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The lesser-known I.B., a two-year curriculum developed in the 1960s at an international school in Switzerland, first took hold in the United States in private schools. But it is now offered in more than 700 American high schools — more than 90 percent of them public schools — and almost 200 more have begun the long certification process.

Harvard educational psychologist Jeanne Chall famously called this phenomenon the "fourth grade reading slump," where children cannot make the transition from learning to read to "reading to learn," which hinders their learning in all other subjects. International comparisons show that because of these early literacy setbacks America is losing the global race in science and math, areas central for 21st century skilled jobs.

far too many students hit a wall by fourth grade

the current approach to solving the literacy crisis is locked in a time warp,