CogAT Accommodations

CogAT can be administered with accommodations to students whose special needs may make it difficult for them to demonstrate their abilities when standard testing procedures are used. A testing accommodation refers to a change in the procedures for administering an assessment. The accommodation is intended to reduce as much as possible the effect of student characteristics that interfere with performance during testing and, subsequently, with valid inferences about the student’s abilities. Testing accommodations do not change the kinds of abilities being measured; they change how those abilities are measured. If chosen appropriately, an accommodation will provide neither too
much nor too little help to the student who receives it.

Given the test structure at kindergarten through grade 2, many students with special needs will be able to take CogAT without special accommodations. No reading is required, the pace of testing can be varied to fit the group and repeated or translated directions are encouraged for all students.

Because CogAT measures how efficiently a student can hold numerical information in working memory while simultaneously performing “transformations,” such as elementary calculations, students cannot use calculators even when their Individualized Education Program (IEP) permits calculator usage. Offloading calculations to a calculator removes the transformation portion and invalidates the normative scores. If the student cannot perform the required elementary mental computations, then students may omit the Quantitative Battery. Students will receive a Verbal-Nonverbal partial composite.

The table below provides descriptions of accommodations that may be provided. These accommodations may be used for students with IEPs or English Language Learners. Because the purpose of an accommodation is to reduce the impact of the student’s needs on the assessment process, the student’s responses should be the same as what we would expect the student to make if that student had no unique needs. In most cases, you can use scores for the student who receives accommodations in the same ways you would use the scores for other students.

Other accommodations noted in IEPs but not included below may also be used. However, they should be used only if doing so will not alter the nature of the ability that the test is intended to measure.

Accommodation	Description
Repeated Directions	For each subtest, students may play the directions and item prompts through their headphones as many times as necessary to ensure they understand what they are supposed to do. The test administrator may also play & replay the directions using audio equipment available in the computer lab, and repeat using read-aloud.
Tested Off Level	Students who work at an instructional level well above or well below that of their grade peers may take a higher or lower level of the test. (Level 5/6 is the lowest available level.) Reading skills should not be a concern, since the Level 5/6–8 tests do not require any reading on the part of the students. However, the range of difficulty of the questions in these tests allows most students to obtain accurate scores using the on-level test.
Separate Location	A separate assessment room should be made available for students who might be distracted by the pace at which their peers work, who may need extra breaks, or who might be disruptive in a larger group.
Transcribe and/or Hand Score	An assistant or proctor may record a student’s answers in the online test if the student is unable to do so because of a physical impairment. Similarly, an assistant or proctor may record a student’s answers in a consumable test booklet or on a consumable answer document if the student is unable to do so because of physical impairment. Transcribing to paper requires an scoring key.
Large-print Paper Test Copies	There may be some occasions when the best solution is to eliminate computer testing all together. Students with visual impairments may benefit from the use of a large-print paper version of the test. Follow these instructions when using the large-print paper test edition as accommodation. Provide sufficient table area to handle an open 12.5-inch by 16-inch test booklet. If students typically use book stands or low-vision aids during instruction, they may use them during testing. Determine how students will record their answers. Students may mark directly in the large-print booklet with a pencil, pen, or crayon. Later, the test administrator can either transfer the responses into the online test, or hand score the large-print booklet using the appropriate scoring key. If answers are transferred, a school staff member should verify the transfer. Students may be tested individually and may give oral responses to the test administrator. The test administrator will mark the student’s responses directly into the online test.
Color Blindness	CogAT can be used for students who are colorblind without disadvantaging their performance on the assessment. All informational graphics went through a composition check to ensure coherency to a color-deficient student. Art was processed through a color blindness simulator which renders images as they would appear to individuals with Protanopia, Deuteranopia and Tritanopia. Using these simulations as a guide, any art requiring modification was addressed by choosing patterns and/or color contrast that was acceptable for colorblindness. The revised art was resubmitted for validation and retested using the color-blindness simulator to ensure viability. Students do not have to be able to see or name colors to be successful in answering the questions on CogAT.
Vision Deficiency/Braille	CogAT is not recommended for students with a significant vision impairment. We recommend working with a local School Psychologist or other resource to identify an appropriate testing strategy for students for whom the Large Print version is insufficient as a visual accommodation. Because the test is primarily picture-based at all levels, it is not possible to Braille the assessment. A read-aloud accommodation may be offered as an accommodation only on the VERBAL section (3 subtests) at Levels 9-17/18. However, read-aloud is not available at all as an accommodation for Levels 5/6-8, typically given at grades K-2, nor for the Quantitative and Nonverbal/Figural sections on Levels 9-17/18, typically administered at grade 3 and up, nor for any level of the CogAT Screening Form, which is comprised of one subtest from each area (V, Q, and N).