Resilience or Retreat: The Role of the International Baccalaureate in the United States post-COVID-19

Abstract

This study examines the malleability of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on how the IB adapted – or failed to adapt – across the United States between the 2020–2021 and 2023–2024 academic years. Drawing on national data, the study analyzes shifts in IB adoption and discontinuation across school types, regions, and political contexts. While the IB demonstrated institutional resilience, particularly through growth in Title 1 schools and a pivot toward early-year programs, these adaptations were uneven and constrained. The findings highlight patterns of selective expansion, with IB programs increasingly clustered in urban, Democrat-leaning, and high-poverty districts, and retreating from wealthier and more conservative regions. These trends illustrate what Tarc (2009) describes as the IB’s ‘structuring tensions’: the friction between its global mission and the political, ideological, and institutional conditions of local implementation. Rather than showcasing universal adaptability, the pandemic period reveals the limits of IB malleability as a context-bound practice shaped by resource constraints and local priorities. This study contributes to understanding how global programs navigate uneven terrain during national crises.