Join 7,000+ readers every week for practical thoughts, tips, and strategies for IB Educators.
Teaching Evaluation is the Hardest...
October 6, 2025
This week I want to focus on what I think is the hardest skill to teach in IB Economics, but also the one that makes the difference between a student who does “fine” on the exam and a student who really shines.
That skill is evaluation.
When I first started teaching IB Economics, I was terrible at teaching evaluation. Not because I didn’t understand the content, but because I didn’t have a clear way to show students what evaluation actually looked like.
I knew they needed to go beyond description and analysis.
I knew they needed to make judgments.
But I didn’t have a structure to give them. And without structure, students either wrote nothing at all, or wrote long rambling paragraphs that wandered in circles.
Over time, and after a lot of trial and error, I realized something simple but powerful.
And that's simply that evaluation needs to be taught with the same clarity and the same routine as diagrams, calculations, or analysis. That seems terribly obvious now, but it wasn't.
Students need a repeatable method they can trust.
And that method is what I call the “Two-Hands” approach.
Why Evaluation Matters
The evaluation is where students show that they are not just memorizing economics, but thinking like economists. This is where they weigh policies against one another, where they acknowledge trade-offs, and where they make judgments about what really works in practice.
In the mark schemes, these are the toughest marks to earn. They are the difference between a 5 and a 6, or a 6 and a 7. And they are worth practicing all year, not just in the last month before the exams.
If analysis shows that a student can describe the impact of a tax or a subsidy, evaluation shows that they understand that the policy might work in some situations but not in others.
It shows that they can weigh alternatives and reach a conclusion. That is higher-order thinking.
The Two-Hands Method
Here’s the structure I use. It's old school, but it works.
I tell my students to picture themselves holding two options, one in their weaker hand representing the argument they won’t ultimately agree with, and one in their stronger hand representing the best possible choice, so that whenever they face an economic situation, whether in class, on a unit test, or in the IB exam, they have a clear, visual framework for weighing both sides before deciding.
It sounds almost stupid, but it works. And it works because it gives students a clear structure to imagine in their heads.
Here are some examples of the “two hands” I teach:
- Short run vs. long run
- Advantages vs. disadvantages
- Interventionist vs. market-based approaches
- Fiscal policy vs. monetary policy
- Demand-side vs. supply-side policies
- Free trade vs. protectionism
With these pairs, students can always set up two evaluation paragraphs. In one, they highlight the benefits or strengths of a policy. In the other, they highlight the costs or limitations.
And at the end, they make a clear and declaratory statement about which hand carries more weight.
That judgment is key. Evaluation without a conclusion is incomplete, and you'll see my actual structure and the end of this article.
How It Looks in Practice
Let’s use an example. Suppose the government is using expansionary fiscal policy to reduce unemployment.
On the one hand, increased government spending can create new jobs, stimulate demand, and boost growth in the short run.
On the other hand, higher government spending may lead to a larger budget deficit, which could require higher taxes in the future or cutbacks in other areas. It may also cause inflation if the economy is close to full capacity.
Which hand carries more weight?
That depends.
If the economy is in a deep recession with idle resources, the benefits of spending may outweigh the costs. If the economy is already near full employment, the inflationary risks may outweigh the benefits.
That is a clear, structured evaluation. Students are comparing, balancing, and concluding. And examiners reward that every time.
Always Teach Evaluative Thought
One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was treating evaluation as an “end-of-course” skill. Something we would get to once the content was covered. That was silly, boarding on stupid.
Now, I make evaluation a habit from the start.
Every time we finish an analysis, I push students one step further. I say, “Okay, what are the limitations? What are the trade-offs? What’s the other hand?”
Sometimes it’s just one sentence, sometimes it’s a full paragraph, most of the time it's just a moment in class to challenge them, but the repetition builds the thought pattern that they must judge (evaluate) always.
By the time exams come around, evaluation is just what their minds do.
Final Thought
So here’s my advice. Treat evaluation like any other essential skill in IB Economics.
Give it structure. Make it routine. Practice it often.
And to help, here is a downloadable version of my Evaluation Structure for Paper 1 and Paper 2.
When students can evaluate confidently, they stop sounding like kids repeating notes from class and start sounding like economists who understand the complexity of the real world.
And that is exactly what the IB is looking for.
Be good out there and thanks again to Bill Blaine from Westwood High School for reaching out and requesting this breakdown. I hope you found it helpful!
See you next week.
Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities...
Book a Custom Training for Your IB Faculty - If your school would like a tailored training on the updated Extended Essay guidelines, we’d love to help—onsite at your campus or live online—just send me an email at [email protected] and we’ll work together to make it happen.
The Cohort Model for the Extended Essay Teacher Workshop, October 4th, 2025 - The Cohort Model is a customizable approach to managing the Extended Essay, designed to meet your school’s specific context. This workshop will guide you through each step of the process, from research and reflections to assessment, offering a structured, cohesive approach that ensures student success and smooth coordination across all subjects
Effectively Supervising the New Extended Essay - November 8th, 2025 - This focused and practical workshop is designed to help teachers confidently navigate the updated Extended Essay framework for the Class of 2027. Together, we’ll explore what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and how to effectively guide students through both the Subject-Focused and Interdisciplinary pathways.
Brad Cartwright
Educator | Speaker | Workshop Leader | Course Creator