In this article, the author stresses that teachers need to teach their students to think critically and to reason their way. One prerequisite for teaching critical thinking is a classroom climate of high expectations, teacher warmth and encouragement, and pleasant physical surroundings. Schools should see to it that students become progressively…

Charlotte Danielson of the Educational Testing Service says that schools can do plenty to keep students engaged in learning. Students who are deeply engaged in learning are not simply spending "time on task," she says, but are intellectually involved with curriculum topics and mentally involved in what she calls "minds-on learning." Making that…