If you have ever had a question that you wanted to take straight to the top, this session is for you. The senior leadership of the International Baccalaureate will field all questions, on all topics or issues. This is a wonderful opportunity to share both your concerns and your best ideas with leaders of the IB community.

When the IB began in 1968, even the most optimistic of its founders might have scoffed at the notion that 2500 schools would be offering IB programs by our fortieth anniversary. But that is only the start - in the next dozen years, the IB is expected to quadruple in size. Since he became the IB's sixth Director General in January 2006, Jeff Beard has set his sights on preparing the organization for this reality. If we mean what we say in our mission, the goal is simple: to make an IB education available to a much larger number of students from much more diverse backgrounds, while maintaining or improving the qualities that make IB unique. This past year has marked some major milestones in this process, including significant changes to the way IB is organized and the way in which services will be delivered in the future. The Director General will share this progress, and also give us a glimpse in to the future. Along the way, he will share his evolving theory of the IB as an education "fit for purpose" in the 21st century.

The IB celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2008, and has come a long way since Alec Peterson first developed and introduced the concept of the Diploma Programme in 1968. The goal back then was to facilitate the international mobility of students by providing schools with a curriculum and qualification recognized by universities around the world. Today, after decades of operating quietly on the margins of education, International Baccalaureate programmes seem to be more and more leaping into the limelight, sparking controversy and confusion that inevitably accompany innovation. Is IB the best way to improve schools, as supporters claim? Does it have the right programmes to meet the heightened concerns of parents interested in preparing their children for a global economy?
Join Director General Jeffrey Beard and Regional Director Drew Deutsch for an interesting point/counterpoint discussion on these issues and to hear more about how today’s IB programmes are actually a good fit for 21st century needs.