After reading through this thread, my thoughts on the ethics of prepping for tests in general run along these lines:
1. If the test materials are indicated as secret by the publisher, it's not OK to prep specifically for that test.
2. If the test materials are indicated as open by the publisher, it's OK to prep specifically for that test. (I'm not sure whether any of the tests we routinely discuss here fall into this category.)
3. However, buying any actual copy of a test is almost certainly not OK, unless the publisher has released previous versions themselves (e.g. past LSATs). With an IQ test like the SB5 or WISC-IV, where I am guessing that problems are released fairly infrequently, it would be
extremely unethical. Buying any current copy of any test is obviously wrong.
4. If the test materials are not indicated as either secret or open by the publisher, the more that an array of third-party test prep material and services is allowed to flourish unchecked, the greater the likelihood that it is OK to prep specifically for that test, as the publisher may implicitly authorize test prep by their inaction. (At the other end of the possibly implicitly authorized third-party prep materials, if a few independent, low-quality publishers claim to offer test prep, the materials are not sold through large outlets like Amazon that make some effort to police their offerings for legality, there are open lawsuits based on the third-party prep materials, etc., it is less likely OK to prep specifically for that test.)
5. It's always OK to teach thinking skills. So, for example, the mere presence of analogies on different types of tests doesn't mean one can't expose a child to analogies. For another example, over-the-top stressful hothousing of things like vocabulary wouldn't be unethical test prep, though it would be bad parenting.
6. It's always OK to practice test-taking in general, to lower stress levels etc.
(7. The fact that test prep will inevitably happen to some degree is a compelling reason not to rely just on numbers from one type of test, or maybe any types of preppable tests.)
I took the time to review some CogAT test prep materials available on Amazon, based on Bostonian's mention. Some of them seem to just be bundles of materials from, for example, the Critical Thinking Company, including Mind Benders and other materials that parents here sometimes buy for their children just to challenge them and develop thinking skills. Here's an
example, and here's
another non-Amazon offering along similar lines. Under my Rule # 5 above, I consider these to be okay, unless we are prepared to insist that kids must be tested in their natural, untaught, vegetative state.
In a different category are prep materials like this
Practice Test for the Cognitive Abilities Test CogAT, which includes in its "Editorial Reviews" description the following (and here's the
publisher's website):
Mercer Publishing has the only available practice materials in the format of the CogAT�* exam." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most of the questions in this book are at the 2nd to 3rd grade level of difficulty. Please see our grade-specific books for additional grade options. The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT�*), published by Riverside Publishing, Multilevel Edition tests are commonly given to 3rd grade students and above (and sometimes students in 2nd grade), although it depends on what test your school/program provides and the test level that they use for your grade level. The A - H level tests expect that the child is able to read and answer the test questions themselves. This practice test contains nine subtests in the three test areas found on the CogAT�: VERBAL Verbal Classification 20 questions Sentence Completion 20 questions Verbal Analogies 25 questions QUANTITATIVE Quantitative Relations 25 questions Number Series 20 questions Equation Building 15 questions NONVERBAL Figure Classification 25 questions Figure Analogies 25 questions Figure Analysis 15 questions This book contains a full length practice test with answer key. The object of this practice test is to familiarize your child with sample questions they will face on test day, how the tests are formatted, the symbols used and the number of questions in in each test area. However, since this practice test has not been standardized with Riverside Publishing and the actual CogAT�* test, a valid CogAT�* test score cannot be concluded from their results on this practice test. * CogAT� is a registered trademark of Houghton Mifflin Company. The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT�) is owned by Houghton Mifflin Company and published by Riverside Publishing, a Houghton Mifflin Company. Neither Houghton Mifflin Company nor Riverside Publishing was involved in the production of, nor endorses, these practice tests.
Looking at the description, I again see some things that can't be off-base to teach children, like verbal analogies. These materials are also presumably not the subject of a
lawsuit, or I'd expect Amazon to pull them after notification from test publisher Riverside. At this point I was thinking that perhaps the publisher implicitly authorized teaching to the test.
I followed up to see if there was any information from the publisher on prepping for the CogAT, and found the following paper
linked from Riverside's website, written by one of the two authors of the CogAT:
Lohman, D. F. (2006).
Practical advice on using the Cognitive Abilities test as part of a talent identification system.From page 15:
Prepare the students for the test... If at all possible, go over the directions for the test�especially those with unfamiliar item formats such as matrices�a day or two before the test. Make up additional practice items to ensure that ALL children understand what they are supposed to do. NEVER start the test unless you are sure that the children understand what they are supposed to do.
From all of this, I conclude that the Mercer Publishing materials are okay to use too. The test publisher seems to allow publication by third parties of extensive study materials, and insists that students be exposed not only to the rules of the test, but even practice questions, at least days in advance of a test.
My personal opinion, short answer: you can apparently prep for the CogAT in any way, except for buying actual CogAT tests only intended to be sold to testers, without ethical worry. And in a highly competitive locale which uses the CogAT, based on the easy availability of high-quality third-party prep materials, prepping might actually be the closest approach to an apples-to-apples comparison.
Would I prep my son for the CogAT? Probably not, as I don't think I'd need to even if that test were used in our school district. However, I have bought him some books that include things like analogies in the past. I didn't buy them to prep specifically for a test, but rather because they were used in my GT program when I was a child. I refuse to feel bad for stimulating my child to think.
I guess we could wrangle over whether the intent behind some teaching or other intellectual stimulation can make it wrong, where the content itself is not objectionable. I simply can't pass judgment on someone else for teaching their child general thinking skills for any reason. There should be more of it, not less. My wife just proposed a hypothetical: a parent exposes their child to lots of analogies and vocabulary leading up to a test, resulting in a high score, and then afterward does nothing, resulting in much lower numbers a year or two later. My wife thinks that would be wrong. I would agree, but place the blame on the failure to stimulate except near a test time.
ETA: Based on finding practice tests for the OLSAT published by Pearson (next post), I'm wondering if it is more ethical / less unethical to prep for group-administered tests in general, barring of course some information from the publisher that they consider it to be wrong.
ETA 2: Pearson apparently does not produce any practice tests for the NNAT.
ETA 3:
I noticed these pre-tests for the CogAT: http://www.riversidepublishing.com/products/cogAt/pricing_pretest.html#1
Note the language about supplying credentials in order to buy the tests (and my next post about pretests for the OLSAT); I'm not sure how much that applies to these pretests. However, I do think the mere existence of pretests from the publisher makes it more likely to be okay to prep for the CogAT.
ETA 4:
IT IS POSITIVELY NOT OKAY TO PREP EXTENSIVELY AT HOME FOR THE COGAT. Grinity followed up with the test publisher, and found that they only release prep materials with the intent that they be used by schools.
