Too Many Variables

So I'm a bit frustrated right now during my summer vacation. Not mad or anything, just perplexed a bit...

...The UWC just got in its grade results for the spring 2009 International Baccalaureate (IB) exams and I specifically got my individual grade results for the kids who were in my bio class this year. They were AWFUL! I had way more failing grades than I ever expected and didn't have the number of great grades that I thought these kids were capable of.

I sent an email to our vice president making sure that she knew I wasn't happy with the results and that I'm more than willing to work to figure out how to remedy the situation so that:

#1, the current first year students who will be taking their exams next year don't have to suffer the same fate and

#2, so I can sleep at night feeling that I'm a halfway decent teacher.

The thing is that this whole bad grade thing isn't real simple. There are way too many variables to try and break down "where it all went wrong" so-to-speak in my teaching.

Variable 1: Not my kids

I took over this year for the previous bio teacher who is now in California somewhere. Evidently he was a chemistry teacher by experience who was filling in as bio teacher last year (for just one year) before he left. Out of basically 13 overarching concepts that need to be covered within the 2 years that the students take biology, he only covered 4 in the first year, leaving me 9 major bio concepts plus all major labs to get done during the second year. That's a lot to do from September to March (march is when we have our trial exams and basically it would be nice to be done with concepts by then).

Variable 2: Rookie year

I've never taught International Baccalaureate (IB) Biology before. I've also never been a father before (both of which happened this year). This means no experience with what the IB asks on the final exams (even though I've researched previous exams) and limited experience in how they externally moderate the labs that I grade for the kids.

Variable 3: Subjectivity and Higher Standards

Evidently (from what I've heard) the IB organization that grades off my students' exams has gotten very strict over the past 2 years...almost to the point of being unrealistic with grading. In addition to this, there is also a high degree of subjectivity to the way the final exams are graded and students from 2 different IB schools could get a completely different grading experience based on what Examiner grades their papers. This seems normal, but the level of subjectivity is astounding.

Variable 4: Careless Kids

Don't get me wrong...UWC kids are bright...some of the brightest in terms of book smarts that I've even been around. I've heard, however, that in many cases this spring, my kids put off or ignored studying bio altogether for various reasons.

WHY?

Did they think that the concepts were too hard for them to understand at the last minute...so why bother?

Did they think that they knew the material well enough and they needed to concentrate on other subjects?

Were they too overwhelmed with the crazy exam schedule that the IB organization puts them under and they were too tired to remember and communicate the concepts that I thought they knew so well?

Could it possibly be that some of the kids actually "threw" their own grades...thinking they wouldn't perform well anyway...just to spite me? (man I hope not)

Variable 5# Teaching

Is it my teaching style?
Many of these students come from very strict educational backgrounds that are majorly teacher centered. When we do group activities, simulations, long-running labs, and so on that are student-centered, I wonder if these kids have a hard time learning the same way. Would it be better if I just lectured...Ferris Bueller style at them so they could get very concise notes...instead of truly learning through experience so they'll remember for a lifetime. (I'm a little bitter about this one)

Variable #6 Labs

The IB requires that bio students complete 2 full labs in which they design the labs themselves and come up with a real meaty lab report. After I grade these labs, some of them are sent off for "moderation" in which an IB employee looks over a representative sample of them and my grading of them to determine if I am being too easy, too hard, or just right in terms of assessing my students' performance.
Did I screw this up and therefore jeopardize the lab component of their final grade?


It's so tough that during the middle of the summer (when I'm away from school and when I like to evaluate my previous teaching year), I have nothing concrete with which to judge my performance this year. My vice president is disappointed, as am I, and I can only hope that...since I've covered 9 out of 13 topics as well as 2-3 major labs with the current first year students, this next year will provide them with the extra time needed to prepare better ahead of time for their final IB Bio exams.