Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment CogAT testing

Frannie (7 and 1st grade) took the CogAT in Jaunary. Test results (according to district website) are due BY April.. so that would mean I should have test results today. This is the test they use for gifted services. There is a magnet school program which starts in 3rd grade. For this they take the Wisc in second grade with the program starting in third grade. Frannie is receiving services already through reading and math (3 times week for 90 minutes)enrichment pullouts. Her teacher already wrote the recommendations for Northwestern's summer program.

So here I sit today..knowing my reg mail carrier is on vacation and the mail comes very late due to this...

Also just as a back up...My kiddo took the cogat three times and never made the cut for the gifted program....It took testing by someone who got "gifted" before we got the scores. When we got those scores I decided that ohhh we must have got what we paid for. (She has consistently been working three years or more above grade level since we moved her to a charter school in fourth grade. I think they call it gt denial.) So I had her take the SAT figuring that she would be a number and no one would care what she scored... Her SAT scores were in line with her private gifted IQ testing. Just a little story to keep in the palm of your hand in case those darn COGAT scores don't show what you know your kiddo can do. Keep believing in yourself anyways!

LOL Dottie.. the website states the WISC scores will be delivered by the end of April.... we shall see when the results will arrive.

On another note... ,y son is on the waiting list for both the Math & Science academy and the Chinese Immersion programs. God help his kindergarten teacher if he is in a regular school. He completes Frannnie's homework now. Kinder isn't required in our state but our district will not allow early entry and frowns on grade skips. Frannie's teacher is helping us advocate for him as she sees him with her class on the days I help out. He sits with the math enrichment kids I work with and tries (most times successfully) the project.

Thanks
Sheila

Such a great point, I had to reply. So many things that we as parents can see in our kids, that testing might not be able to show.

I called the district office.. test results haven't been released yet. So here we wait till the end of the month

results are in.....she just missed the cutoff. SO now what? Do I look for private testing? How do I find someone who wont break the bank?

Right now she is pulled out for both math and reading. Will the school stop next year in second grade?


ughhhh
thanks,
Sheila

Ug!!!
This was the CogAT? or the WISC? It there a gifted coordinator you can call and ask for a meeting. It may be that with 'just missed' plus a parent 'calmly and confidently' suggesting that their child really really needs the services, plus the support of the classroom teacher that may enough - and you wouldn't need testing at all.

Other possibility is that the school will do the WISC now with no additional charge.

If not, then check with Gifted Corrdinator to see if she/he has any leads as far as who is reasonably priced and good with bright kids. Find out which tests are acceptable to the school - no point in hiring a tester to do 'SB-V' for example, if the school only accepts WISC, for example.


The CogAT really isn't a good test for finding gifted kids.
Best Wishes,
Grinity

Grinity..
The results we have are CogAT. The school does the wisc in January of grade 2. The district we are in has a magnet program that starts in grade 3. They use wisc to qualify for the magnet.

So do you think that the CG would let DD slide in? Or ask the school tester to do the WISC early?
Grinity

I'm confused. Is the CogAT for continuation of your DD's services when she goes to 2nd? And then she will test again next year for the 3rd grade using the WISC? I think if she's already getting pullouts, the school should see that she shouldn't all of a sudden not need them based on how she did on one test one day. Is she doing well in the pullouts?

Also, I have heard many stories of HG+ kids doing poorly on the CogAT - it seems better suited to ID MG kids, but misses many HG+ kids for some reason.

I think the above is the key question(s).

Tammy

My guess would be that it is due to the test being multiple choice and relying so heavily on fast processing after grade 2, when it is timed, and convergent thinking.

For example, the verbal classification section gives the kids a list of words and asks them to select from a group of choices how these words are the same. A child who comes up with some unique manner in which they are related cannot explain further why that fits since it is multiple choice. A deeper thinker may see too many possibilities.

I'm honestly not even sure on iding MG kids with the CogAT. I'm sure that there are some gifted kids (MG or otherwise) who do well on it, but I'm not sure that it is good for testing giftedness in general. Just b/c the scores on the CogAT correlate fairly well with IQ scores for children who fall within 1 SD of the mean, doesn't mean that the scores correlate well with IQ for kids who fall further from the mean.

There are, admittedly, studies of the validity of the CogAT as compared to the WISC-III and the WJ Cog. which show a reasonable correlation btwn these different tests, again for average kids. However, I don't believe that there have been any studies done of the correlation btwn scores on the CogAT and an IQ test for gifted children or for children with intellectual disabilities.

She scored a 126 on verbal and a 118 on non verbal. The child needs to score 3 point of which one point needs to be scored in verbal and one in non verbal. Here is the matrix


edited because quadrant didn't paste properly

Cognitive Abilities Test

(CogAT)
0 1 2 3 4 5
120-125 126-128 129-134 135-139 140+

Verbal
National Percentile

Nonverbal
National Percentile

no other scores given.

So do you think that the CG would let DD slide in? Or ask the school tester to do the WISC early?
Grinity
So when do you call the Gifted Coordinator and see if sliding is allowed? I also like the 'early WISC' alternative.
Good luck,
Grinity

what does ID MG mean?

I am new to this website- and am not generally focused on my children's performance on a single test, per se. I know ultimate success is not solely based on raw intellect, but on so many factors.
Yet, I am on my last baby.... now 3rd grade and wondering exactly what this recent test score he got means~ how it ranks~ what I could/should do to optimize his learning environment as a result?
(We live in California, very very little money left in budgets for gifted development programs; and all adjunct opportunities seem cost prohibitive on our family budget!)
He scored 143 overall (and his composite rank is 99 nationally)

Can anyone help me ?

Haha, almost forgot ..... this is on the CogAT

I am becoming one of "those" moms


The test was administered as a group. The questions were read to the kids. I am wondering if maybe she misunderstood some of the questions on the nonverbal test. Is CogAT a timed test? Also, why would it be off in the non verbal compared to her MAP scores which are very high

The test is timed starting in 3rd grade, which is the same point at which the kids read it to themselves. If it was read aloud to a group of kids, it wouldn't be timed. The potential for misinterpretation of the intent of the questions remains in either situation, of course.