Critical Thinking, Quality of
Instruction and Leadership
Training for Educators

Proven Methods and Tools for Integrating Critical Thinking with
Technical and Scientific Writing In All Disciplines

Dear Educator:

This page contains information regarding research we have conducted and programs we have developed to help students meet the real world expectations for both critical thinking and science/technical writing skills. These skills do not seem to be adequately covered in some public schools because of the current focus on "creative writing" rubrics.   The problem is exacerbated by the robotic and dehumanizing environments of classrooms dominated by standardized test preparation.

In an effort to address these issues, we are teaching courses for instructors at community colleges and public schools showing how science/technical writing exercises can easily be integrated into existing classroom platforms in all science or vocational courses. Attached are some excerpts from various studies we have done, including a survey of virtually all high school students in Greene, Jones and Lenoir counties and almost all of their vocational teachers. In brief, many students, teachers, and even their prospective employers complained that critical thinking skills, proficiency in technical writing and self confidence in problem solving seem to be declining. There is a consensus of opinion among many that the loss of critical thinking skills is linked with a nearly obsessive preoccupation with standardized test preparation.

The programs we have developed seek to address those needs and issues in the short term by teaching instructors how to recapture their efforts to teach problem solving and science writing in the midst of all their other duties.

Let us know if you would like more detailed information.   Call us at 252.7547.1339 or email dsnyder@mindread.net.

Here are a few quotes and references about the quality of our work:

"David Snyder has worked in Greene County Schools...with our administrators, our school board and most recently with our middle school. I have found him to be an extremely competent and insightful consultant. He has reminded me that an organization functions according to the ability of its leaders. He has helped my leadership team and my board to focus on the effective leadership strategies that result in success. I believe his work here will have a profound effect on the performance of our school system, both this year and in the future."
Steve Mazingo, Superintendent, Greene County Schools Tel: 252.747.3425

"The 80 page report that David [has] prepared for the State Department of Public Instruction [is] a demonstration of excellent research and writing. The conclusions, insights, and recommendations in his report represent a well-reasoned blueprint for vocational education reform. I have invited David to speak before important groups several times and he has the unique ability to synthesize complex information and present it to diverse groups in words that anyone can understand."

Dr. Karin Pettit, President, Lenoir Community College. Tel: 252.527.6223
 

Critical Thinking Outline

Letter of Recommendation

School Report Synopsis: Blueprint for Vocational Education Reform

EOG Paper Abstract:  Test Scores Rise After Intervention Program

SACS Assessment Simplified

Our Position on Standardized Testing

Students, parents and educators across the nation have begun to sound a revolutionary cry calling for an end to robotic, stifling classrooms that are dominated by a senseless and nearly hysterical obsession with performance standards based upon a seemingly endless agenda of standardized tests.

As most researchers and educators know, the obsession with standardized testing performance has led to a demonstrable decline in the self confidence of young people to think "critically"--this means, of course, that they have less confidence in their ability to think for themselves, draw their own conclusions about facts, or solve problems.  Our company has been involved in research into these problems and we have presented our findings in numerous reports to business and education leaders as well as public school officials.  Our findings corroborate what most of the best education leadership authorities in the nation already know--that many public schools no longer have the time or the authority to teach young people the kind of critical thinking, writing, speaking and human relationship skills that they will need for the real world of work when they graduate.  Instead, they are being asked to memorize and regurgitate an endless stream of facts for standardized tests, all to please the political agendas of legislators and bureaucrats who know very little about child development or the learning process.

The politics surrounding the heated national debate over "accountability" in schools are bewildering to those who base their decisions upon logic and common sense.  That is because the advocates of increased testing do not seem to be displaying common sense.

Ask any school system superintendent if he or she believes that the glut of standardized tests to which students are subjected serves a useful purpose and is fair to students and you will more than likely receive a resounding no.  Few educators feel that schools should be dedicated to testing if testing impedes learning.

However, state and federal bureaucrats have somehow persuaded the press to glorify states that have increased standardized testing in schools and to portray them as models of "accountability."   But to most educators (as opposed to politicians) it doesn't matter how well any school does on a battery of standardized tests--because it is the tests themselves that are wrong and flawed.  Moreover, it is the time-dominating process of teaching students to do better on these flawed tests that robs teachers and students of the opportunity to engage in genuine learning.  This lack of attention to genuine  learning is the primary reason why so many young people can no longer read, write or think for themselves, according to a growing number of education experts.

One of the most brilliant books written on this subject is titled The Schools Our Children Deserve, written by acclaimed education researcher Alfie Kohn. Kohn describes in intricate detail and with copious footnotes the reasons why standardized testing is destroying the learning experience for so many children in America.  Much information is also available on his website, http://www.afliekohn.org/.

Until enough parents stand up and oppose the obscene amount of testing to which their children are exposed, it is doubtful whether the problems associated with standardized testing will be solved.

In the meantime, our company offers educators a variety of programs to teach high school and college vocational instructors how to quickly integrate critical thinking exercises and technical writing instruction into their classes, without interrupting the standard course of study usually mandated by state guidelines.

Tel:  919.510.5443

dsnyder@mindread.net