By Fatskills Exam Guides Team — the exam nerds behind 28,500+ quizzes and 2.1M practice questions across 500+ global exams.
The CogAT Form 7 Evaluates:
Verbal Battery Verbal Analogies Sentence Completion Verbal Classification
Nonverbal Battery Figure Matrices Paper Folding Figure Classification
Quantitative Battery Number Analogies Number Puzzles Number Series
What is the structure of the test? The ten levels of CogAT span kindergarten through grade 12. All levels have three batteries: Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal. Each battery includes three distinct subtests relevant to its domain. The use of three different subtest formats in each battery increases both the fairness and the validity of scores. All of the test questions are designed to show how well students use reasoning skills they have developed to solve problems they have not been directly taught. For Levels 5/6, 7, and 8 (kindergarten through grade 2), with the exception of the optional Sentence Completion subtest, questions are entirely pictorial. No reading is required of students in any subtest.
About the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Verbal Battery Subtest Items Subtest 1: Picture/Verbal Analogies*
Levels 5/6–8
Each question shows a 2 x 2 matrix with three pictures and one empty cell. Students examine the two pictures in the top row to determine how they are related. Then they apply this relationship to the picture in the bottom row and choose the answer that generates a second pair of pictures related to each other in the same way as the first pair.
Levels 9–17/18
First students examine a pair of words and think of ways in which they are related. Then students apply this relationship to a third word to generate a new pair of words that goes together in the same way. Finally students select the best answer choice or, if none seems correct, they look for a different way in which the first two words are related.
Subtest 2: Sentence Completion
Levels 5/6–8 “Which one swims in the ocean?”
Students listen to a sentence or a question the teacher reads in English or Spanish and then select the picture that best completes the sentence or answers the question.
Students read an incomplete sentence and then select the answer choice that best completes the sentence.
Subtest 3: Picture/Verbal Classification*
Levels 5/6–8 Students first examine three pictures in the top row of each question and think of ways in which the pictures are alike. Then the students select the answer picture that belongs in the same group.
Students examine three words and think of ways in which they are alike. Then students select an answer choice that belongs in the same group. Quantitative Battery Subtest Items
Subtest 4: Number Analogies
Each question shows a 2 x 2 matrix and requires the same processes as the Picture Analogies subtest, but it uses quantitative concepts rather than verbal concepts.
Level 9 includes some questions in which number pairs are arranged vertically. Students examine two pairs of numbers and figure out the rule both pairs follow. Then they apply the rule to a given number and choose an answer that generates a third pair of numbers that follow the same rule. Some questions in this subtest at Level 9 (grade 3) use a matrix format. All others use strings of number pairs.
Subtest 5: Number Puzzles Level 8 includes some questions that follow the Levels 9–17/18 format.
Each question presents two trains. Students select the answer picture that makes the second train carry the same number of objects as the first train.
Students are presented one or more equations in which at least one number is missing. If one element is missing, students must select the missing number. If two or three elements are missing, students must substitute numbers that are provided for the missing elements and then solve the equation.
Subtest 6: Number Series
Each question shows several strings of beads. The beads make a pattern. Students must discover the pattern and then select the string of beads that comes next in the sequence.
Level 9 includes some questions that use beads to show a pattern.
Each question shows a series of numbers and requires the student to identify the pattern and then select the number that comes next in the sequence.
Nonverbal Battery Subtest Items
Subtest 7: Figure Matrices
Each question shows a 2 x 2 matrix and requires the same process as the Number Analogies and Picture Analogies subtests but uses spatial forms.
Levels 9–11 and some questions at Level 12 follow the Levels 5/6–8 format. This subtest requires that students infer and then apply a simple rule. Students must determine the relationship among the first two elements, apply this relationship to the third element in the matrix, and then select the figure that completes the relationship.
Subtest 8: Paper Folding
Students must imagine what happens to a piece of paper that is folded, usually cut in some way, and then unfolded. Then students select the answer choice that shows how the paper looks when it is opened.
Students must imagine what happens to a piece of paper that is folded, has holes punched in it, and then unfolded. Then students select the answer choice that shows how the paper looks when it is opened.
Subtest 9: Figure Classification
As on the Picture Classification subtest, students must infer how three objects or figures are similar and then select the picture that goes with the target set.
Students must determine how three figures are similar and then select the answer choice that is most like the first three figures.
How long does it take to administer CogAT? CogAT is a group-administered abilities test that is typically administered by classroom teachers. The test administrator follows the procedures outlined in the Directions for Administration or the Directions for Online Administration for the level of CogAT being administered.
Since the administrator paces the test, the actual testing time varies across classes. Testing times for Levels 9 and higher, however, are fixed at ten minutes per subtest. For all levels, an additional five to seven minutes per testing session may be required to distribute and collect materials or assist students in logging in if they are taking the online test. Additionally, classes will need a few minutes to answer the sample questions at the beginning of each subtest. No more than one battery should be administered at a single sitting. Short breaks between each subtest administered during the test session are recommended, especially for younger students.
BatterySubtest Estimated Testing Time (in minutes) Level 5/6 (Grade K) 1 Verbal Battery: Picture Analogies 15 Sentence Completion 14 Picture Classification 14
Quantitative Battery Number Analogies 13 Number Puzzles 11 Number Series 14
Nonverbal Battery Figure Matrices 11 Paper Folding 10 Figure Classification 10
Total 112
Level 7 (Grade 1) 1 Verbal Battery
Picture Analogies 13 Sentence Completion 13 Picture Classification 12 Quantitative Battery
Number Analogies 13 Number Puzzles 11 Number Series 13 Nonverbal Battery
Figure Matrices 11 Paper Folding 10 Figure Classification 11 Total 107
Level 8 (Grade 2)1 Verbal Battery Picture Analogies 13 Sentence Completion 14 Picture Classification 13 Quantitative Battery Number Analogies 15 Number Puzzles 15 Number Series 15 Nonverbal Battery Figure Matrices 13 Paper Folding 11 Figure Classification 13 Total 122
For Levels 5/6, 7, and 8, subtests are untimed; testing times are approximate. About the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Levels 9–17/18 Verbal Battery Verbal Analogies 10 Sentence Completion 10 Verbal Classification 10 Quantitative Battery Number Analogies 10 Number Puzzles 10 Number Series 10 Nonverbal Battery Figure Matrices 10 Paper Folding 10 Figure Classification 10 Total 90
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