Make Your Child Smarter

The Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT)

Q: Our daughter was recently given the CogAt test at school. She is very bright maintaining 95 averages in math and reading. Her lexile score ranked her at a grade level 5 grades beyond her current level. She did not test well on the CogAt and we are trying to find another testing facility to give her the test again. We live in North Carolina and would like to have her privately tested.

A: Just a short note on the CogAT. Briefly, it is a measure of a student's potential to succeed in school-related tasks. It should not be confused as a measure for intelligence or IQ. Rather, it measures the reasoning skills that have developed even though these general cognitive skills are probably not explicitly taught. They may not be specific to any content area, but these are skills used in all areas of a student's academic experiences. Apart from general cognitive skills, the CogAT also measures general school skills (e.g., ability to listen, follow directions, and focus attention). It can beneficial when looking for the student's ability to be successful in school and to look for dominant learning strengths. Teachers commonly use it when they have concerns over a student's classroom performance or lack of progress.

The scores provide a general sense of a student's abilities and learning styles, which may lead to further analysis. Bear in mind that the CogAT is an aptitude test and measures preparedness for academic work, not the result of instruction in school.

For interpretation of the scores, you may want to check out the following site: Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Form 6

http://www.riverpub.com/products/group/cogat6/anotetoparents.jsp

Your daughter's age and the details of the scores are not indicated but if you are concerned over the scores, you should firstly speak to someone in the school who is able to interpret the scores. If you are not convinced with the interpretation, perhaps it is best to retest. The school may be able to suggest a private tester in your area. All the best.

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