Assessment of Teachers’ Beliefs about Classroom Use of Critical-Thinking Activities

Abstract

This article reports five studies in which a scale for assessing teachers’ beliefs about classroom use of critical-thinking (CT) activities was developed and its scores evaluated for reliability and validity. The Critical Thinking Belief Appraisal (CTBA) is based on a four-factor “advantage effect” model: the theoretical premise that teachers’ CT-related decision making is associated with their beliefs about the effectiveness of (a) high-CT activities for high-advantage learners, (b) high-CT activities for low-advantage learners, (c) low-CT activities for high-advantage learners, and (d) low-CT activities for low-advantage learners. Results indicated that the scale produced scores with high reliability; a stable factor structure; and satisfactory discriminant, construct, and predictive validity. The studies supported the theoretical and practical utility of the construct and measure of teachers’ beliefs about classroom use of CT activities.