Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Structuring curriculum to improve CogAT scores

I was wondering if any of you have ever heard of a school structuring their curriculum so that students will score better on the CogAT? We have three children in a charter school. Starting with last years kindergarten class, they started teaching an advanced math curriculum to all kids across the board. They are teaching one year ahead so, in kinder they are teaching first grade math, in first they are teaching second grade math and so forth. Needless to say, this is not a good fit for all kids and parents didn't have any knowledge that they were implementing this curriculum change beforehand. Upon further investigation, we were told that one reason is that all children in our state are given the CogAT test in third grade and that it includes division which is not even taught under the normal curriculum before they take this test. This has left parents such as myself scrambling to get the extra help needed for my daughter so that she can keep up with the one year ahead approach. As a curriculum example, they have been doing double digit addition and subtraction with borrowing and have begun multiplication in first grade (age 6-7). Have any of you ever heard of advancing a curriculum for all children for this test?

I've not heard of it being done just for CogAT, but your curriculum sounds like where my kids regular school curriculum is normally - K is basic addition/subtraction/comparison, 1st is double-digit addition/subtraction and introduction of multiplication. 2nd is lots and lots of math word problems on addition/subtraction/comparison, multi-digit addition/subtraction and multiplication/division and intro to fractions. 3rd is multi-digit multiplcation/division and more fractions and lots and lots and lots of word problems.

This was all done to get the kids ready to pass the STAR test in 3rd which includes division and fractions and apparently a boat load of word problems.

My school uses Saxon math for the curriculum. They threw out the kindergarten curriculum and instead have started all kids on the 1st grade Saxon math curriculum. I see that you are from Texas - I was actually born and raised in Texas and we actually moved from there (and from an excellent school I might add).

The advanced math that the kids are doing at this new school looks like this: K is basic addition/subtraction/comparison, double digit addition/subtraction, word problems, graphs and diagrams, fractions, telling time, line of symmetry, recognizing coins/value, numbers 0-100, comparing greater than/less than, congruent/not congruent. 1st is more double digit addition/subtraction with borrowing, more word problems, more fractions, multiplication, comparing numbers, finding area and perimeter, geometric solids, measure using centimeters, etc.

Both the principal and the board president stated that they were accelerating the curriculum due to the CogAT test. I will also note that we have an older elementary daughter (straight A student) and so this is not our first go at school. In other words, we have a picture of what "normal" looks like and this certainly isn't it. This is definitely advanced compared to what is normally taught in most schools. I am just puzzled as to why they would advance math just for the CogAT test. I also know that they are obviously advancing it so their test scores will be higher. Problem is, they are not grouping kids at all to challenge those who need challenge, or to help those that need help. They tend to pull kids out of class that are struggling which I hate. Talk about a stigma. Principal is very against grouping kids and will not hear of it.