MIDDLE YEARS MINDEDNESS

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January 23, 2023

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, an independent, Catholic, International Baccalaureate school, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Two research reports focus on "open mindedness" and "critical thinking" in the outcomes of students studying within the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program.

International Baccalaureate celebrated the 25th year of its Middle Years Program in 2019. Notre Dame introduced the IB-MYP in 2009 for its sixth-through-10th-grade students as a complement to the IB-Diploma Program, which was brought into the school in 2007 for juniors and seniors.

The school also became authorized to teach the IB-Primary Years Program in 2010. NDPMA was the first Catholic institution in the nation to be authorized for all three main IB academic programs and Notre Dame Prep remains the only Catholic high school in Michigan with the IB-DP.

A couple of relatively recent studies released by the International Baccalaureate were focused on the MYP and its effect on two specific outcomes, open mindedness and critical thinking, which are central tenets of the IB program writ large.

In "Implementation practices and student outcomes associated with the learner profile attribute “open-minded,” Howard Stevenson, Pat Thomson and Stuart Fox from the The University of Nottingham concluded that among other advantages, in particular, there was a clear and significant relationship between attending an MYP school and a greater level of open-mindedness among pupils with regard to awareness of cultural differences.

Research summary is available here and the full report can be found here.  

In the report titled "Critical thinking in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme: An international, multisite evaluation," Joshua A. McGrane, Samantha-Kaye Johnston, Mireia Vendrell Morancho and Therese N. Hopfenbeck from the University of Oxford indicated that MYP students had higher levels of critical thinking skills compared to their non-MYP counterparts, and that overall, the evidence supports the conclusion that the MYP contributes to students’ critical thinking skills by embracing evidence-based, student-centered pedagogical approaches. Researchers also found a range of other benefits of implementing the MYP, including those attributed to the teaching and assessment of critical thinking.

Research summary for this study is available here and the full report can be found here.  

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, an independent, Catholic, International Baccalaureate school, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.