ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the Arlington, Virginia, public schools provide a setting for examining the realities of developing and implementing an instructional program in thinking skills for all pupils. Arlington Schools is an urban system of 15,000 pupils (grades K–12) in 30 schools. This particular system has wrestled directly with the issues surrounding the teaching and assessment of thinking skills since 1974. That wrestling has been characterized by varying degrees of intensity in the intervening years. A description of aspects of Arlington’s experiences can be helpful to those who are interested in the difficulties of converting theoretical approaches to instruction in thinking skills into practical school programs. It can be useful in distinguishing responsibilities that can be assigned to the schools from those that must be assumed by the research and teacher-training communities outside the schools.
