Primeros resultados de una prueba piloto para evaluar el pensamiento histórico de los estudiantes

This article analyzes the pilot study and first results of a test of history that has been conceived and designed as a possible model to assess historical thinking skills of students at the end of compulsory secondary education. The article provides a brief presentation of the assessment framework and explains how historical thinking concepts, such as "empathy", can be developed into measurable skills. The pilot study was conducted in two phases which have involved around 800 students aged between 16 and 18 years old. The results of the first phase, with 316 students’ answers that have been analyzed statistically according to the Item Response Theory (IRT), allow us to expect that the test can be an appropriate tool to assess students’ historical thinking and to distinguish scales of levels of achievement in the major historical competences.