CogAT or the Cognitive Abilities Test is a group test that is administered by schools to identify children for gifted programs at the school and district level. It is not an IQ test rather it tests students for their reasoning abilities and is also known as an above grade test. This means children in grade 2 are tested with the questions meant for an average 4th grader.

CogAT is a multiple-choice question test and can be taken on paper or a computer. The result of this test helps parents and teachers to assess children’s abilities and provide them with special instructions accordingly. CogAT is one of the most popular tests in the US for gifted students.

CogAT Levels

CogAT has a level system that is based on the grades. Here’s an informative table to help you understand the levels and their corresponding grades.

CogAT Sections

CogAT assesses a child’s cognitive abilities through 3 sections. All three sections have sub-sections and in all, there are 118 – 176 questions based on the level of the CogAT.

• Verbal

The verbal battery of CogAT focuses on verbal skills such as verbal memory, vocabulary, and comprehension. This batter further has three sub-segments: picture analogies, sentence completion, and picture classification.

Picture analogies are a part of all levels till Level 9. Beyond that, students have to attempt verbal analogies. The picture analogy is a visual question that requires students to identify a picture from the options that relate to the third picture just like the first two relate to each other. In the word analogy, the same has to be done for words.

The sentence completion sub-section requires students to choose a sentence to answer a question or to match a picture. And the picture classification section requires students to find the picture that is similar to the pictures in the question.

• Quantitative

The quantitative segment is the math segment of CogAT. In this segment, the students are tested for numerical sequencing, mathematical reasoning, pattern recognition, and problem-solving skills. Every segment is dedicated to a different type of questions and their difficulty and sometimes pattern changes with the level of the CogAT.

The quantitative section’s number analogies are similar to the analogies in the verbal segment. Students have to identify relations to answer the questions. The puzzles and number series are also picture-based and test the students’ ability to find patterns, analyze pictures to find answers.

• Non-Verbal Abilities

Non-verbal is the third section of CogAT that tests students for reasoning and solving skills that focus on patterns and relationships. This section also covers analogies and categorization and comprises 3 sub-tests – figure matrices, paper folder, and figure classification.

This section tests a child’s imagination through paper-fold questions and analogies that are similar yet different to the other two sections. A student can do well with these questions with a lot of practice.

Types of CogAT Scores

A CogAT score can be expressed in 4 different ways. Here is a list and a brief explanation about each one of them.

1. Raw Score

The score indicates the number of correctly answered questions by a student. A detailed raw score report provides information such as the number of items in a section, the number of questions attempted by the students, and the number of questions answered correctly. Please note that there is no negative marking for the wrong answers.

2. Standard Age Score

Standard Age Score is also known as SAS score and is given for every battery along with a composite score. This is a normed score with a mean score of 100 and a standard deviation of 16. A student can score a maximum SAS score of 160.

3. Age Stanine

Age Stanine is a simpler expression of the CogAT percentile. A student can get a Stanine score between 1 to 9 with 9 being the highest. A score of 5 indicates an average cognitive ability that falls between the 40th – 59th percentile.

4. Age Percentile Rank

The age percentile rank is the comparison of a student’s performance with other students. This rank can be based on the comparison at the national level or district level. A 90 percentile on CogAT indicates that the student has performed better than 90% of the students who took the exam.

Quick Information

• CogAT test takes 2.5-3 hours with one break.
• For online testing, you must meet all the technical requirements and keep the camera ON at all times.
• For in-person testing, you need to reach the testing venue 15 minutes before the scheduled time or you will need to reschedule your test.
• CogAT testing fee is non-refundable.

Conclusion

For more information about CogAT and its format, head to eTutorWorld. On this page, you will find all the important information related to this test along with links to CogAT Prep Help and Worksheets. Enroll your child today to facilitate them with the best-gifted programs at the earliest.

CogAT test has questions pertaining to verbal, quantitative, and non-verbal skills. It identifies gifted students and students’ learning abilities and gaps. Many schools thus use it as an entrance exam into their gifted programs. Students put in their heart and soul towards CogAT test prep.

It is not a test of knowledge but a test of reasoning or cognitive abilities. Hence, the scores can be improved by taking regular CogAT practice tests.

