1. Mark A. Wainwright, Margaret J. Wright,Michelle Luciano, Grant W. Montgomery, Gina M.

Geffen, and Nicholas G. Martin. A Linkage Study of Academic Skills Defined by the
Queensland Core Skills Test 2005
2. Facione, Peter A.The California Critical Thinking Skills Test--College Level. Technical
Report #1Experimental Validation and Content Validity. 1990
3. Mark Fetler. High School Staff Characteristics and Mathematics Test Results 1993

In the 1990 study, Peter Facione, examined the California Critical Thinking Skills Tests
and how it related to critical thinking. The California Critical Thinking Skills Test is a
standardized test that targets critical thinking at the college level that many believe is necessary
for success in higher education. The article examines the different ways that a critical skills test
can be used and looks at research that supports the tests validity. The exam is a forty-five
minute test that asks a variety of questions the test makers believe gauge ones critical thinking
skills. There are many different types of questions on the test that measure different types of
critical thinking, some are analytical and some are problem solving, along with other types. In
order to test the validity of tests such as the California Critical Thinking Skills Test, the author
looks to two different avenues. One is to have control and experiment groups take the test and
compare the scores based on different factors. The second way would be a groupthink session
were people worked through the questions together. If the group used good critical thinking
skills to decide on the answer and got the question wrong, then the validity of the test would be
in question.
The experiment that the article uses as evidence throughout its entirety is the CSU
Fullerton Study that examined the California Critical Skills Test. The test was administered to

around 1169 college students in different areas of study to determine the critical thinking skills
that are taught in classes. The students were given a pre and post test to determine how much
their critical thinking skills improved through taking a specific college course. Results from the
experiment did not show a shocking increase in critical thinking skills after a semester but they
did show a slight increase in student critical thinking skills. The author claims many different
factors that could have caused the results not to be as accurate including lack of student interest
in a taking a test that was not for a grade. After looking at the overall results of critical thinking
pre and post tests, the author examines the different factors that could influence critical thinking
such as race and gender. The conclusion reached in the paper is that there is really is not a large
disparity in race and gender that would lead them to conclude that the critical thinking test favors
one demographic.
The article also looks at how the California Critical Thinking Skills Test can correlate to
different postgrad tests such as the LSAT, MCAT and GRE. The author calls for a more in depth
study to determine if there would be a correlation between scores on the critical skills test and
scores on these postgrad tests. The article concludes by bringing up different opinions educators
have about their roles in teaching critical thinking skills and the importance of those skills.
Facione makes the statement that critical thinking skills tests could even been used by employers
to determine if a candidate would be a good employee. In his opinion good critical thinking
skills make a person a better problem solver and ultimately a better leader. The article really
highlights the necessity of having good critical thinking skills and leans toward the opinion that
students should be taught critical thinking skills, especially in higher education.