Overview
- The South Carolina Gifted and Talented Grade 2 Assessment is a statewide assessment used to identify students for district gifted and talented programs. Students are identified for this program by demonstrating high performance ability or potential in academic and/or artistic areas.
- In accordance with State Board of Education Regulation 43-220, the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) provides aptitude and achievement assessments for this purpose.
- Although the primary purpose of these assessments is to identify students for the gifted and talented programs, the student results can be useful to teachers as they examine their instructional practices. These results can also help teachers identify teaching strategies for all students.
- All students in Grade 2, including students with disabilities and multilingual learners (MLs), must be administered CogAT® (the Cognitive Abilities Test™) and the Iowa Assessments™ except those students who qualify for the alternate test as determined by their IEPs (Individualized Education Plans).
Testing Window
- State Testing Window: October 6–28, 2025
Test Format
- CogAT and the Iowa Assessments each offer two administration options: either through paper-based or online modes.
- The tests consist of items presented in the multiple-choice format.
- Both the CogAT and the Iowa Assessments are intended for group administration. Teachers utilize scripts provided in the respective Directions for Administration manuals or the testing platform to guide students through each assessment.
- The tests are not timed.
Subjects Tested:
CogAT
- Verbal—Picture Analogies, Sentence Completion, Picture Classification
- Quantitative—Number Analogies, Number Puzzles, Number Series
- Nonverbal—Figure Matrices, Paper Folding, Figure Classification
Iowa Assessments
- Reading—Picture Stories, Sentences, and Stories
- Mathematics—Part 1 and Part 2
Nature of the Questions
In Level 8 of CogAT, every question is presented in a multiple-choice style. Except for in the Sentence Completion subtest, the questions are entirely pictorial, eliminating the need for students to read. Following the students' responses to the sample questions, the test administrator employs general prompts for items to guide students through all subtests besides Sentence Completion.
In Level 7 of the Iowa Assessments, the Reading and Mathematics response options appear in various formats, including images, letters, numbers, or words.
- The Reading test is administered in two parts. This test presents students with a variety of reading tasks.
- Part 1 of the test presents pictures that tell a story. Students must complete sentences about the pictures by choosing a word to fill in a blank. This part also involves reading sentences. Students select a word that best completes each sentence.
- Part 2 of the test consists of written stories followed by multiple-choice questions. The questions associated with both the picture stories and written stories often require more than literal comprehension. Some questions ask the students to make inferences or to generalize about what they have read.
- The Mathematics test is also administered in two separate sessions. All questions are read aloud.
- In Part 1, the response options for each question are either pictorial or numerical. Students are required to demonstrate their understanding of, and ability to apply, a variety of concepts in the areas of number sense and operations, algebraic patterns and connections, geometry, and measurement.
- In Part 2, some questions involve the interpretation of data presented in graphs or tables; students locate data, compare amounts, or develop generalizations. For other questions, brief word problems are presented; students solve the problems and then record their answers according to the choices provided.
Test Results
- Schools will receive printed sets of the student score reports that will be distributed to parents.
- CogAT results include the Age Level scores and the Ability Profile.
- Age Percentile Rank and Stanine indicate the status or relative rank of a student’s score compared with a nationally representative sample of CogAT examinees of a similar age.
- Ability Profile summarizes information about the level and pattern of the student’s reasoning abilities and is linked to suggestions for teaching strategies located here.
- Iowa Assessments results for Reading and Math include the National Percentile Rank (NPR) and the Standard Score (SS).
- National Percentile Rank indicates the status or relative rank of a student's score compared with a nationally representative sample of examinees.
- Standard Score is a number that describes a student’s location on an achievement continuum with the scale based on the Iowa Assessments test subjects’ growth model.
Additional Information
More information about the Grade 2 Gifted and Talented Program is available on the South Carolina
Department of Education website.
