I think that might be how it was with DS--the questions were read to him but he still said he felt rushed. DD was given the third grade version and it was student-paced with a time limit. She did horrible because she was so slow and left so many questions blank. I asked the g/t coordinator (who isn't there anymore) if DD could take the CogAT untimed the next year, and she said No, that it ruins the validity of the test, but she could take a different test, like an IQ test (then she proceeded to quit 1 month later leaving me to figure it all out on my own). I'm wondering if ALL 3+ versions of CogAT are timed according to the test manufacturer recommendations. I think if it is given to kids as recommended it can pick up discrepancies or the fact that they are slow, indicating a possible 2e issue or disability, but it's not going to be a true measure of cognitive ability if the kid can't handle the timing due to their disability. For DD it picked up the fact that she is incredibly slow and that's about it, it didn't pick up the giftedness (her WISC score was a lot higher). So the fact that the district is using this to measure the gap between ability and achievement (which needs to be 1.75 standard deviations) doesn't make sense. If a kid scores 100 on the CogAT because they can't handle the timing and they are only slightly lower on achievement, it's not going to show the gap they want to see for a SLD. I also think it's illegal for schools to give a group-administered test for spec. ed evaluations. Even if it's not given in a group it's still a group test.
Loy--I think our district gives the CogAT repeatedly as well, for instance when they transition to junior high. They refused to put "no timed tests" into DD's 504 and now I think I know why. They are leaving the door open to give her the CogAT when/if she needs to be re-evaluated.
