Back in 2020, the International School of Los Angeles completed its cycle of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Five-Year Review.
The Five-Year Review is an ongoing process of self-evaluation conducted by every IB World School, wherein each school produces a Self-Study Report which is then sent to the IB. Based upon the Self-Study and a possible inspection, commendations and recommendations are given to the school.
This last Five-Year Review concluded with the International School of Los Angeles receiving an unprecedented eight commendations. The IB recognized LILA for our outstanding efforts to provide mother-tongue language opportunities for international students, thus praising and confirming our dedication to bilingualism. LILA was also recognized for how thoroughly the IB Diploma Programme is supported by the administration, how all aspects of the Programme are properly and fully implemented, and how each student is made to feel confident and prepared to pursue the full IB Diploma. Our teachers were celebrated for proactively analyzing data to ensure improvement across all areas of teaching and learning, for working collaboratively to provide solutions to ensuing challenges, and for using a vast range of teaching techniques to promote independent thinking, inquiry, and reflection. Finally, we were commended for having such a rich and diverse offering of IB subjects for such a small school.
Of course, there were some recommendations given as well. Most of these related to how documents and policies are worded and published, as the IB has strict guidelines for IB publications. Another recommendation was that, as we have such great faculty members, some of them should work as workshop leaders in the IB to help other educators rise to their level. The final recommendations involved bringing core elements of the IB Programme into each subject’s lessons more explicitly, namely Theory of Knowledge and the IB Learner Profile.
The Five-Year Review process has proven highly valuable in providing insight into our IB Diploma Programme’s strengths and weaknesses, in highlighting those developments and actions for which our teachers and staff should be celebrated, and in showing us where we can evolve to provide even better educational experiences to all of our IB students.
Written by John Lamphear – IB Coordinator
