Learn more what you can do as parent of AAP applicant in FCPS or FUTURA applicant in LCPS.
All 2nd grade students in Fairfax County Public Schools and certain students in grades 3-7 are tested with Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAt) and Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT), to measure academic aptitude and be placed in Level 4 Advanced Academic Programs (formerly known as the Gifted and Talented Program).
In Loudoun County, all second graders are tested with CogAt and NNAT for placement in FUTURA or SPECTRUM (gifted program).
Gifted Placement Prep Timeline
Young Scholars Circle will personally mentor your child to increase the possibility of placement in Advanced Academic Program (AAP), FUTURA, or SPECTRUM program that will broaden their education for years to come.
Benefits:
- Become familiarized with types of test questions, the test format, and test taking strategies
- Receive an assessment and partake in sessions which involve practice tests
- Teachers and mentors will discuss feedback after every session
- Receive verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal preparation for the CogAt®
- Learn pattern completion, analogies, serial reasoning, and spatial visualization for the NNAT®
- Enriched thinking skills
Scroll down and click on “Courses” associated with CogAt prep.
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What is CogAt prep course?
These classes expose your child to the type of exam that they will encounter in the CogAt & NNAT. The CogAt prep course helps to familiarize your child with test questions, the test format, test taking strategies, and completing the answer sheets. Our goal is not only to prepare your child, but also to enrich their thinking skills.
The CogAt Class Content:
- The Verbal section measures your child’s vocabulary, sentence, and analogy skills. The sub-tests include oral vocabulary and verbal reasoning, for grades K to 2. For grades 3 to 5, the sub-tests include verbal classification, sentence completion, and verbal analogies.
- The Quantitative section measures your child’s basic numeracy, and problem solving skills. Sub-tests include relational concepts and quantitative concepts for grades K to 2. For grades 3 to 5 the sub-tests include quantitative relations, number series, and equation building.
- The Non-Verbal section measures your child’s ability to understand patterns, symbols (same or different), and abstract thinking skills. Sub-tests include figure classification and matrices, for grades K to 2. For grades 3 to 5 the sub-tests include figure classification, figure analogies, and figure analysis.
What do we do?
- Assessment: The first session is dedicated to assessment and knowing your child’s present level of skills (strengths & weaknesses). It serves as our guide in designing instructions for the upcoming sessions.
- Length of the Class: The class usually lasts for 3 months, depending on your child’s progress. Each month has 4 sessions, for one hour with a group of up to 3 students.
- Sessions: Each session, your child will take a practice test, similar to the test format given during the test. After the mock test, the teacher and your child go through the answers, specifically the incorrect responses. Students are encouraged to justify their answers.
- Feedback: The result and performance of students will be discussed with parents, after every session. Homework is also given to child to re-enforce, and review the skills learned in every session.
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Custom CogAt for Fairfax County Public Schools
Things to address for 2nd graders in preparation for Custom CogAt and Gifted Screening:
- Verbal Subsets – tests vocabulary, comprehension, verbal memory, ability to discover word relationships
- verbal analogies
- sentence completion
- verbal classification
- Quantitative Subsets – tests the quantitative reasoning and problem solving ability — general level of abstract reasoning.
- number analogies
- number puzzle
- number series
- Nonverbal Subsets – the items of these tests use only geometric shapes and figures that have had little direct relationship to formal school instructions. These tests require no reading.
- figure matrices (figure analogy or pattern completion)
- paper folding
- figure classification
- Creative & Critical Thinking – lessons that focus on open ended creative thinking that are included in the child’s portfolio for Level 4 Gifted Screening. This is unique to Young Scholars Circle since this part can only be done by licensed AAP teachers.
- students explain their thinking, Apia Scholars teachers redirect to guide students towards creative thinking.
- questions that lead to students to more creative choices.
Please click below on the courses that we offer for CogAt Prep.
