CogAT Cognitive Abilities Test Detailed Description

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The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) measures students’ learned reasoning abilities in the three areas most linked to academic success in school: Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal. Although its primary goal is to assess students’ reasoning abilities, CogAT can also provide predicted achievement scores when administered with The Iowa Tests. While CogAT is well-suited to help educators make important student placement decisions, such as selecting students for Gifted and Talented programs and Advanced Placement programs, exclusive features such as the Ability Profile Score can be used to expand the educational opportunities of all students.

Tests

Reasoning abilities have substantial correlations with learning and problem solving, both in and out of school. CogAT’s measurement of three different content domains ensures that educators receive a balanced view of the child. CogAT can be administered in whole or in part, however, the most complete view of a student will be provided through administration of all three batteries. For the Primary Edition (Levels K-2), two different subtests measure each reasoning ability. The Multilevel Edition (Levels A-H) uses three different subtests to measure each ability.

Primary Edition (Levels K-2) uses two different subtests to measure each reasoning ability:

Multilevel Edition (Levels A-H) uses three different subtests to measure each ability:

Use of a different item format on each subtest ensures that scores for each battery are not unduly affected by performance on a particular item type.

 

Levels

 

The table below lists the recommended test levels for low, average, and high ability classes. Some individuals in any group — such as those students expected to score above the 90th percentile — may be candidates for individualized testing with a level different from the level used for the majority of students.

CogAT is constructed with overlapping sets of items throughout the series. The overlap of items from level to level provides the user with a continuous, ascending scale of difficulty, which is the foundation of CogAT's superior score scale from Kindergarten through grade 12.

Recommended Test Levels for CogAT Low-, Average-, and High-Ability Classes
	Grade	Low	Average	High
	K	K	K	1
	1	K/1	1	2
	2	1/2	2	A
	3	2/A	A/B	B
	4	A/B	B/C	C
	5	B/C	C/D	D
	6	C/D	D/E	E
	7	D/E	E/F	F
	8	E/F	F	F
	9	F	F	G
	10	F	G	G
	11	G	G	H
	12	G	H	H

 

Administration

 

CogAT can be administered in whole or in part, however, the most complete view of a student will be provided through administration of all three batteries.

Table 1: Testing Schedule for CogAT Level K
Session	Test	Minutes (est.)	Number of Items
Session 1:	Distributing materials and working practice questions	10
	Test 1: Oral Vocabulary	22	20
Session 2:	Distributing materials	3
	Test 2: Verbal Reasoning	24	20
Session 3:	Distributing materials	3
	Test 3: Relational Concepts	21	20
Session 4:	Distributing materials	3
	Test 4: Quantitative Concepts	21	20
Session 5:	Distributing materials	3
	Test 5: Figure Classification	22	20
Session 6:	Distributing materials	3
	Test 6: Matrices	22	20

Table 2: Testing Schedule for CogAT Levels 1 and 2
Session	Test	Minutes Level 1	Minutes Level 2	Items Level 1	Items Level 2
Session 1:	Verbal Battery (Total)			44	48
	Test 1: Oral Vocabulary	20	18	22	24
	Test 2: Verbal Reasoning	22	18	22	24
Session 2:	Quantitative Battery (Total)			44	48
	Test 3: Relational Concepts	20	18	22	24
	Test 4: Quantitative Concepts	19	17	22	24
Session 3:	Nonverbal Battery (Total)			44	48
	Test 5: Figure Classification	20	18	22	22
	Test 6: Matrices	20	18	22	22

 

Table 3: Testing Schedule for CogAT Levels A-H
Session	Test	Minutes	Items
Session 1:	Verbal Battery		65
	Test 1: Verbal Classification	10	20
	Test 2: Sentence Completion	10	20
	Test 3: Verbal Analogies	10	25
Session 2:	Quantitative Battery		60
	Test 4: Quantitative Relations	12
	Test 5: Number Series	12
	Test 6: Equation Building	16
Session 3:	Nonverbal Battery		65
	Test 7: Figure Classification	10	25
	Test 8: Figure Analogies	10	25
	Test 9: Figure Analysis	10	15

Information from CogAT Cognitive Abilities Test (Riverside Publishing).