 Passage of House Bill 4137 this session made Oregon the first state in the nation to the International Baccalaureate's career program as equivalent to a high school diploma. Oregon’s Legislature made a bold move, and one to benefit students. Members of the House and Senate voted unanimously this session that students who complete the International Baccalaureate or its Career-related Programme satisfy Oregon’s high school graduation requirements. While several states already recognize completion of the IB as equivalent to a high school diploma, with House Bill 4137, Oregon became the first state to offer the same equivalency to the career program. That makes a bold statement: College readiness and career readiness should no longer be seen as separate. The Career-related Programme, which was launched in 2014, is intended for high school students who want to focus on a particular career element such as digital coding, marine biology, medicine or finance. The program contains the same level of theoretical and academic rigor as the IB, while complementing students’ experiences with career-related study to develop concrete skills and competencies required to be successful in their chosen fields. Students who complete the program are ready for university, a path chosen by nearly three-quarters of the graduates, but are also well-prepared to enter the workforce as a skilled worker through one of the many certificated pathways offered through the program. Game-changing move Approval of these courses of study means students are relieved of unduly burdensome graduation requirements that have been layered on top of an already rigorous IB education. For the IB, it confirms what leaders and educators already know: An education focused on career-readiness can coexist with an academically rigorous one. Lastly, it is a win for students who want to show their college and career readiness but maintain a sense of personal balance. In a nation where crushing student debt persists as college prices continue to rise, validating alternative pathways to professional success is essential. It provides a meaningful choice to students who feel inclined to pursue an independent path of study outside higher education, and makes clear that being career-ready and university-ready are not mutually exclusive. In today’s volatile job market, where employers increasingly seek skillsets instead of degrees, supporting career-readiness is essential. It provides high school students with the tools they need to succeed and provides a relevant context in which students can apply what they learn in a post-secondary environment. It also unlocks the potential for economic mobility outside of the one-size-fits-all path to university that many young people are now realizing may not be for them. At the same time, this recognition makes the pursuit of an IB diploma even more accessible to students by reducing their workload and acknowledging the holistic nature of an IB education. Moreover, it advances equity and inclusion in the job market, as put forth by the Center for American Progress. By detracking career education and promoting career-readiness for high school students more systematically, young learners are granted exposure to careers that were previously out of reach. Students should feel empowered and supported by their education to pursue the career of their choice, free from the racial and socio-economic biases that have historically hamstrung career and technical education for marginalized groups. While the state’s acknowledgment of the career program alone will not solve all these challenges, it’s an invitation to other states to build toward similar solutions. It’s also a clear sign that career-readiness education is no longer a “fallback plan” for students, but can be incorporated into their studies without diminishing academic rigor and achievement. After several years of work by NIBA members across the state of Washington, on May 8th, Governor Jay Inslee signed SB 5410 into law, thus ensuring that, by law, WA State "institutions of higher education must establish a coordinated, evidence-based policy for granting as many undergraduate college credits, as possible and appropriate, to students who have earned minimum scores of...four on standard-level and higher-level international baccalaureate exams.... Each institution of higher education must create a process for retroactively awarding international baccalaureate exam undergraduate college credits under the terms of this section to students who first enrolled in the institution of higher education in the 2018-19 academic year." Many thanks to all of the teachers, coordinators, and legislators who worked on this bill, including Ken Joling (IB Coordinator at Capital High School in Olympia) and David Quinn (IB Coordinator at Edmonds-Woodway High School in Edmonds), pictured here with the Governor.  
For more information regarding the 2019 IB Student World Conference, check out these links:
GLOBAL STUDENT CONFERENCE 2019 https://castrips.org/gsc2019/ LINK TO THE 2019 NIBA STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP FORM https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qn5DHpxNUhqMpBKbEbJRbIFBpZ1Cf3-YdSKl3Xy7Afc/edit INFORMATION REGARDING THE ROSS DURAN NIBA SCHOLARSHIPS - 2019 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Md-0a0OK-T6CU9STMp6TkDWzYz_fjse2TatP7Nl364I/edit GLOBAL ACTION TEAM LEADER - INFORMATION https://goo.gl/hv59Ca  Senator Mark Mullet's IB crediting bill - ESB 5917 - was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee this March, marking the end of a long journey for IB Coordinators Ken Joling and David Quinn. Working with Senator Mullet and Representatives Laurie Dolan, Tina Orwall, and Gerry Pollet, our local IB Coordinators helped to write - and pass - this legislation that grants SL and HL credit for every IB class offered at public institutions in the state. NIBA is so very thankful for the leadership of Lt. Gov Cyrus Habib and Superintendent Chris Reykdal for, once again, working on behalf of IB students all over Washington. The final language of the bill is below. It takes effect on June 7, 2018 and it first applies to students in the Class of 2018. All public state post-secondary institutions - from community colleges to universities - must publish their new IB crediting policies by this fall.
NIBA TURNS 25 WITH AN ART/LOGO COMPETITION!
As part of our celebration, we invited IB students from the states we serve to participate in our celebration by submitting original artwork to serve as the new logo for our organization. NIBA's new logo was added to our site in June of 2017!  From My Edmonds News: "The Edmonds-Woodway High School (EWHS) group, Students Saving Salmon Club and the Drawing and Painting class have collaborated on a mural which is currently on display at one of the “On the Fence” locations and depicts a salmon stream running through Edmonds. The work, titled “Help Finish the Puzzle,” is located just east of the Frances Anderson Center on Main Street." Check it out: http://myedmondsnews.com/2016/06/edmonds-woodway-students-work-featured-in-temporary-on-the-fence-art-installation/
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