Written by: Devika 

Edited by: Mehek

Largely considered one of the most challenging and rigorous programs, adapting to the International Baccalaureate (IB) involves overcoming a significant learning curve. Comprised of six different subject groups, a 4,000-word essay, completion of the Theory of Knowledge course, as well as CAS, it is a two-year curriculum that ISM offers for grades 11 and 12. The IB is notorious for its extensive content, and the global average is only around 30 out of 45 points. However, there is a perception that Business Management is one of the easier IB Group 4 (social science) classes offered at ISM, setting an expectation that students can effortlessly earn 7s. But if that’s the case, why do Year 1 (grade 11) Business students keep on getting 1s and 2s? 

Upon interviewing Mr. Kramer and Mr. Jones, the two IB Business teachers expressed their surprise at the rumors of students dropping 1s and 2s on exams. “He [Mr. Kramer] hasn’t indicated to me that there’s been really anybody that’s necessarily failing let alone a high number of failure rate,” Mr. Jones insists. He continues by saying “I don’t have a high number of students getting 1s and 2s… I have 3 or 4 students in that range…”. Mr. Kramer seems just as shocked by the rumors of so many students failing, “…you saw the data, there were maybe two 2s out of 50 students over three different assessments.” 

Mr. Jones suggests a possible cause for the low marks on the first unit test is, “A lot of students come into Business with no academic background.” He also claims that the grade 9 and 10 social studies courses such as Geography or Modern World History don’t necessarily overlap content with Business compared to other group 4 classes such as Geography or Global Politics. Thus there is no prior knowledge for students to capitalize on. Mr. Kramer shares the same opinion, saying: “I’d 100% agree with that, I think it’s something that is new for a lot of students, and that there is a narrative at our school passed on by former students or maybe by counselors that Business is an easy course, so people expect it to be easy.” This would explain why Year 1 Business Management students saw such low grades in their first exam as they were adjusting to the class. Mr. Kramer also says that Business focuses a lot on applying knowledge to case studies, and not just being able to recite things from the textbook directly. 

However, Mr. Kramer and Mr. Jones both agreed that test scores saw an improvement in the course’s continuation. According to Mr. Kramer’s datasheet, his class average on the Intro to Business Management test was 4.77, (with minimal 2s and 3s). In contrast, the second and third tests (marketing and finance) saw higher grades of 5.24 and 5.32, respectively. He said that in his class, the semester average was 5.03. While Mr. Jones did not have calculated averages, he mentioned that there was a definite improvement as students were adjusting to the course. 

But how do the students perceive the tests? One student says: “The Intro to Business Management test itself was easy, it was the grading which was super strict.” The Mr. Jones student claimed that “the first test the class average was around a 3,” a stark difference from Mr. Kramer’s data. Another student claims that the teachers grade on different standards, despite having a strict rubric/criterion: “The ones who had Kramer got better grades than Jones.” Surprisingly, Mr. Jones agrees: “I haven’t looked at Kramer’s numbers, he typically is generous, he shares with that quite a bit,” but reaffirms that “ I don’t think anyone got below a 3 in their semester grades.” 

So where did these rumors come from? Mr. Kramer and Mr. Jones believe it’s the toxic grade culture here at ISM, where anything below a 5 is considered a failure. Mr. Kramer (who made it a point that I include this in the article) says “I think it does show that in our age of 2024 how easy it is for disinformation to be spread, and you [Author] just had a look at the spreadsheet and it wasn’t that.” Mr. Jones agrees, and also attributes this to the rivalry between grade levels: “I find here also that there is this odd competitiveness between the cohorts and so on, so I think if you see something like a mid-4 average that gets rumored around “Oh lots of 1s and 2s!” which statistically isn’t even possible.” 

The IB is a huge change from grades 9 and 10, and there’s no denying that eventually you’re bound to end up with a grade you’re not satisfied with. However, like Mr. Jones and Mr. Kramer said, rumors are so quickly spread at our school that they blow things out of proportion, like saying that the Year 1 Business students are failing the course. While some students may feel disappointed in their scores, it is important to remember that the program is a two-year course and that one ‘bad’ grade on a test won’t make you or your entire batch a failure. As Mr. Kramer’s data said, throughout the course, students familiarize themselves with the material and case studies, resulting in better grades. So good luck Year 1 Business Management students!