INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Can Advanced Placement co-exist with International Baccalaureate?

Depends on who you ask.

“All the schools I've ever worked at, they could co-exist. Sometimes, though, the school makes decisions to eliminate some programs. It's really a site decision,” said Washoe County School District Chief Performance Officer Rick Borba. “Change is hard, no doubt about it, but this is not going to replace AP. Rather, it will add another layer and provide more opportunities for the students up there.”

International Baccalaureate — an advanced, global curriculum in place in some form at about 680 schools nationwide — will begin at the start of the 2011-12 school year at Incline High School, with the entire program getting under way at Incline Elementary and Middle schools by 2012-13.

This perceived quick schedule has received increased scrutiny since December 2009, with many parents and teachers questioning if the current AP slate at IHS — 16 classes, second in the school district to McQueen's 18 — will suffer. It's a question many of IB's supporters — including the school district and IHS French teacher Jeni Cross — said is and will be addressed over the next few months, as the implementation schedule moves forward.

“I am concerned about ... the effect (IB) will have on our already successful AP classes,” said Shelah Brown, an Incline teacher the past 11 years, the past seven at IHS. She teaches English and reading, including freshman honors and senior AP literature and composition. “For a small school, we offer a lot of opportunities for AP credits, and I think it will be difficult, if not impossible, to implement IB without negatively impacting the AP program.”

Incline High School AP stats • Average enrollment: About 400 • AP success: Incline has led the district in AP performance the past six school years, with an average of 74 percent of its students scoring a 3 or higher, including 79 percent in the 2008-09 school year. The WCSD average over the past six years is 53 percent, and 56 percent in 2008-09. • 70 percent — 2003-04 (WCSD average: 56) • 70 percent — 2004-05 (WCSD average: 49) • 75 percent — 2005-06 (WCSD average: 51) • 75 percent — 2006-07 (WCSD average: 49) • 73 percent — 2007-08 (WCSD average: 56) • 79 percent — 2008-09 (WCSD average: 56) • How many students now: Sixty-three students took at least one AP course at Incline High School in 2008-09, 38 percent of the school's juniors and seniors. • How many students then: In 2000-01, Incline saw 28 percent of juniors and seniors take at least one AP test, a 26 percent increase over the past nine years. — Statistics from Washoe County School District.

Comparing Incline to Wooster

Borba is a former principal at Wooster High School, the only WCSD campus that employs IB as part of its curriculum. According to Wooster and WCSD stats, the Reno high school with an enrollment of about 1,500 has excelled under the Diploma Programme (grades 11-12).

The percentage of students enrolled in AP or IB classes has ballooned from 15 percent in 1997-98 to 35 percent in 2008-09. Since 2002-03, an average of 54 percent of enrolled students have scored a 3 or higher. Furthermore, Wooster saw a 78 percent increase in students taking at least one IB course, as 12 percent qualified in 2000-01.

“IB writes the AP courses itself; the IB courses prepare students well for the AP exam, so they can co-exist,” said Daryl Dibitonto, IB coordinator at Wooster, which hasn't lost any AP courses in the Diploma Programme's 12 years at the school. According to 2007 stats, Wooster offers 13 AP courses beside its IB program.

“There are some nice alignments there where IB and AP are working together,” Dibitonto said.

Russell Resney has taught at Incline High School for nine years, specializing in AP physics and math.

“Uncertainty seems to be the best answer,” said Resney, who has undergone IB training. “I think we have a very good program in place right now; I'm not sure how this change would affect the kids. In the face of that (success on AP courses), I'm uncertain how IB looks ... I'm not sure what this does for us.”

Since the 1998-99 school year at Wooster, 119 of 161 students have received the IB Diploma.

IB stats for Wooster High School IB Diploma graduates: (1999-2009) • Average enrollment: About 1,500 • Graduates: 119 of 161 students have received the IB Diploma at Wooster High School. • 4 — 1998-99 • 5 — 1999-2000 • 8 — 2000-01 • 6 — 2001-02 • 7 — 2002-03 • 7 — 2003-04 • 7 — 2004-05 • 10 — 2005-06 • 16 — 2006-07 • 24 — 2007-08 • 25 — 2008-09 • How many: In 2008-09, 314 students, or 55 percent of juniors and seniors, took at least one IB or AP course. That's a 78 percent increase in students taking at least one IB course, as 12 percent qualified in 2000-01. • Increase: Over the past 10 school years, the percentage of students enrolled in AP or IB classes has ballooned from 15 percent in 1997-98 to 35 percent in 2008-09. Since 2002-03, an average of 54 percent of enrolled students have scored a 3 or higher.

Comparing Incline to Aspen

One of the schools officials have been researching the past few months is Colorado's Aspen High School, which has an enrollment of about 500 and has a similar makeup to Incline Village — an affluent, resort community with a high volume of second homes.

IB was accepted in 2000 at Aspen, said first-year program coordinator Ian Wagner, which didn't start offering courses until 2002.

“The reason for this was that we needed to create “pre-IB” courses for freshmen and sophomores to prepare them for the IB program as juniors and seniors,” Wagner said.

Prior to IB, Aspen offered approximately nine AP courses — calculus, English, world history, U.S. history, Spanish, French, physics, chemistry and biology. Those dissolved shortly after IB took off, Wagner said.

“My recollection is it was because we're not a big school; we didn't want them to compete with each other,” Wagner said.

“(IB is) a great program; I wouldn't have taken this job if I didn't believe in it,” Wagner continued. “It's about teaching critical thinking and being successful from that, rather than just memorizing facts and passing a test.”

Courtney Taves, a special education teacher at IHS — who is not slated to teach IB classes — shares a similar view.

“My initial thought on IB is that it is an incredible academic program that will one day replace AP here at IHS if it indeed does go through. We are not large enough to carry both programs,” Taves said. “The AP program here is incredibly strong, and I feel we are trying to fix what is not broken. While originally considered a means to increase enrollment, it appears IB is far more comprehensive than anyone on the staff thought.”

Since the 2004-05 school year 82 of 92 students have received the IB Diploma at Aspen High.

IB Stats for Aspen High School IB Diploma graduates: (2005-2009) • Average enrollment: About 500 • Graduates: 82 of 92 students have received the IB Diploma at Aspen High School. • 21— 2004-05 • 15 — 2005-06 • 15 — 2006-07 • 21 — 2007-08 • 10 — 2008-09 • This year: There are 22 diploma candidates registered for the 2009-10 school year. • Next year: There are 27 diploma candidates registered for the 2010-11 school year. • AP at Aspen: 9 AP courses offered prior to the adoption of IB — calculus, English, world history, U.S. history, Spanish, French, physics, chemistry and biology.

Challenge Index

The Challenge Index, developed by Washington Post education writer Jay Mathews, measures a public high school's effort to challenge its students. The Index is calculated by dividing the number of AP or IB or exams taken by the number of seniors who graduated in June. Exam scores are not included in the calculation and exams taken by all students, not just seniors, are counted.

• Incline — 1,041 national ranking for class of 2009 (1.50 rating)

• Wooster — 243 national ranking for class of 2009 (2.82 rating)

• Aspen — 583 national ranking for class of 2009 (2.082 rating)

• For the class of 2009, of the nine WCSD schools receiving an index score, four were higher than Incline. They are: Wooster (2.82), McQueen (1.88), Galena (1.67) and (Reno) 1.55. The other four schools (Sparks, Reed, Hug and North Valleys) finished below.

• For Wooster, the numbers in the Challenge Index include AP and non-duplicated IB exams.