Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Cogat or WISC for G&T testing

My youngest daughter will be able to take the group administered Cogat at the beginning of 1st grade next year. I'm not sure if I should rely solely on the Cogat or if I should test her privately with the wisc. If, hypothetically, she doesn't perform well on the cogat I don't think there will be enough time to squeeze in private testing before the applications are due for the G&T program at her school.

Any thoughts/opinions?

Can you get the CoGAT done privately well in advance for much less money than a WISC 4? Is you daughter 6 yet?

Seems like trying to time the CoGAT is too stressful - especially in a family where one kid has 2E issues, I'd get the private WISC 4 as soon as the 6th birthday is here.

It is so inevitable in families that parents will compare one kid to another informally - A is so ahead in X ways but so behind in Y ways. I think having official test scores makes this natural but uncomfortable comparing better. One can say 'well A's processing speed is so much slower, I'll bet she knows the answer, but needs a while to think about it.'

Just a thought.
Grinity

I would talk to your school district's gt department and find out whether they accept outside testing. If they will, find out what test(s) they will consider -- though WISC is probably a safe bet if they do. Our school district uses CoGat and NNAT but it's my understanding that they will consider outside testing. Some school districts only use their own testing. If you are in one of those districts, you may want to save your money unless you have other reasons for testing.

Very good point Grinity, thanks for the insight. It's difficult not to compare siblings, even when they are as different as night and day. I consider both of my children very bright but in different ways. My younger dd is the type of child that academically shows her advanced skills in a traditional classroom. Whereas, the older one you wouldn't see it til you sat down and had a conversation with her and you would be amazed at what ideas and thoughts she has and the things she can create. They couldn't be any more different.

She just turned 6 so she's old enough for the wisc. I'm fairly confident that she would do well on the cogat, she is a very bright, high achieving, high performing child and is probably an ideal candidate for the cogat. But I have also heard many negative things about the cogat for use of G&T identification that concern me. And if I recall correctly if they don't qualify the first year they have to wait 2 years before they can retest/apply.

ETA: I hadn't thought about privately testing with the cogat. Not a bad idea. Also, I had heard from another mom that if your child is absent the day of testing they are tested one-on-one at a later date. So that may be an option too.

Good idea, I will call them and ask. We live within driving distance of the GDC so I am considering using them and they are probably quite reputable with the school systems here. No other reasons for testing, she's a pretty cut and dry mildly gifted child in my opinion and just want her to qualify for the G&T program.

sent you a PM -- flashing envelop on top.

Two of my DDs have taken both the WISC and the COGAT. For one, the COGAT was higher than the WISC and for the other, the WISC was higher, although both tested into our GT program based on COGAT. (Our system does not accept outside testing.)

Where having the COGAT helped was in flagging my oldest DD's fine motor skill/dysgraphia issues, which showed up on her Quantitative score. Had it not been for her COGAT, I'm not sure I would have ever begun to question that there was anything going on of a 2E nature.

FWIW, this was what I told myself about my dd too--it was very helpful to have the WISC scores to get a clearer picture of her LOG and how to advocate for her.

My dd and her wisc are way different! She scored much higher in the wisc

I may be wrong, but I don't think that you can do this. The only two places that I know that distribute the CogAT to testers outside of the school system, Triangle Educational Assessments and Bob Jones, both have agreements with the publishers that they will only allow homeschoolers to use them. They require the person administering the test to sign a statement that the child is not enrolled in public school and is registered as a homeschooler. I believe this is in an effort to avoid having parents cheat by testing their kids once before the school testing and coaching the answers so they'll score higher when they take it a second time shortly after at school.

I know that's not what you're trying to do. I just am not sure if you will be able find anyone to give it to her outside of school, though, for these reasons.