Cognitive Abilities Test

The Cognitive Abilities TestTM (CogAT®), published by Riverside Publishing Company, is the most widely used group ability test in the United States and the United Kingdom. Its 11 test levels span kindergarten through Grade 12. CogAT consists of three test batteries measuring the three aspects of fluid reasoning ability that are the primary cognitive aptitudes for academic learning: verbal reasoning (V), quantitative reasoning (Q), and figural/nonverbal reasoning (N). Each of the three batteries can be administered independently. However, the profile of scores across all three batteries provides much additional information for educators.

In the spring of 2000, the sixth edition of the test was co-normed with the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills® (Grades K–8) and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development® (Grades 9–12). When administered with either of the Iowa tests, CogAT offers predicted achievement scores for all students who are tested. In addition to assisting in the identification of children whose academic performance lags behind their tested ability, the use of jointly normed ability and achievement tests allows for better identification of academically talented children than either test alone can provide.

CogAT reports both national age- and grade-normed scores for all three reasoning scores, three partial composite scores (VQ, VN, and QN), and an overall (VQN) composite score. When screening children for academic giftedness, users are also encouraged to request local norms from the publisher. Although the VQN composite score is useful for some purposes, educators have always been cautioned not to use it for screening. Children with extremely high (or low) scores are much more likely than other children to show large differences among the three battery-level scores. Such students will often be excluded from the talent pool because the weaker score will pull down the composite.

Verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning scores are estimated by two or three subtests. Using more than one format enhances the validity of the scores. Items on the Primary Edition (Grades K–2) are paced by the teacher and require no reading. Tests on the verbal battery of the Multilevel Edition (Grades 3–12) require some reading and are administered with time limits. Testing time for the entire Multilevel Edition is 90 minutes.

The seventh edition of CogAT is currently under development. Although it will preserve many of the features of the current edition of CogAT, the new edition is designed to better accommodate the needs of children who are not native speakers of English, especially at Grades K through 3. Tests at these grades have been replaced with new tests that blend seamlessly with tests at Grades 4 and above. A computer-administered form of the test will also be provided.

The most important uses of CogAT scores are (1) to guide efforts to adapt instruction to the needs and abilities of all students; (2) to provide a measure of cognitive development that usefully supplements achievement test scores, course grades, and teacher ratings; and (3) to identify for further study students whose predicted levels of achievement differ markedly from their observed levels of achievement. The first use is supported through several teacher guides and a Web-based system for matching the level and pattern of a student's scores to specific instructional recommendations. Recommendations are based on 50 years of research on adapting instruction to individual differences. Using CogAT in this way stems from the long-held belief that test scores should be potentially useful for every child who takes the test, not merely as a way to screen for gifted children.

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