IOWA ASSESSMENTS & CogAT EXPLAINED
Each year this sheet will be sent home with the Iowa and CoGAT standardized testing results. The top left corner of the first report has Iowa Assessments printed there. This report tells you where this student is in academic achievement. In the top left corner of the next sheet is printed CogAT (Cognative Ability Test). The CogAT analysis measures the ability of a student to succeed in school.
The Iowa Assessments results sheet has explanations on it that may be sufficient. However, in the case you might need additional explanations, the following information is provided. On the Iowa sheet are three sections. The left most section is headed “Iowa Assessments.” Listed in this section is a column of the academic areas that were
tested. You will see both “Reading Total” and “ELA” (English Language Arts). Reading deals mostly with comprehension. ELA tests knowledge of the parts of speech and overall grammar knowledge. “Core Composite” is the academic achievement level of the student in both reading and math combined. “Complete Composite” is the combined achievement level for all areas tested.
By going straight across to the right of this section you can see the next section headed “Test Scores”. Listed in this section are the results looked at in five different ways.
- The first column is headed “SS” and reports the developmental standard score. The standard score is a number that describes a student’s location on an achievement continuum or scale. As students grow and learn, it is expected that their standard score will continue to increase. Comparing this score to previous years is one of several ways to see how a student is progressing.
- The second is a column headed “PNPR.” Using the results of the CogAT, this column tells you where the average student with this level of ability will score on the NPR (National Percentile Ranking). If your child’s NPR number is higher than this number it indicates that the teacher, the curriculum, school environment, hard work, etc. have advanced this student beyond his peers in the nation.
- The third column over is headed “GE” which is the abbreviation of Grade Equivalency. A number of 3.7 means your child answered correctly the same percentage of the questions asked that a student who had been in the third grade seven months would be expected to correctly answer. A number of 7.2 means your child answered correctly the same percentage of the questions asked that a student who had been in the seventh grade for two months would be expected to correctly answer. A number of 13+ means that a student knows more than the typical student upon high school graduation.
- The fourth column is headed “NS” which is an abbreviation for National Stanine. Stanine is short for the “standard nine” divisions into which a set of normalized scores are arranged in standardized testing. The numbers below the “NS” tell you what range your child scored in – low, middle or high. 1 – 3 is low, 4 – 6 is middle, and 7 – 9 is high.
- The fifth and final column in this section is headed “NPR” which is the abbreviation for National Percentile Ranking. The numbers that appear beneath the “NPR” tell how your child did in comparison to other students in his grade in the U.S. in a particular subject or subtest (whichever subject or subtest it is in line with). A 50 “NPR” number means your child did better than 50% of the other students taking this test. A 75 “NPR” number means your child did better than 75% of the other students taking this test, etc.
The final section on the Iowa Assessments sheet, the right most one, is headed NPR Graph. On this graph find the middle line labeled 50 which is the average for all students. A score graphed to the left of this line is below national averages, a score graphed to the right is above national averages. You can look at individual tests or get an overall visual of where this student tested academically.
The sheet labeled CogAT has explanations on it that may be sufficient. If you would like a more thorough explanation please go online to “The CogAT Test Explanation for Parents.” This site should answer all your questions