journal, June 2019

62 JUNE 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT Marybeth Hunter, at left, is the education and youth officer in the State Department’s Family Liaison Office. She trav- eled overseas with her Foreign Service family for more than 21 years, and has worked as a teacher and a Community Liaison Office coordinator abroad. Kristen A. Mariotti, at right, is director of admissions and enrollment management at Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, Massachusetts. With nearly 20 years of experience in both secondary and post-secondary schools, she has led the recruitment and enrollment programs at U.S. colleges and universities, as well as U.S. boarding schools with both IB and AP programs. Having traveled and recruited students frommore than 36 countries over the years, she has a deep understanding and appreciation for secondary and post-secondary institutions around the globe. She is a member of the International Education Board for The Association of Boarding Schools. I t is great to have freedomof choice. However, with choice lies the responsibility of researching and evaluating options to select the best one available at any given time. When choosing schools, this may mean evaluating factors such as setting, curriculum and overall teaching method- ology to enrich the education of a child at a certain grade level. The task of choosing between schools offering different educational objectives with long-term impact can present a chal- lenge for Foreign Service families. This is the case when families are presented with the choice of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate coursework. What is the “right” choice?The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Human Making high school curriculum choices can be daunting for Foreign Service families. Here is some insight into the AP and IB programs. BY MARYBETH HUNTER WI TH KR I STEN A . MAR I OTT I Resources’ Family Liaison Office inWash- ington, D.C., and the Community Liaison Office coordinators at post are often asked to explain the difference between AP and IB programs so parents canmake the best choices for their families as they transition frompost to post. FLO reached out to KristenMariotti, a featured speaker at conferences in the United States and abroad on college preparation and the respective advantages of the two programs, to answer the ques- tions we most often receive. As you will see in the following, both programs offer strong preparation for higher university education—with differ- ing approaches. Note that the Department of State and the Family Liaison Office do not endorse either program and strongly AP vs. IB A Practical Comparison