Our Academic Focus: Critical Thinking

Focus Statement: A schoolwide effort to have all students at SVMS show measurable growth in their ability to think critically across all content areas through the implementation of Thinking Maps as measured by SBAC and other common formative assessments.

Schoolwide Strategies: Thinking Maps and Depth of Knowledge

What is Critical Thinking?

“Critical thinking is that mode of thinking – about any subject, content, or problem – in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it. Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking.” -Critical Thinking Community

How do we Measure Critical Thinking?

We can compare students’ ability to critically think across different content areas by using assessments with similar Depth of Knowledge levels.