CogAT has been designed and developed to support a variety of important educational purposes. Identifying the testing purposes that are most important to your school or district will provide focus and help you determine how best to interpret test results. The following examples of appropriate uses of results from CogAT show how the test supports a broad range of educational decisions.

Guide efforts to adapt instruction to the needs and abilities of students. CogAT scores help teachers adapt instructional goals, methods, and materials to the individual needs of students. The key to adapting instruction is the Ability Profile™, an indicator derived from the level and pattern of each student’s CogAT scores. The Ability Profile is unique to CogAT and links the student’s test scores to instructional strategies.

Measure cognitive development to help identify academically talented students. Using CogAT as a measure of cognitive development provides a more complete picture of students’ abilities across the academic spectrum. CogAT captures important information not represented in report card grades or in other measures of school achievement.

You can learn more about Using Test Results and Avoiding Misuse of Test Results .