I'm a different "cricket" so as not the confuse -- hopefully
! My youngest dd had radically different scores on the CogAT vs. WISC. She was tested twice on the WISC with IQ scores in the 99.9th and the 97th respectively. I don't know why those were so divergent. On the CogAT, she was in the mid 80s (I don't recally the exact percentile) for the composite score.
It seems that dd's confidence level makes a big difference on how she tests and the teacher who administered the CogAT didn't think that dd was that bright -- she told us so regularly. They also had people walking in and out of the room during the test which I imagine was a distraction. The second lower WISC was given right after that bad school year. Although I can't see testing the kiddo on IQ tests over and over, I suspect that she'd come out higher if she were retested after a better school year.
In your instance, her CogAT scores probably sound to the school like she is a moderately gifted type of kid (98th percentile), which is the type of kid they expect to be able to serve in a gifted program. This is probably why they don't think that she needs anything different. However, as others have mentioned, the CogAT really should be viewed more as a screening tool than an identification tool. She is gifted, but how gifted is unlikely to be ferreted out by the CogAT. Further testing on an IQ test or achievement scores that indicate where she falls may give you better evidence as to what she needs to be engaged.
I think that the EXPLORE may be a good idea as well b/c it is cheap and may give you some idea as to what she can do with hard, above level achievement tests.
