irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2024
What they reported doing
- #1 primary $568KUSING ITS UNIQUE ASSESSMENTS, CAE HELPS SECONDARY AND POST SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS MEASURE STUDENTS' CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS. THESE SKILLS ARE IN HIGH DEMAND BY EMPLOYERS AND CAE'S RESEARCH SHOWS THAT THESE SKILLS ARE PREDICTIVE OF POSITIVE POST SECONDARY AND EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES.SINCE CAE'S INCEPTION, OVER 825,000 STUDENTS AT OVER 1300 INSTITUTIONS HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE ASSESSMENTS ALLOWING STUDENTS, EDUCATORS AND ADMNISTRATORS TO USE THE RESULTS TO IMPROVE CURRICULUM AND INFORM EDUCATION POLICY.
named programs · 3 · from sources
What they call their work
College and Career Readiness Assessment (CCRA+)
Assessment tool designed for secondary students to measure readiness in critical thinking and communication, supporting transition to college and career.
Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+)
Performance-based assessment measuring critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills in higher education students through real-world tasks and scenarios.
Critical Thinking Instructional Program
Comprehensive program providing faculty training, curriculum-aligned instructional materials, and performance tasks to build and measure critical thinking skills across disciplines.
activities · 4 groups
What they do
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Student Progress Assessment & Program Evaluation 3 activities
- Administering performance-based assessments in critical thinking and communicationAdministers performance-based assessments to measure critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills in real-world scenarios for over 825,000 students across more than 1,300 educational institutions globally, including through the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+) and state summative assessments like the Illinois Assessment of Readiness.
- Developing and delivering assessment items and test contentDesigns, develops, and delivers standards- and curriculum-aligned assessment items, tasks, passages, and test forms across K–20 education, including for large-scale summative assessments and discipline-specific performance tasks, in various formats and platforms.
- Generating and distributing assessment reports for students, faculty, and institutionsProduces detailed reports for students, faculty, and administrators that assess progress in core critical thinking skill areas—data literacy, critical reading, argumentation, and communication effectiveness—enabling targeted instruction, benchmarking, curriculum evaluation, and evidence-based microcredentials.
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Teacher Professional Development 2 activities
- Delivering professional development and training for facultyOffers multi-day workshops, consultation services, and training programs to help faculty integrate critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills into existing courses, use assessment data to identify learning gaps, and teach responsible use of generative AI.
- Providing free educational resources and guides for teaching critical thinkingMakes available free guides and classroom activities to support teaching critical thinking, including strategies for addressing AI-generated information, designed for integration into existing curricula.
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Structured Critical Thinking Curriculum 2 activities
- Providing instructional and skill-building materials for critical thinkingProduces and distributes instructional materials—including slide decks, student guides, performance tasks, and implementation resources—that teach foundational critical thinking concepts using the Seven Steps for Effective Critical Thinking framework and enable practice in real-world, discipline-specific contexts.
- Supporting institutional implementation of critical thinking programsProvides consultation, implementation guides, and custom performance tasks to help higher education institutions embed critical thinking skill development into curriculum design and academic programs, including through partnerships like with Texas A&M Mays Business School.
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Uncategorized 2 activities
- Conducting research on critical thinking skill development and curricular impactConducts longitudinal and cross-institutional research using assessments like the CLA+ to analyze student proficiency and growth in critical thinking, problem solving, and communication, and evaluates the impact of curricular instruction on skill mastery across higher education institutions in multiple countries.
- Publishing research and models for integrating critical thinking into educationProduces and disseminates whitepapers, infographics, and scalable models for integrating critical thinking into higher education curricula without requiring new courses, including strategies for teaching AI literacy and evaluating AI-generated information.
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financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$4.01M
Contributions & grants$00%
Program service revenue$4.00M100%
Investment income$00%
Other revenue$11K
expenses
Total expenses$3.79M
Program expenses75%
Admin / overhead25%
Fundraising0%
Salaries & benefits$1.80M
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$1.20M
Cash$872K
Investments$0
Liabilities$1.20M
Net assets$-288
Liquid reserves2.8 mo
5 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue -13.6%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
paid leadership · 3
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROBERT YAYAC | PRESIDENT AND CEO | 40 | $435K |
| DORIS ZAHNER | CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER | 40 | $232K |
| CYNTHIA KIM | VICE PRESIDENT | 40 | $229K |
board members · 6
- DENNIS BROWN — TRUSTEE
- INGMAR BERG — DIRECTOR
- JUDITH EATON — TRUSTEE
- MICHAEL FEUER PHD — TRUSTEE
- T NAKIA TOWNS — DIRECTOR
- V DARLEEN OPFER — TRUSTEE
relationships · 9
Who they work with
- CAE Partner — Organization partners with institutions to implement critical thinking skills programs.
- Finland Ministry of Education and Culture Partner — Collaborating with CAE to study the impact of higher education on critical-thinking skill development using CLA+.
- Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland Partner — Collaborated with CAE on the design and implementation of assessment programs.
- New Meridian Partner — Collaborated with CAE to develop assessment items and test forms for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness using New Meridian’s item banking platform.
- OECD Partner — Collaborated on a study assessing critical thinking and written communication proficiency using CAE's CLA+ assessment.
- OECD Partner — Collaborated with CAE on the design and implementation of assessment programs.
- Texas A&M Mays Business School Partner — Collaborates with CAE to integrate critical thinking instruction into its business school curriculum.
- Texas A&M Mays Business School Partner — Collaborates with Texas A&M Mays Business School to integrate critical thinking instruction into its curriculum.
- not specified Partner — Partners with educational institutions to implement the Critical Thinking Program and build workforce readiness.
strategies · 5
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- AI-Complementary Human-Centered Skill Developmentmethodology: AI-complementary skill developmentBy focusing on critical thinking skills that AI cannot replicate—such as ethical reasoning, contextual judgment, and evaluation of AI outputs—students are prepared to lead in AI-driven environments because the model emphasizes uniquely human cognitive strengths as essential complements to automation.
- Curriculum-Integrated Skill Developmentmethodology: curriculum-integrated skill developmentBy embedding critical thinking and problem solving instruction directly into existing academic curricula through discipline-specific performance tasks, students develop higher-order skills in authentic contexts, leading to improved retention, workforce readiness, and institutional outcomes because learning is reinforced within familiar subject matter and real-world applications.
- Equity-Integrated Assessment Designmethodology: equity-integrated assessment designBy integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion principles into assessment design through team training and review processes, the organization ensures that evaluations are fair and valid across diverse student populations, because bias is proactively addressed in both instrument design and interpretation.
- Performance-Based Assessment for Instruction and Improvementmethodology: performance-based assessmentBy using authentic, real-world performance tasks with no single correct answer to assess critical thinking and problem solving, the organization generates valid measures of student ability and actionable insights because the complexity of these tasks mirrors professional demands and enables targeted improvements in teaching and programming.
- Structured Faculty and Curriculum Development Modelmethodology: integrated-teaching-and-assessmentBy combining faculty training, baseline assessment, structured instructional frameworks (e.g., Seven Step or Five Step models), deliberate practice, and reassessment, institutions build capacity to teach and measure critical thinking systematically, improving student outcomes because skill development is intentional, scaffolded, and embedded in teaching practice.