general agreement also exists that "much of our human talent is being wasted and a growing proportion of the next generation is slipping beyond the reach of the institutions and values of our society" (Business Higher Education Forum, 1988, p. 6). Businesses in the United States, for the most part, tend to view the contemporary high school diploma as signifying nothing more than time spent in the classroom (Rosenfeld, 1987).
While educators such as Barnes (1992), Chaffee (1992), Cromwell (1992), Hauser (1991), Paul (1990), and White (1991) contend that the problem lies in the inability of young people to think critically, business leaders cite the major problem as an absence of the mastery of basic skills (Rosenfeld, 1987). Proponents of critical thinking such as Chaffee (1992) contend that the critical thinking model should replace the coverage model as a teaching strategy. Paul (1990, p. 5) contended that knowledge "exists . . . only in minds that have comprehended it
and justified it through thought. And
...