Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Cogat test result

My son�s school started using COGAT this year to identify kids for the honors programs ( he is in middle school) .
In prior years it was CRB test and his tests results were usually in the highest percentile.
He did not do any preparation for the COGAT test.
He is extremely upset, since according to the letter from school he is not qualified for science program as a COGAT result . He dreamed about being in the program whole year and all other prerequisites are satisfied the entrance criteria.
He is a thinker, and his analytical abilities are very high. But , after reading the forum and other sources , looks like the test is not exactly a good measure for the giftedness.
But, still is there a place where he could take COGAT test independently in NJ? Last year he did not get into the program even with very high results .He wanted to be in the program and apparently it was the issue with the teacher who identified kids last year, so I suspect that this trend continue and she just does not want him to be in the class for unknown reason.
So, I want to re-test him independently or(and ) take IQ test which he never done . First for his self-esteem. Second, maybe I could prove for school, have a lot of doubts though. It did not work in the past when I was trying to be an advocate for my son. Which IQ test for 12 years old could you recommend?
What else could be done?

Some kids do not test well in Cogat. My daughter did not and she did very well on WISC-IV. WISC-IV is a pretty good test.

Check with the administration in your school/district and see if they will accept outside IQ testing in place of the CogAT. DD did horrible on the CogAT because she doesn't do well on timed tests, but her WISC score was very high and they accepted the result. They have a list of providers they will accept, though, so don't spend money on outside testing until you know if they have rules about this.
You could also check and see if the school will give him a different ability test or IQ test (so you don't have to pay for it privately). There might be an appeals process if a parent objects to their kid not getting into a gifted program.

Thank you for reply.
Have doubts that the school will give him a different test. I spoke with one of the teacher who is responsible for the program administration and he said , that there is no exceptions. Since he did not get the required score , they cannot do anything. Meanwhile , my son talked to other kids and apparently there are kids who did not meet placement criteria for a different component , nevertheless they will be accepted.
We do not know the actual score he got, just figured it out ,that it was a quantitative component of COgat. That is total nonsense. His CRB always been in 98/99 suburban score and he is pretty good in math.
Regarding Cogat . I bought Cogat sample book and he tried to solve several problems from each section to get an idea about the test. What we found , that in a quantitative section as least , the questions sometimes very unclear, and there are several solutions to one problem (Ex. formula for number sequence) . So , validity of the test as a measure of the placement is kind of odd.

Is it possible to re-take Cogat in some testing center independently ?
I googled it , but did not find anything.

What is the CRB? I haven't heard of that before - any chance you're referring to ERBs?

I haven't heard of private options for taking the CogAT - I think that's in part because it's perhaps not that reliable of a measure Most tests that are measuring ability (and some achievement tests) are also not supposed to be repeated for at least 12 months to avoid inflated scores due to repeat testing - so you'd need to be careful in considering retaking it - even if your ds did retake it, the school might not accept the scores.

If you were here in our district, you're best route to appeal would be through advocacy with other scores. Information is key, so the first thing I'd do is request a copy of your ds' CogAT report from the school district (make the request in writing, and give them 10 business days to reply). Also find the written policy for admission to the science program (if it exists). It might not be any different than what you've been told, but it's important that you know what you are being told is correct.

I would ask your ds what it is he sees as different and desirable about the gifted science program - look for cues that let you know - does he want in there because it sounds more interesting than the regular program, or is he wanting in because he's needing faster pace / etc. Try to re-think the question of where he should be next year not from what he *wants* to do, but where he *needs* to be. If the indications are that he needs faster-pace, higher level discussion etc - then include that in your advocacy approach. Also look for examples of deeper-than-typical thinking in his previous years' science work.

Is there any chance his science teacher this year is supportive of him going into the program? If you had a recommendation from a teacher I'd suspect that would go a long way.

Good luck!

polarbear

Thanks you for your recommendation, polarbear.
yes , the test is ERB. My mistake.
It is not just my son wants to be in the class . His teacher supports it and I talked to her . But , she stated the district policy, and no exceptions.
However, DS mentioned yesterday, that some of kids with lower FInal Average than required are accepted. But, I went this route already using the information, when kids with much lower scores than required were accepted to GT programs in elementary school , while DS with stanine 9 was not. My attempt to advocate brought nothing positive . I feel that it made it worse in the following years.

My son wants to be in the program, since it is more advanced, pace is totally different and the group of kids is of his level.
Science is his interest and always been since he was little. And the teachers comment of his knowledge in this field. He watches Science and Discovery.
This year his science class is just awful. There are just couple of kids who wants to learn. Others are just sitting there and the teacher spent time trying to discipline kids. My son feels depressed in this setting.
And , yes his science projects are very interesting and one of them is on display in school.