The CogATŪ (Cognitive Abilities TestŪ) assesses reasoning and problem solving abilities in three areas - verbal, non-verbal and quantitative. The reasoning skills assessed by the CogATŪ are precisely what the range of books and software sold by Think Tonight are designed to teach. This section of our website identifies the products which focus most closely on skills tested in the CogATŪ and provides suggestions for material which can be used to prepare your child to achieve their best performance when tested.
The CogATŪ (Cognitive Abilities TestŪ) is published by Riverside Publishing, a subsidiary of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It is frequently used in conjunction with the Iowa Test of Basic SkillsŪ (ITBSŪ) to provide an indication as to whether or not children are working up to their ability level and to assist teachers in tailoring instruction to benefit all students. It is also widely used as a screening test for gifted program entry.
The CogATŪ has two distinct formats depending on the age/grade of the child being tested. You can read more about this in our Sample Questions section.
Each level of the CogATŪ has items of varying levels of difficulty. A block design is used and to change from the A to the B level of the test, for example, a block of the easiest questions is removed and replaced with a block of more difficult questions. The overlap of items as one moves through levels of the test provides the user with a continuous, ascending scale of difficulty.
At the present time two versions of the CogATŪ are in use. Form 6 has been in use for a number of years. In 2011 Form 7 was released. The Form number is similar to an edition number. The Form 7 version of the test replaced some test areas with new test areas and modified instructions with the intent of making the test fairer to English language learners. For preparation purposes the changes don't affect our suggestions much. The new Form 7 still has the same test objectives and students who excel will be comfortable with a wide ranging skill set.
The test publisher recommends using a higher level of the CogATŪ test for testing high ability children than for testing average or low ability children. Your high ability child in kindergarten may be tested using the CogATŪ 1. Your high ability child in Gr 2 may be tested using the Multi-Level A rather than the Primary 2 version. Because of the overlapping nature of the questions on different levels of the test it's not essential to know what level your child will be tested at except for in Grade 2. There is a significant change in format between the CogATŪ Primary 2 and Multi-level A. If your child will be tested in Grade 2 it is worth asking your school district if they'll tell you which level of the test they'll be using.
Choose your child's grade level above for specific suggestions. Since the CogATŪ is most commonly used as a screening tool for gifted program entry these suggestions assume that you do indeed have a bright child. Most gifted and competitive entry programs attempt to identify children with cognitive abilities 2-3 years above those of their typical age peers. To answer the most difficult questions on the CogAT your child will need to be working at this higher level. For an easy purchase decision we've put together the titles we recommend most frequently into our Test Preparation Bundles for Gifted Learners Taking the CogATŪ
You may find that your child's abilities are not even across the different reasoning skills. This is quite normal and you may decide to purchase different levels of books for verbal, non-verbal and quantitative skills. If you have any doubts please email or phone and we'd be happy to help you make your selection.
In general Building Thinking Skills
will always be a good choice. If you've got a bit of time we have many titles which integrate thinking skills into different subject areas and you might like to consider some of our offerings which look more like puzzles. SET
is a great game to develop non-verbal reasoning skills. Quiddler
develops verbal analysis. The Advanced Dot-to-Dot
books we sell develop attention to detail and require a lot more reasoning than you might expect from a puzzle. Word Roots
develops vocabulary - an important skill for any child. Choose something that your child will enjoy doing and you can't go wrong.