Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 5, Number 1, Spring / Summer 2020 | Page 105

The Challenge of Evaluating and Testing Critical Thinking in Potential Intelligence Analysts
reading, 46 percent of students were
ready to move to the next level of learning,
while in science, the metric stood
at 36 percent (Crises at the Core 2005).
These scores are supported by
many in the teaching field and by literacy
experts. Professor Goldman (2019)
states, “We don’t teach students how
to think. The average student has not
improved their reading skills since the
fifth grade and that is the skill set they
come to college with.” This is echoed
in the seminal book, How To Read a
Book, by Mortimer Adler, who defines
elementary, inspectional, analytical,
and synoptical levels of reading. Many
argue students’ post-high school reading
is at the elementary and inspectional
level of reading, when at the college
level, synoptical reading is expected
and assumed to be mastered by college-level
students. Syntopical reading
requires an individual to perform deep
structure analysis by reading and/or
analyzing numerous sources, analyzing
those sources in relation to one another
and to a subject around which they all
revolve. Then the individual draws conclusions
from the evaluation and analysis—the
baseline job description for any
IA (Adler, 1972)
In addition to synoptical reading
levels, many in the intelligence field feel
that being able to communicate orally
and in writing goes hand-in-hand with
critical thinking and is of equal importance.
Defense Contractor and IA Mark
Sanders (2019) states,
The ability to speak and present
information well goes beyond
writing. An IA must be
able to distill huge amounts of
data coherently and be able to
discern what is critical. For example,
I have briefed Chairman
JCS [Joint Chief Secretary],
Deputy Secretary of Defense, the
National Security Council, Under
Secretaries, and Ambassadors
and every time I had much less
time than originally scheduled.
In addition to briefing people
quickly, I have had to craft onepage
decision papers [from larger
papers] distilling very detailed
technical information to senior
leaders – this is an art. The analyst
needs to not only impart
the knowledge but if interacting
with a senior, needs to ensure
that what is required, a decision,
a policy, an action, is apparent to
that individual. I’ve seen lengthy
briefings end badly when I had
to ask, “So what do you want me
to do?”
The analyst needs to be able to
cope with stressful situations,
large data sets, conflicting information
and maintain focus.
Complementing Mark Sanders is
IA and Technical Reports Editor Mark
Ashley (2019), who states, “While critical
thinking is of utmost importance,
it is right next to writing and production.
The IC suffers greatly from a drastic
shortage of strong writers. It is an
epidemic. I have seen firsthand how
careless articulation and misplaced
punctuation can disrupt an entire intelligence
message.”
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