Reading the CogAT Report
A Parent’s Guide
Cognitive Ability Subgroups
•
The CogAT Test measures the level and pattern of cognitive
development of a student compared to age peers and grade
peers. These general reasoning abilities, which start
developing at birth and continue through early adulthood, are
influenced by experiences gained both in and out of school.
•
The CogAT measures three different cognitive abilities
(highlighted on the sample report to the right):
– The verbal section measures a child’s ability to remember
and transform sequences of English words, to understand
them and to make inferences and judgments about them.
– The quantitative section measures a child’s understanding
of basic mathematical concepts and relationships.
– The non-verbal section measures reasoning using pictures
and geometric shapes. This section reduces the impact of
language on the student’s score.
– The composite score is a total score for all three sections.
CogAT National Age Scores
•
The National Age Scores section of the report (highlighted on
the sample report to the right) is dedicated to students’ age
scores. Students are grouped by age in one-month intervals
from 4 years 11 months through 18+ years of age.
•
The first column in the National Age Scores shows the stanine
scores. The stanine scale is a normalized standard score scale
consisting of nine broad levels designated by the numbers 1
through 9. Stanines are provided to discourage over
interpretation of small differences among student scores and
percentile rankings. Thus, all students in the same stanine are
considered similar. See the following slide for the stanine table
used for the CogAT.
•
The second column in the National Age Scores section shows
your student’s percentile rank for each ability subgroup and the
composite. A percentile rank indicates the percentage of
students in the same age group whose scores fall below the
score obtained by a particular student. For example, if your
student obtains a percentile rank of 90 on the verbal ability
subgroup, it means that 90% of students in the standardized
sample scored below your student. A percentile rank of 50 is
considered average.
Stanines – A Deeper Look
• Stanine scores range from a low of 1 to a high of 9.
Stanines are groupings of percentile ranks. A higher
stanine equates with a higher level of cognitive abilities
development. A comparison of stanines and percentile
ranks are summarized in the table below to the right.
• Differences in percentile scores can lead to over
interpretation of small differences in scores between
individual students or among scores for the same
student.
– For example, there will be no noticeable differences
in the classroom between a student who has a
percentile rank of 45 and a student with a percentile
rank of 55. They would both show average levels of
development.
– On the other hand, you would see noticeable
differences in the classroom for students with more
than one stanine difference in their scores. For
example, three different students with stanines of 9,
6, and 4 will show clear differences in the ways they
approach learning and problem solving tasks.
Stanine
Percentile Rank
Description
9
96-99
Very High
8
89-95
Above Average
7
77-88
Above Average
6
60-76
Average
5
40-59
Average
4
23-39
Average
3
11-22
Below Average
2
4-10
Below Average
1
1-3
Very Low
CogAT National Age Percentile Ranks
• The National Age Percentile Ranks section (highlighted
on the sample report to the right) relates to your
student’s age scores. This is a graphic representation of
your student’s scores for each of the ability subgroups
and the composite score given in the National Age Scores
section to the left on your student’s CogAT report.
• Scores for each section of the assessment are indicated
by a diamond shape within the black score band. The
score band represents the confidence interval. The
confidence interval shows the possible error in scores for
each student. Errors in scores can be caused by:
– A student responding inconsistently to items in the
same ability test. For example, the student missing
easy items but correctly solving difficult items could
cause an error score.
– A student performing well on one subtest in an
ability section of the test, such as the verbal section,
but performing poorly on another subtest in the
same battery, again in the verbal section, could cause
an error score.
CogAT Raw Scores
• The Raw Scores section (highlighted on the
• Possibly, footnote symbols may appear next
sample report below) has information about
to the raw score on particular section of the
the number of questions in each section of
CogAT report. Below is a guide to these
the test, the number of questions attempted
footnotes and what they mean.
by the student, and the raw score, or number
of correct responses.
CogAT Grade Scores
•
The Grade Scores section of the report (highlighted on the sample report
to the right) is dedicated to students’ grade scores.
•
The first column in this section shows the stanine. The stanine scale is a
normalized standard score scale consisting of nine broad levels designated
by the numbers 1 through 9. Stanines are provided to discourage over
interpretation of small differences among student scores and percentile
rankings. Thus, all students in the same stanine are considered similar.
Please review the previous pages for descriptions of stanine scores.
•
The last column shows the percentile rank for each section and the
composite score. A percentile rank indicates the percentage of students in
the same grade whose scores fall below the score obtained by a particular
student. For example, if a student obtains a percentile rank of 90 on the
verbal battery, it means that 90 percent of students in the standardized
sample scored below that student. A percentile rank of 50 is considered
average.
•
Due to differences in ages of students within one grade level, National Age
Scores are more reliable and accurate when reviewing data among groups
on students. Therefore, when identifying students for the Highly Capable
Program in Kent School District, National Age Scores are used as one piece
of evidence to determine placement of a student.
CogAT Written Description
The highlighted section on the sample
report to the right is a written
description of how to interpret your
student’s score report.
Questions?
If you have questions on how to interpret your student’s CogAT score
report please feel free to contact Kent School District Assessment
Department.
Karen Forsloff
Assessment Administrative Assistant
[email protected]
Carol Johnson
Data Analyst
[email protected]
Dr. Razak Garoui
Executive Director of Assessment
[email protected]