Help me interpret CogAt scores (county, private schools, geography, interpreting)

[DressageGirl]

I am just trying to figure out how to interpret his scores. He received 84 for verbal, 84 for quantitative and a 98 for nonverbal. His composite score was 94. This was under the age score. His grade score was 82, 82, 98, and 93 respectively. His ability profile says 7B (N+).

So what does this all mean? What is verbal, nonverbal and quantitative?

He also took the ITBS tests the same week, his reading NPR was 89% and math NPR was 80% which actually surprised me because he seems to be really good at math. Looks like we need to work on that!

[buffy888]

CogAT Scores should get you to info about that specific profile.

CogAt info should give you some general info on what is tested in each of those categories and there are a few hyperlinks to more info towards the bottom of the page.

I think at my last school, when we received the scores, there was information to be included in the parents' copy to help them interpret the results. Maybe your child's teacher will be calling you in for a conference to go over ITBS and CogAT?

[TXRunner]

There should be a form that went home interpreting the scores. When I send home the students CogAt scores it goes home with a form to interpret them. Many of the scores are percentiles, so 84% means he does better than 84% of the other students, not that he scored 84% on the test.

[patty58]

I just went to the CogAT website, Riverside Publishing - Cognitive Abilities Test and they allow you to input your child's exact score and it will then tell you exactly what it means for your child, what his strengths are, what he might need extra work on, and how he learns. It is really helpful!!

[ladygirl68]

As a teacher ... looks like your child has good scores and is going to do just fine in school. Continue to give your child a broad range of activities that will stretch his mind to consider posibilites. Believe me it will transfer better than making sure he knows his multiplication tables.

[sotodog]

Our school administers the COGAT in 2nd grade and then includes them as part of the battery of tests to include for their GT program but they will NOT provide the parent with any written report. The GT teachers 'control' this data very closely. They don't even tell the parents and we only stumbled across the fact that these tests are given. Is that unusual? The reasoning they gave us was that the parents get confused or something with these test scores. Really??

They do give us the scores for the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) but not the Scholastic Math Inventory (SMI) which they just started using the last 2 years.

[carroll4628]

Our school needs to have a parent's/guardian's permission to test students beyond the basic state mandated tests (TAKS here in Texas) and the Stanford 10 (or SAT10) - as directed by our districts Board of Education. I'm surprised to hear that your school tests every student for the GT program - it isn't cheap. In our district, based on students' SAT10 (or ITBS) scores, a student can be referred for GT testing, but the school must contact the parent and obtain permission for additional testing - a signed waiver. Once the results of the CogAT (and 3 other tests) are in, they schedule individual meetings with the parents to go over the results. There's a lot of explaining (and repeating) "THIS IS NOT AN IQ TEST", why there are discrepancies between different tests, standard error of measurement for the different tests, etc.

Ask for a meeting with the GT advisor. Without being confrontational, you might ask the principal why additional (not state mandated) testing is going on without parental permission (or at least notification). Is this something that happens at other/all the schools in your district?

[sotodog]

Carroll4628 - that is very interesting. We are located north of Baltimore in Harford County and I am not sure what other schools in our district do but I am going to ask around. We are just learning about GT as my kids just finished 2nd and 3rd grade. In the beginning of 3rd grade, they put my son in GT Reading and of course we only found out because my son told us. We couldn't believe it as, honestly, I always thought my son had some type of dyslexia or other reading disability (never read our loud well as he skipped words and changed words) and he always avoids reading. It is interesting though that he tested at a 5th grade level at the end of 2nd grade on the SRI. I was floored by his score.

So we went to meet with the GT folks who verbally shared the various tests they give the kids but again it was only bits of it. Like we got my son's stanine for the COGAT but nothing else. No note ever gets sent home about the tests given except the state tests, MSA, and as I said we only get copies of the one test, the SRI. We asked for the COGAT and the GT teacher said she would not give us written results but she would verbally share results. I got my daughter's COGAT percentiles from her primary teacher who asked the GT teacher. I didn't get all the scores though. I honestly don't know what tests are adminstered to all students or just those who are GT potential as mine are.

My son learned Power Point in his GT reading class and came home and created a PowerPoint presentation on the 10 tallest buildings in the world. He was so excited to do this and he chose this project over TV!! Since he was invited into the school's Geography Club (they made an exception for him since the club is 4th and 5th graders), I sent his presentation to the GT teachers and the one in charge of the Geography program didn't write back or say "Good Job" or anything to my son. The GT teacher who is in charge of the Geography Club has a Geography Bee (I think through National Geographic which stipulates kids must be in the 4th grade which is why my son was just 'honorary' or something) but doesn't invite the parents to watch. I always feel that they are trying to keep the parents at a distance.

We are trying to get my son into GT math because he understands concepts quickly and easily and tested very high on COGAT (from what we can tell) but makes silly mistakes on in class tests. We are waiting for the MSAs to come back to see how he did on those. We are not sure the GT teachers will let him in math. My son's favorite class last year was the GT reading because I think it challenged him to think outside the box. I can't imagine how much he would enjoy GT math. My son is very bright but I believe he is a square peg that doesn't fit so well in the round hole. My daughter doesn't pick things up quite as quickly but is very motivated to beat her brother and is very disciplined and focused. She fits neatly into the boxes they want in school so we don't have many concerns with her and from what we can tell she will be in both GT reading and math next year. Not sure if my son will stay in GT reading as he got a B and not sure if they will invite him to GT math. The GT teachers have worked with him all year in Reading and Geography so they should have gotten to know my son. If you knew my son, you would be surprised he is not in GT. Most adults comment on how smart he is and we refer to him on many topics. Actually at the Back to School night, just several days into school his new homeroom teacher pointed him out to the entire class as a very bright child when they were discussing some science terminology and he knew it all. My kids both learn to read, speak and write Greek and do very well on that too.

So my husband is getting frustrated with this public school program and is ready to pull my kids and put them in private school. We obviously need to see how the various private schools manage kids that are gifted before we can see what the best program is for them. The GT program in our school consists of an accelerated pace and the GT teacher visits the class twice a week for some additional work. I also know the GT classes are big maybe up to 30 kids. I don't know how these programs work at other schools but I don't feel there is any transparency at our school. I am not sure if the middle school is any better but hopefully it is. Thanks for letting me vent.

[Cleaster Jackson]

Since teachers many times only see the Composite V=Q=N scores and NonVerbal, Quanitative , and Verbal actual score numbers-- Why can't you provide something that at least shares what an actual score means as far as if the student above, at or below expected ability in those areas?