Expanding Opportunities for High Academic Achievement: An International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in an Urban High Schoo

Students of color are consistently underrepresented in honors and gifted programs nationwide. Research suggests that even high-achieving students share many of the risk factors with their low-achieving peers. As a result, their continued academic success is far from assured. In addition, research on academic intervention programs designed to help these students suggests these programs are not widespread or institutionalized in schools in ways that will lead to meaningful gains in closing the achievement gaps at the high end of the academic spectrum. The study presented in this paper employed mixed methods to investigate the relationship between the design of a rigorous college preparatory program, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IB), and the socioeconomic status of the students the program serves. The study found that an open admission International Baccalaureate (IB) program was successfully attracting and retaining African American, Latino, and Native American students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Findings are attributed to IB teachers' deeply held belief in the ability of the students to meet the rigor of the program. This IB program also has instituted a number of academic and social support mechanisms to keep students motivated to pursue the challenging curriculum.