Analysis and critical thinking in assessment: Resource Pack (2014)

Analysis and critical thinking in assessment has consistently been highlighted as a concern in inspection reports, family court proceedings, serious case reviews (SCRs) and inquiries into child deaths. Good-quality assessment is a vital element of work with children and families, whether at the early stages of considering if a child has additional needs or proceeding with a complex child protection inquiry. It is now well recognised that too much emphasis on assessment as a series of bureaucratic processes is not conducive to delivering a ‘child-centred system’ (Munro, 2011). So our aim has been to encourage a shift away from a ‘checklist’ approach by focusing on the skills associated with analysis and critical thinking, rather than the more procedural aspects of assessment, and to ensure that analytical thinking is at the heart of practice across every organisation.