I know CogAt isn't necessarily the best for identifying giftedness, but it's what our district use. Our son is 7 and in second grade. We have long suspected he is gifted (multiple grade levels ahead in math and reading/language, plus plenty of other non-academic traits), but have not opted to pursue private testing (yet).
Last year, they did the Kingore Observation Inventory and Planned Experiences for all first graders to identify students who would start receiving TAG services this year. Our son was not identified in that process. We were surprised by that and spoke to the teacher. She said she was also surprised by the results and would support him being tested individually by the district gifted coordinator. Despite the teacher's support, it was like pulling teeth to actually get that done. In April, he was finally tested with the CogAt. We got his results shortly before the end of school and were surprised by them - his grade percentile results were 82%ile verbal, 96%ile math, 67%ile nonverbal reasoning, 88%ile overall. They require 97%ile or above to be eligible for TAG.
This year, in November, his homeroom teacher told us she wanted to refer him for TAG testing. We mentioned his results last year and she said she'd seen them but they didn't make sense to her based on what she sees in the classroom and she thought he should be retested.
Today the teacher said we'd be getting the full score report soon, but the scores were back and he was above the TAG threshold in every category. She said, "His scores were off the charts. I don't see how he didn't qualify last year."
To be frank, that's what we'd expected last year, but now we're confused - how can his results on the same test change so dramatically in the matter of just a few months?
