This report describes a program that used both critical and creative thinking skills to enhance the educational process in language arts. The targeted population consisted of fourth- and seventh-grade students in two growing, middle-class communities located in northern Illinois. The lack of higher-order thinking skills was documented through teacher-made inventories, teacher-made content area tests, and a thinking skills rubric. Analysis of probable cause data revealed that students lacked skills related to higher-order thinking, lacked the ability to explain problem-solving strategies, and lacked the ability to transfer knowledge to new situations. Educators consistently fail to provide explicit instruction in higher-order thinking skills and resist change in teaching practices and curriculum to include the needed instruction. Reviews of curricula and instructional strategies revealed a curricular under-emphasis on information pertaining to higher-order thinking skills. A review of solution strategies combined with an analysis of the problem setting resulted in the selection of one intervention--an implementation of a teacher-constructed program with an increased emphasis on higher-order thinking processes. Post intervention data indicated an increase in student use of higher-order thinking skills. (Contains 30 references, and 4 tables and 2 figures of data. Appendixes present assessment instruments, rubrics, and 10 sample lessons concerning brainstorming, predicting, compare/contrast, questioning, cause/effect, sequencing, problem-solving, and inferring.) (Author/RS)