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Assessment & Placement Process

CogAT Screening Form: Cognitive Abilities Test

The CogAT is a test of reasoning skills. It is not an academic achievement test like a math or reading test, as it is designed to measure the reasoning skills that students acquire throughout their lives. There is no defined curriculum for the CogAT. It is a norm-referenced test with a national average of the 50th percentile.

The Screening Form consists of the analogies portion of each Battery:

  • Verbal/Picture analogies
  • Number Analogies
  • Figure Matrices

More information about the Kindergarten CogAT Screener Test in ISD:

  • Students take CogAT Form 7 Level 7.
  • The test is a paper and pencil test - students mark their answers directly in the machine scored booklet.
  • All answers are pictorial - no reading will be required.
  • Students take three untimed subtests that take about 10 to 15 minutes each:  Picture Analogies, Number Analogies and Figure Matrices.
  • Each section has practice questions that the students do together under the supervision of the trained proctor.  Students are given the opportunity to learn how to and practice filling in answer circles.

 

Cognitive Abilities Test  (CogAT)

The CogAT is a test of reasoning skills. It’s not like a spelling or a math test where if you know the words or the facts you can get 100%. There is no defined curriculum for the CogAT. It is a norm referenced test and the national average is the 50th percentile. To identify students for the Highly Capable program, the Issaquah School District administers advanced versions of the CogAT.

There are three parts to the CogAT and the Issaquah School District administers the full battery:

  • Verbal Battery
  • Quantitative Battery
  • Non-Verbal Battery

More information about the second grade CogAT Screener Test in ISD:

  • Students take CogAT Form 8 Level 9.
  • The test is a paper and pencil test - students mark their answers directly on an answer sheet.
  • The test measures learned reasoning abilities developed though in-school and out-of-school experiences.  The Verbal Battery assesses students' abilities to use search, retrieval and comparison processes that are essential for verbal reasoning. The Quantitative Battery assesses students' abilities to reason about patterns and relationships using concepts that are essential to quantitative thinking. The Nonverbal Battery assesses the students' abilities to reason with somewhat more novel questions that use spatial and figural content.
  • The tests are timed. Each battery takes 30 minutes and is made up of three 10 minute subtests.
  • Each section has practice questions the students do together under the supervision of the trained proctor.  Students are given the opportunity to practice filling in answer circles. 

For more information about the CogAT visit: https://info.riversideinsights.com/cogat

 

Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) (Figural)

The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is used for identification of the creatively gifted and as a part of gifted matrices in states and districts in the USA, especially in multicultural settings, and for special populations around the world. The Figural TTCT: Thinking Creatively with Pictures is appropriate at all levels, kindergarten through adult. It uses three picture-based exercises to assess five mental characteristics:

  • fluency 
  • resistance to premature closure 
  • elaboration 
  • abstractness of titles 
  • originality   

The version administered in the Issaquah School District consists of three 10 minute sections. The test is sent to the testing company for scoring. It is a norm referenced test and the national average is the 50th percentile. For more information about the TTCT, visit: https://www.ststesting.com/gift/

More information about the TTCT Test in ISD:

  • The TTCT test is a figural test. Students are given three different figural tests.   
  • The responses are mainly pictorial in nature. A small amount of writing is required when students are directed to label or name the pictures they have drawn.
  • There are three ten minute timed subtests: Picture Construction, Picture Completion, Lines.

 

i-Ready Replaced IOWA for Elementary Education Assessment

i-Ready replaced IOWA for Highly Capable Program Universal Eligibility Testing

During the 2022-2023 school year, overall winter i-Ready Reading and Math scores began being used for Kindergarten and Second Grade Highly Capable Program universal eligibility testing. In recent years, the IOWA Achievement Test has been used as the grade level content test for reading and math. These scores will be combined with CogAT scores for kindergarten and CogAT and TTCT scores for 2nd grade students to determine eligibility for the Highly Capable Program. Similar to the CogAT and the TTCT, the Standard Score and Mean are provided by the test vendor, which is i-Ready. Percentiles are not used.  Please see "Understanding the Highly Capable Score Report" for more information.

Students will take i-Ready Reading and Math Assessments in the classroom with peers during the district windows. Staff will be trained to provide a standard testing environment and follow a standardized implementation plan. The K-5 i-Ready Testing window for Reading occurs in January while Math is in February.

Private school and home-based students will take i-Ready tests at the ISD Administration Building.  Logistics will be shared with pre-registered participating private and home-based families directly by email.

For the 2023-2024 school year, private school and home-based families must register online to participate in all testing by 12/8/2023 at 4:00 PM.

For more information on the districts use of i-Ready, see Elementary District Assessments

 

IOWA Achievement Tests - Secondary Students (6th - 12th) only

The IOWA Tests are used to measure a student’s current educational achievement. They are norm-referenced nationally standardized tests designed to allow comparison of each student’s performance to that of student’s across the nation. The national average is the 50th percentile.

The IOWA has several subtests, but Issaquah School District administers the reading, vocabulary, math, and computation portions.

For more information about IOWA Tests visit: https://www.riversideinsights.com/

 

Eligibility Determination

The Issaquah School District uses the tests described above in determining eligibility for the Highly Capable Program. Scores on these tests are reported as a single holistic matrix score. For more information on how the matrix score is calculated, see the resources posted on the Highly Capable webpage under the appropriate testing cycle.

Information about Highly Capable Programs, how to qualify, and the referral process can be found at the above link. For District regulations and information on state guidelines see 2190 - Highly Capable