Teach Higher-Order Skills That Help Students Thrive
Help students build critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills—essential for academic success today and career readiness tomorrow.
Critical Thinking Skills Program for Grades 6–12
Technology is rapidly changing how we learn, communicate, and interact with the world. Schools play a critical role in preparing students not only with subject knowledge, but with higher-order skills—critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication—that help them excel academically, adapt to new challenges, and confidently take their next steps after graduation, whatever path they choose.
CAE’S Critical Thinking Skills Program provides educators the training, materials, and support to seamlessly integrate critical thinking instruction into daily instruction and measure students’ proficiency with the skills that will help them succeed.
By explicitly teaching higher-order skills, your school or district can give students an advantage that supports academic achievement, prepares them for postsecondary opportunities, and equips them for success in everyday life.
A Complete Solution to Develop and Measure Students’ Future-Ready Skills
CAE’s Critical Thinking Skills Program includes:
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Professional development and ongoing coaching that equip educators to teach higher-order skills with confidence across subject areas
CRITICAL THINKING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
Engaging critical thinking instructional materials and practice performance tasks that strengthen higher-order skills
PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENTS
Performance-based assessments that measure higher-order skills, guide instruction with actionable data, and help students showcase their critical thinking proficiency.
Actionable Insights for Every Stakeholder
STUDENTS & FAMILIES
Students and their families will learn which skills are needed to do well in school today and to take on whatever life holds after graduation.
Their personalized assessment results report will outline:
The characteristics of strong critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication so they can work with their teachers to develop a plan to build those specific skills
How they’re developing in all three essential skill areas as well as six subsets of those skills
How their skills compare to their school’s average as well peers across the country so they can set goals for growth
TEACHERS & SCHOOL COUNSELORS
CCRA+ provides teachers and counselors with critical insights to help improve their students’ essential skills as well as their ability to do well with secondary school course content.
Teachers and counselors can use the data provided in student and institution data reports to:
Better understand factors that may be contributing to academic difficulties
Incorporate class-wide guidance and instruction focused on building critical thinking, problem- solving, and written communication skills
Provide targeted intervention and supports to students who have greater opportunities for growth
DISTRICT & SCHOOL LEADERS
District and school leaders receive school-wide reports that identify student growth across grade levels and show how students compare to national averages.
These data are useful to:
Identify gaps in curricula and programming
Inform professional learning for teachers to support specific skill
building schoolwide or at specific grade levels
Support tracking of district-wide goals for college and career readiness
Ensure students are developing the skills established by state or district graduate profiles