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The CogAT is a measure of a student’s potential to succeed in school-related tasks. It is NOT a tool for measuring a student’s intelligence or IQ. Rather, it measures the reasoning skills that have developed during a student’s educational career, even though they have not been explicitly taught. These general cognitive skills are not specific to any content area, but are skills that are used in all areas of a student’s academic experiences. The CogAT also measures general “school skills,” such as the ability to listen, follow directions, and focus attention.

• Your conference and school feels it is important to administer the CogAT to have one view of a child’s ability to be successful in school and to look for dominant learning strengths.


• CogAT results are most commonly used when a teacher has concerns about a student’s classroom performance or lack of progress. A teacher will look at the CogAT score to get a general sense of a student’s abilities and learning styles, which may lead to further analysis.


• Teachers may select from different CogAT levels. However, it must be done with permission from their superintendent. Please note the information below and consult with the Interpretive Guide for School Administrators before making any changes in a student taking the "Average" level. More information can be obtained at the CogAT website.

Items to Remember

• Standardized testing is only one way to measure student ability and achievement—it’s not the only way. Human capabilities are much more diverse and complex than what is measured by standardized achievement tests or school ability tests. As we learn more from the fields of cognitive science and brain research, definitions of human learning are changing. 


• Educators consider scores from these tests as one view of a student. Classroom performance and teacher assessments are equally important 


• Teachers also recognize that students’ test-taking skills and attitudes during testing sessions affect their results. 


• Caution: The results of the Iowa Tests must not be used as the sole criteria for judging student performance. It is important to use this information in conjunction with other assessments such as locally administered assessments and classroom performance.

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