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Understanding Your Child’s CogAT Score Report &

The SC Gifted & Talented Identification Process

CCSD Parent Informational Zoom

CCSD Gifted & Talented Department

Elizabeth Uptegrove - Assistant Director

Karen Reed - Elementary Lead Teacher

Erin McGee-Young - Secondary Lead Teacher

Mary Gadsden - Administrative Assistant

Instructional Programs | Gifted & Talented

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The mission of the Charleston County School District, working in partnership with students, families, the workplace and the community, is to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education that prepares them to succeed in a complex and competitive world.

Pillar I: Rigorous Grade-Level Instruction

Pillar II: High Quality Teachers/Leaders

Pillar III: Wrap-Around Services

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CCSD BOARD GOALS

Supported by our pillars

Vision 2027: By June 2027, All Students will Read on Grade Level by Fifth Grade

–2027 Fifth Grade Cohort–

Goal 1: Literacy	Goal 2: Algebra Readiness & Achievement	Goal 3: College and Career Readiness
The percentage of Black/African American and Hispanic 5th grade students reading on grade level will increase from 25.5% in July 2022 to 60.7% in July 2027 as measured by SC READY ELA.	The percentage of all CCSD students enrolled in 8th Grade achieving C or higher on the Algebra I End-of-Course exam by the end of 8th grade will increase from 24.9% in May 2022 to 60.3% in May 2027.	The percentage of students in the 4-year cohort who graduate college and/or career ready will increase from 67.7% in August 2022 to 86.2% in August 2027 as measured by SC College and Career Readiness Indicators.

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Data Driven Decision

Making

Professional Learning Communities

High Quality Instruction

Improved Student Outcomes

CCSD 2025-26 Priorities

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Parent Zoom Session Goals

ANALYZE Score Reports - Cognitive Abilities Test [CogAT]
DETERMINE your child's strengths and weaknesses
COMPARE reasoning ability VS academic achievement
DISCOVER ways to best support critical reasoning at home
CLARIFY the SC Gifted Identification Policy and Gifted Service in CCSD

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GT Department Talent Development Mindset Shift

All children have strengths and talent
All children have weaknesses and room for growth
Lean on strength areas to pull up weaknesses
There is something to celebrate in all scores

Talent is distributed equally; opportunity is not.

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Gifted Services and Academic Talent Development

Gifted and talented students are those who are identified in grades 2-12 as demonstrating high performance ability or potential in academic areas and therefore require an educational program beyond that normally provided by the general school program in order to achieve their potential (Regulation 43-220, Gifted and Talented).

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What

in this definition is the most challenging to measure?

The Cognitive Abilities Test helps us measure a child’s potential!

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Talent Development Mindset Shift

Critical Thinking and Rigor for ALL
Different not more
Nature and Needs of GT
Dispel Myths & Misconceptions
Expect More; Believe the Best; Hidden Potential;
Teachers as Talent Scouts
Know every child’s strength

help them see it, own it, and develop it

Strength-based learning & pathways;

use strength to pull on weakness

Celebrate Can vs Can’t - Garden don’t Weed
Understand Ability vs Achievement and performing to potential - know the why for discrepancy
Growth and Effort Accountability for ALL

teachers, students, parents, support staff, you

Tell the truth and create a culture of healthy challenge
Support the true Nature and Needs; the good/bad/ugly
Engage & Empower - Meaning and Choice
Help students use their powers for good -

channeling the gifted superpower

Talent is distributed equally; opportunity is not.

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Types of Assessments

Dimension C Performance

Classroom Performance

Dimension B Achievement

Reading / Math Content Skills

Dimension A Aptitude

Reasoning Ability

Cognitive Abilities Test

(CogAT)

Verbal

Quantitative

Nonverbal

IOWA

i-Ready / MAP

SC-Ready

Reading and/or Math

Grades 2-5

SC Performance Task Assessment (PTA)

Verbal and/or Nonverbal

Grades 6-12

GPA

How well your child problem solves what they have NOT been taught to do directly

How well your child retains the reading and math skills they HAVE been taught directly

How well your child combines work ethic and effort to apply their abilities and skills in the classroom

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Types of Assessments

Dimension A

Aptitude / Ability

Dimension B Achievement

Dimension C Performance

Reasoning Ability

Cognitive Abilities Test

(CogAT)

Verbal

Quantitative

Nonverbal

Reading / Math Content Skills

IOWA

i-Ready / MAP

SC Ready

Classroom Performance

Grades 2-5

SC Performance Task Assessment (PTA)

Grades 6-12

GPA

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NONVERBAL reasoning

N

QUANTITATIVE reasoning

Q

VERBAL reasoning

V

your ability to reason with

WORDS

your ability to reason with

NUMBERS

your ability to reason with

PICTURES, PATTERNS, & SPACE

Types of Reasoning Assessed on the Cognitive Abilities Test

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Types of Assessments

Dimension A Aptitude

Dimension B Achievement

Dimension C Performance

Reasoning Ability

Cognitive Abilities Test

(CogAT)

Verbal

Quantitative

Nonverbal

Reading / Math Content Skills

IOWA

i-Ready / MAP

SC Ready

Classroom Performance

Grades 2-5

SC Performance Task Assessment (PTA)

Grades 6-12

GPA

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Types of Assessments

Dimension A Aptitude

Dimension B Achievement

Dimension C Performance

Reasoning Ability

Cognitive Abilities Test

(CogAT)