Let us see the three ways that students consider as smart prep for the CogAT Test and our arguments in favor or against the same:

1. Free worksheets – Few worksheets can be downloaded from the internet for free by typing CogAT practice test grade 2 or any other grade that you require. However, these worksheets offer limited use without one on one tutoring. Students spend considerable time on such free downloads which do not boost their scores to a desirable standard.
2. Printed booklets – Many publishers are also offering booklets in paperback edition for CogAT test prep grade 3 or even grade 2 for young students. These have answer sheets and explanations justifying the answers. It is usually tedious for students to work through the solutions on their own. Parental help may be grossly inadequate.
3. Home tutoring – Home tutoring organizations including online tutoring is just a mouse click away. Some of the benefits offered are:

• Home tutors, handhold the children by reaching out to them in the comfort zone of their home.
• They gauge the students’ present level of performance and then build upon that to ace the tests with ease.
• Students may start with CogAT test 2nd grade building upwards each year, with CogAT grade 3 and more. The earlier in life the students start, the better it is for their growth graph.
• Even if a student has missed out on preparing well for grade 2, a good home tutor can help him or her to start with CogAT practice test grade 3 or whichever grade is relevant to the child.
• The tutor engages with the child to discover his or her strengths and weak areas. Within a short span of time, he works with the student by providing practice worksheets that are challenging and interesting.
• It works wonders on the student’s confidence level, skill development, accuracy, and speed.

Home tutoring is a sure shot way to do a smart prep for the CogAT Test.
Home tutoring organizations like eTutorWorld have a trained pool of qualified academicians. Their CogAT test prep includes questions covering the following as per the requirements of CogAT:

1. Verbal skills including picture analogies, sentence completion and picture classification.
2. Quantitative skills including number analogies, number puzzles, and number series.
3. Non-verbal or figurative skills including figure matrices, paper folding, and figure classification.

Don’t let this opportunity go by. Create learning opportunities for your children early on in life. Act now! Let your child take CogAT practice test grade 2 or the one relevant to the grade level. This is the smartest way to prepare and be a step closer to gifted and talented programs.

Log onto www.etutorworld.com and book a free demo session for your child right away. Discover our latest packages being offered for students for Math, Science, English and cognitive abilities including Advanced Placement Tests.

Children need nurturing in every way, building them up with love, life skills, knowledge, and abstract reasoning. Some of these can be tested with questions based on their emotional quotient (EQ), intelligence quotient (IQ) and cognitive abilities tests(CogAT).

1. Verbal Battery: verbal analogies, sentence completion, verbal classification

2. Quantitative Battery: number analogies, puzzles, series

3. Non-verbal / Spatial battery: figure analogies, paper folding, figure classification

CogAT practice test grade 2, grade 1 and Kindergarten have questions based on three batteries as per the format of the actual test:

1. Verbal Battery: oral vocabulary and verbal reasoning

2. Quantitative Battery: number relationship and concepts

3. Non-verbal / Spatial battery: figure classification and matrices

Students are given 30-45 minutes to complete each battery of the test. CogAT test 2nd grade, 1st grade or Kindergarten are given more time than students taking CogAT grade 3 –grade 12.
They are allowed 2 to 3 hours to complete the test.

A few websites offer practice worksheets for free. These can be very interesting initially but tend to become repetitive over time. Moreover, a high score on such websites may not be an indicator of high cognitive ability! A high score may have been achieved because of easier sample questions! As a result of this shortcoming, many home tutoring organizations have come up with personalized plans for students.

Catch them young! Grade 2 and 3 is a good time to start practicing for CogAT tests with online tutors. Tutoring unlike free websites would asses each student on her or his weak areas
based on CogAT format and focus attention accordingly.

Home tutoring organizations have plenty of worksheets designed especially for CogAT test prep grade 3 and higher grades.

A few of the benefits of being tutored include the following:-

• Personalized tutoring gauges the student’s present abilities.
• Tutors gradually increase the difficulty level of the tests based on students’ aptitude and learning graph.
• Students enjoy CogAT practice tests as they find them to be both challenging and engaging.
• Their skills improve with regular practice.
• Tutors slowly bring them up to the desired standards of performance so that they are able to take the cognitive abilities test

No matter what grade your child is in, you can start downloading free worksheets from the Internet or enroll for online home tutoring personalized to your child’s learning pace. Log on to
www.eTutorWorld.com and benefit from the newly introduced CogAT test prep learning program in 2020.

‘Slow and steady wins the race’
At a tortoise pace,
Gone by is the era, those days!

The present-day concoction for success is to get smart, work hard, start early and pace up. Today there is a million hare; a delayed start would result in missing the train. So, act now, lest your child misses the opportunity of embarking upon the journey of a gifted and talented program.

Every child is unique and differs from the others in assimilating, recalling, analyzing and deciphering information. These abilities may also vary for the same child depending upon whether the interpretation of information requires numerical or verbal skills.
Children, therefore, need different stimuli and learning methodologies based on such abilities. Gifted and talented tests recognize your child’s talent and provide scores that identify gifted and talented students.

These tests are of two types:

1. Achievement Tests: These tests determine what the students have already learned. They may be standardized (like SAT, MAT, ITBS, SRA) or academic (like math or English).

