I asked what was in the test prep booklet, and the fellow I spoke to seemed very sure that it was an introduction that would familiarize the children with the type of questions, to be sure that they understood the instructions without a lot of fuss.
All three of my kids took CoGat and received the same prep booklet each time from the school district -- I think that it was the K/1st grade level booklet. It gave one sample page with about 5 sample questions per subtest. It just offered an opportunity to make sure that they knew how to "fill in the bubble" and explain how the questions worked, i.e. how to finish a block matrix. All of the kids who took the test received it so it was not intended to offer an advantage. It was just to make sure they could show what they knew.
FWIW, all three of my kids missed the same sample question and it highlighted one of the weaknesses of this type of test. It asked which one of the following items would be made of leather. The desired answer was a belt. None of my kids had ever seen a leather belt. My husband doesn't wear belts and the only ones they had seen were in their dress up clothes. To them, belts had sequins and or were made of braid. (LOL) Only shoes were made of leather and that wasn't one of the options. It gave me an opportunity to discuss making educated guesses.
