This year, the Howard County Public School System will be administering the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) to all students in 3rd grade. The CogAT is a group-administered abilities test that measures students’ reasoning abilities, which they develop through in-school and out-of-school experiences. It is not designed to test a student’s academic achievement, but their potential.
The test is made of three batteries – Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal. Each battery takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. The CogAT helps educators understand a student’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses and assists with adapting instruction to meet the needs and abilities of each student.
All students in Grades 3 will participate in the testing. The CogAT will be administered on the following dates:
- Grade 3: December 1, 2, and 3
You do not need to do anything special to prepare your child for the CogAT assessment other than ensure that they have a good breakfast and a good night’s rest the night before. We do ask that you avoid scheduling appointments on the day when your child will be assessed. Students who are absent on the day their grade takes the assessment will be afforded the opportunity for a make-up session on another date within the testing window.
The Gifted and Talented Education Program will use the data from the CogAT as one criterion for placement into fourth grade Gifted/Talented mathematics classes and middle school Gifted/Talented content classes.