nitrates in their hot dogs are carcinogens, if the public school system is providing an
adequate education, and whether health plans that allow you to choose your physician
are preferable to plans that do not allow this flexibility. Because every citizen is required
to make countless important decisions, it may seem obvious that, as a society, we
should be concerned with the way these decisions are made. Surprisingly, it is only
within the last 10 to 15 years that educators, politicians, and the general public have
begun to address this topic in a serious manner.

The ( U.S.) National Education Goals Panel recognized the need to ensure that
college graduates have the knowledge and skills to enhance and sustain a strong global
economy and to participate in the democratic process so that we can all enjoy a world
of peace with adequate resources. One of the goals that they set for college graduates
in the year 2000 is: "The proportion of college graduates who demonstrate an advanced
ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and solve problems will increase
substantially" ( National Education Goals Panel, 1991, p. 237).

Numerous national reports have shown that instruction designed to improve the
thinking process is desperately needed. The United States has been described as a
"nation at risk" because we are failing to provide students with the most essential
component of education--instruction that fosters the development of the ability to
think ( National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). Steen ( 1987) sum-
marized the results of an international study on mathematical reasoning with this
ominous warning, "Indeed, as the 'back-to-basics' movement has flourished in the
last 15 years, the ability of U.S. students to think (rather than to memorize) has
declined accordingly" (p. 251 ). The Education Commission of the States reached a
similar sobering conclusion in its 1982 report: "The pattern is clear: the percentage
of students achieving higher order skills is declining" (cited in Baron & Sternberg,
1987, p. x).

GRIN AND BEAR IT by Lichty & Wagner

"Fifty cents for my thoughts?"

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