The educational significance of this research is that it provides data that will allow educators to answer questions about whether it is worth the time, expense and effort of teaching thinking skills to students specifically chosen for their academic talents to attend a selective school. It provides insight into educational questions about whether academically selected students already have advanced levels of cognition compared with other students; whether a thinking skills intervention makes a worthwhile difference at that high end of the educational spectrum;and, whether the context of an academically selective school makes a difference with regard to the teaching and learning of thinking skills compared with high achieving students in non-selective schools.