This paper explores how to organically and effectively integrate ideological and political education elements into EFL classrooms and scientifically assess their promotional effects on critical thinking skills. The article first constructs an evaluation system comprising two primary indicators (skills: questioning, analysis, reasoning, judgment, evaluation; and tendencies: thinking qualities, emotional traits), seven secondary indicators, and 17 tertiary indicators. A GA-BP neural network model (input layer with 16 nodes, hidden layer with 9 nodes, and output layer with 1 node) is further constructed, using weighted indicator data as input and comprehensive evaluation values as output. Through two rounds of Delphi expert consultation, the indicators are revised, and after removing C17 “curiosity,” 16 tertiary indicators are retained. Objective weighting based on the coefficient of variation method showed that critical thinking skills (A1, weight 0.672) were significantly higher than the disposition dimension (A2, weight 0.328), with “multi-angle analysis (C3, weight 0.094)” and “setting standards and comparison (C1, weight 0.085)” as core competencies. After optimizing the initial weights using a genetic algorithm, the mean squared error (MSE) of the model was reduced to 0.000682, the test set fit coefficient reached 0.999, and the prediction error was below 1.17%. Empirical analysis based on 574 valid questionnaires revealed that the average critical thinking skills scores of high-achieving students (9.10–9.87) were significantly higher than those of low-achieving students (3.56– 5.42), and that average-performing students shared a common weakness in “evaluation skills (B5, 6.06 points).” Multiple regression analysis indicates that English proficiency (β = 4.403), classroom frequency (β = 3.981), and the depth of ideological and political integration (β = 3.350) are key factors promoting critical thinking (P < 0.01).