Verbal

Quantitative

Nonverbal

Reading / Math Content Skills

IOWA

i-Ready / MAP

SC Ready

Classroom Performance

Grades 2-5

SC Performance Task Assessment (PTA)

Grades 6-12

GPA

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Ability/Aptitude Tests Measure

Verbal Reasoning

Quantitative Reasoning

Nonverbal Reasoning

Achievement Tests Measure

Reading / ELA Skills & Comprehension

Mathematics Skills & Computation

Math/Science Skills/SS Skills

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Problem solving

Creativity & Idea generation

Analogous thinking

Recall and application of facts

Content Skill application

Learned material and proficiency

predicts future learning and academic potential

measures current knowledge and skills

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V

Q

NONVERBAL

reasoning ability

N

QUANTITATIVE reasoning ability

Q

VERBAL

reasoning ability

V

drives READING achievement

drives MATH achievement

can drive math

and science achievement

You are hoping to see a correlation between ability and achievement

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NONVERBAL reasoning

N

QUANTITATIVE reasoning

Q

VERBAL reasoning

V

your ability to reason with

WORDS

your ability to reason with

NUMBERS

your ability to reason with

PICTURES, PATTERNS, & SPACE

Types of Reasoning Assessed on the Cognitive Abilities Test

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Questions ALL parents should be asking:

What is my child’s greatest cognitive/academic strength?
Is my child’s teacher aware of this strength and am I advocating for appropriate differentiation in the classroom?
Do I believe that talent/giftedness could be developed or that a student has to naturally perform at certain levels already?
Am I being reasonable about my child’s abilities and encouraging HEALTHY levels of challenge?
Am I emphasizing critical thinking, concepts, and the learning process or just focused on rote memorization and facts?

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chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.greenwichschools.org/uploaded/district/curriculum/alp/Reading_the_Cognitive_Abilities_Test_2019.pdf

Reading the CogAT

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.waketech.edu/sites/default/files/page-file-uploads/CogAT-Score-Report-Example-Template.pdf

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Stanines / Percentiles / Descriptions

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Questions ALL parents should be asking:

What is my child’s greatest cognitive/academic strength?
Is my child’s teacher aware of this strength and am I advocating for appropriate differentiation in the classroom?
Do I believe that talent/giftedness could be developed or that a student has to naturally perform at certain levels already?
Am I being reasonable about my child’s abilities and encouraging HEALTHY levels of challenge?
Am I emphasizing critical thinking, concepts, and the learning process or just focused on rote memorization and facts?

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South Carolina

Gifted & Talented Identification Policy

Gifted and Talented Identification requires a student to
score at or above the 96th percentile (APR) in Dimension A on the overall composite of a nationally-normed aptitude test CCSD most frequently uses the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) OR meet the criteria in at least two of the three dimensions listed below:


Dimension A	Dimension B	Dimension C
Reasoning Abilities	High Achievement in Reading or Math	Intellectual/ Academic Performance
Criterion	Criterion	Criterion
93%ile or better APR (APR = Age %ile Ranking) on any of the CogAT composite or individual batteries: Verbal Quantitative Nonverbal Or Any nationally-normed aptitude test on the SC approved assessment list (for transfer students)	94%ile or better NPR (NPR = National %ile Ranking) Iowa - Reading or Math Or i-Ready Reading or Math Or MAP Reading or Math Or SC Ready - Reading or Math cut - off score Or Any nationally-normed achievement test on the SC approved assessment list (for transfer students)	Grades 2-5: SC Performance Tasks Assessment to be given in Feb/March Students are ONLY eligible to take this test if they have met dimension A or dimension B Grades 6-11 GPA - 3.75 or higher on end of year average in four core content area courses only (no weighted consideration)
Dimension A results valid for 5 school years	Dimension B results valid for 2 school years

93%ile

96%ile or higher on the VQN composite

94%ile

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Categories of GT Status Notifications

For the purposes of CogAT Testing we send out two different batches of emails to the child’s parent email listed in PowerSchool:

Fully Identified Statuses = GT-96; GT-AB; GT-AC; GT-BC
Partially Identified Status = PTA

Never fear! We are continually monitoring!
Next assessments

Winter i-ready Reading and Math - Dimension B
SC-Performance Task Assessment - Dimension C
Spring i-ready Reading and Math - Dimension B
SC-Ready Reading and Math - Dimension B

Have you checked your spam/junk folders?

What email is connected to my child’s PowerSchool Account?

I wonder if I am getting the right emails?

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Sample Profile

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Sample Profile

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Timeline & Helpful Reminders

Gifted screening begins in grade 2

Gifted service begins in grade 3

ALL students are screened in Grades 2 & 4

ANY student in grade 3 or grades 5-11 can be nominated in the fall for additional aptitude testing if needed

The identification window never closes

Once gifted, always gifted

There should NEVER be a worry about a lower score “removing” a child’s GT identification

Outside / private testing cannot be used for gifted identification

We always believe the highest score… a child can have a bad day - but they cannot fake a high score.

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Differentiated Content, Process, Product

State-approved, research-based curriculum is reported to the state every year

Cohort Size and Ability

Special Class Model = 25:1

Resource Model = 20:1

SC State Mandated Gifted Service Requirements

SCDE Gifted and Talented Website

Gifted Endorsed Teacher

Regulation 43-220 requires "each teacher of a state-funded gifted and talented course or class shall have completed a gifted and talented endorsement program approved by the SCDE."