Letter to the Editors: Oct. 13, 2017
Letter to the Editors:
Ever have a time when something comes out of your mouth and you wish you could pull it back in? Well this happened to me just recently. In the last edition of the Panther Prowler, I made a statement describing how I preferred AP Studio Art over IB Visual Arts. I regret that statement very much and am issuing an apology. In my heart of hearts I know my original statement is not true. I have enjoyed both AP and IB over the years and I believe that both my AP and IB students produce very high quality work, IB is simply interested in the process of art making in addition to the final images while AP is interested in the final images alone (along with a short statement). AP is about a final product which is shown in the portfolio, while IB has a more comprehensive evaluation process where the student’s progress as an artist is documented in an Art Journal and the student also does a great deal of research about artists in what is called the Comparative Study (all good things). When I mentioned the change to IB in my interview, what I was referring to is that IB Visual Arts used to base the majority of a student’s score on his/her works in the art show and his/her writing to a lesser extent. Now only 40% of a student’s score is based off of his/her artwork and 60% is based off the Art Journal and Comparative Study which are writing tasks. There is nothing wrong with this, it is simply a different approach to assessment. While my AP students research famous artists for inspiration and ideas, there is nothing in the AP assessment that requires their research to be shown like IB does. So both have their advantages, and it is great that students at our school have a choice between these two forms of assessment. This is something that should be celebrated and I am not pleased with myself for not saying so in my interview. Our IB program is exemplary and IB has afforded so many students the opportunity to learn about the world at a very deep and meaningful level.
Eric Lindroth
Photography Teacher