2. Ability Tests: These tests are the IQ (Intelligence Quotient) or the cognitive abilities tests. These include the Stanford Binet (L-M), Weschler Intelligence
Scale for Children, Woodcock-Johnson, CogAT, Otis-Lennon, Hemmon-Nelson,
Ravens Progressive Matrices and Matrix Analogies test.
Taking such tests can be extremely beneficial for your child. You would be pleased to observe the following afterward.

● Scores indicate students’ present abilities accurately unlike those by gifted and
talented sample questions freely available on the internet
● Students get to know where they stand in a group
● Students can identify their strong and weak academic areas like math or English
● Students/educators can gauge the areas where they need to focus more attention namely improving verbal or non-verbal skills
● Students get to know if the score qualifies for a gifted and talented program at
Johns Hopkins Centre for Talented Youth (CTY) and a lot more
● You can take a quick decision to opt for home tutoring for your child

These tests are usually conducted by trained professionals at a nominal fee. The score and its interpretation are designed by experts. Sometimes, graduates and amateurs offer gifted and talented sample questions that may mislead students. It is imperative that students do not fall prey to these cheap and lucrative measures when there are better options.

Remember, students who are identified as being gifted because of a certain score get opportunities for enrolling in selected programs. Why settle for something less just because gifted test sample questions indicate a certain score for your child?

There are organizations like eTutorWorld that believe in horning talent and skill well before the students take these much sought after tests. They have a well designed curriculum for standardized tests like SAT, MAT and for IQ tests like CogAT. The brain can be trained to perform better. Nurturing, grooming and mentoring enhances growth and development. Home tutoring provides greater exposure to academic knowledge as well as builds verbal and non-verbal skills. Improvement is possible!

Connect with one of the most professionally managed tutoring programs today. Log on to https://www.etutorworld.com/ to see your child ace the tests!

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is a tool used to measure cognitive development among children between grades K-12.

According to Erica Pollert, “More and more schools are realizing that there is a need for special classes when educating the gifted population. Before they can make any decisions on what this should look like, schools need to decide who the gifted are.” That is where CogAT Test comes in.

This test is often used to identify gifted children who could then be granted admission into several gifted and talented programs across the United States. 

If you asked any parent whether their kid was gifted, their obvious answer will be “Yes”. But are all kids gifted in the manner which is being purported? – No.

Why Should Your Child Take the CogAT Test?

The CogAT Test serves as a way of proving that the kids admitted to these specialized programs are truly gifted and not just acclaimed to be gifted. For parents with gifted kids, allowing your kid to take the CogAT test is a really brilliant investment.

Even for parents who may not necessarily consider their kids to be gifted, submitting them for the test may reveal certain hidden facts about your child’s learning abilities. Whichever way you look at it, there seems to be a true value in submitting your children for the CogAT.

The following are a few reasons why you should have your child take it.

Indicators of Academic Success

The CogAT Test provides an assessment of reasoning skills that strongly relate to academic success. With its specialized tests, the CogAT seeks to probe the kid’s cognitive development, capacity to learn new tasks and the way children attempt to solve problems.

The interesting thing is that the abilities a child needs to succeed in kindergarten are the same abilities needed to succeed in college.

The following seven abilities of your child will be assessed in the CogAT test:

1. Language

Your child’s ability to understand the words they hear and later read all day. It is also your child’s ability to use words orally and later in writing.

2. Knowledge & Comprehension

Your child’s understanding of information, social standards of behavior, and common sense that kids your child’s age normally have.

3. Memory

Your child’s ability to remember both visual and oral information learned in the last few seconds or in the past. It is also your child’s ability to do something with information just learned

4. Math

Covers computational skills such as counting, adding, subtracting, and high-order mathematical sequencing such as patterning, ordering, classifying, and comparing.

5. Visual-Spatial Reasoning

Your child’s ability to reason and solve problems using pictures, images, diagrams, shapes, maps, and tables.

6. Cognitive Skills 

These are thinking abilities such as symbolic and abstract thinking

7. Fine Motor Skills

Your child’s abilities to control their hands and fingers to make small movements like tying shoe laces, buttoning buttons, or writing with a pencil.

Admission into a Gifted and Talented Program

There are several gifted and talented programs across the United States that offer specialized education to students of various ages and grades.

These schools provide the benefit of: 

• Tailored, Individualized Instruction. ..
• Boredom Prevention. …
• Post-Secondary Success. …
• Productivity…
• Safety and Understanding.

In order to enroll students in these programs you may want to have your child take the CogAT because most gifted programs require it. 

The Bottom Line

Like many standardized tests, you can prepare your child for the CogAT yourself or enlist the professional help of a tutor with a proven record of success to help your child get ready to pass the test.

eTutorWorld, an online test prep provider is an excellent example of a tutoring service that can get your child ready and confident to take the CogAT all from the comfort of your home. We offer CogAT Test Prep and Tutoring in the comfort of your home. Also, look at our CogAT Practice Tests with sufficient questions covering all the test parts.