Tests Worth Teaching To: Constructing State-Mandated Tests That Emphasize Critical Thinking

In this article, I argue that state-mandated tests should focus on critical thinking, defined as careful argumentation. This would mitigate the primary criticism of such tests—that they drive an instructional focus on rote factual learning. Conceptualizing critical thinking in terms of argumentation provides a simple, useful way to focus instruction and assessment according to the type of critical thinking that appears to be valued in the workplace. I give an example of how this concept could be translated into a forced-choice test item. A test that combines both open-ended and forced-choice items could be used to assess critical thinking in a practical, cost-effective way. If one accepts the premise that tests drive curriculum and instruction, perhaps the easiest way to reform instruction and improve educational quality is to construct better tests.

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