This study investigated the assessment strategies used by lecturers, the challenges of innovative assessment strategies and the perceived assessment strategies that can foster critical thinking among teacher-trainees. The population of the study consists of 1,430 teacher trainees from three public universities in Rivers State. The study adopted a survey research design with a sample of 180 lecturers who are teacher-educators drawn from the population. The study was guided by three research questions and two null hypotheses. An instrument developed by the researcher titled: “Innovative Assessment Strategies for Critical Thinking Scale” (IASCTS) was used for data collection. The validity of the instrument was established using experts in Measurement and Evaluation from the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. The reliability of the instrument was determined using the Cronbach Alpha technique with coefficients of 0.81, 0.87, and 0.74 obtained for sections B, C, and D respectively. Data analyses were done using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while one-way ANOVA was used to test the corresponding null hypotheses. Notably, results revealed that the most used assessment strategy in teacher education was the final examination at the end of the course, while the least used is field trip. Furthermore, the major factor hindering lecturers' use of innovative assessment strategies to foster critical thinking is the high enrollment of students, while the least factor is inadequate support from fellow lecturers. Based on some of the aforementioned findings, it was recommended that Lecturers should integrate aspects of educational policy analysis as part of the assessment framework used in developing critical thinking among teacher-trainees in Rivers State.