Instruments to measure decision-making skills of grade 5, 8, and 11 students were developed as a part of Pennsylvania's statewide assessment program. A decision-making model was formulated based upon John Dewey's five major steps of the critical thinking process: (1) identify the problem; (2) establish the facts; (3) formulate the hypothesis; (4) test the hypothesis; (5) evaluate the results. The model was viewed primarily as an item-writing guide. The general pattern in the instruments calls for the students to read a paragraph describing a decision-making situation involving a central character. Following the presentation of the facts is a series of four-option multiple-choice questions to which students respond. These items measure students' abilities to draw proper inferences from the given facts, to determine appropriate additional data needed by the central character, to predict the consequences of decisions and to match the central character's value system with the decision choices. Validation support for the instruments was gathered in a study in four school districts. (GSK)