Workgroup Leaders:

Larry Bell, Community Leader
Therese Dialls I, Facilitator
Lisa Deffendall, Project Coordinator
Jim Adams, Staff Leader
Patrice Thompson, Staff Leader

Why Consider Critical Thinking Skills, Chess and Strategic Games?

• Research has linked learning to play chess with better student achievement, stronger math performance, higher standardized test scores and higher self-esteem.
• Educators around the world acknowledge that chess is a powerful tool for developing higher order thinking skills, creativity, numerical and verbal aptitudes, and memory. In many other countries, chess is a required part of the curriculum.
• The problem solving-skills developed by playing chess or other strategic games translates to success in math and science.
• Playing chess improves a child's visual memory, attention span, spatial reasoning skills, capacity to predict and anticipate consequences, critical thinking skills, intellectual, social and emotional maturity, ability to use criteria to drive decision making and evaluate alternatives.
• Students must develop critical thinking skills to do well on state assessments and in life.