The Cognitive Abilities test (CogAT) measures students’ verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal figural reasoning abilities and assists educators in determining instructional strategies from Prep – Year 12.
This article provides an overview of the main steps required to successfully run CogAT online:
- Purchasing CogAT online tests
- Setting up your account and adding staff users
- Creating rosters and adding student data
- Creating test events and assigning tests
- Creating and starting test sessions
- Generating reports
Related article: CogAT glossary
1. Purchasing CogAT online tests
Whether you are new to CogAT online, or a returning user, the first step is to purchase your tests from the ACER Shop: Online Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
2. Setting up your account and adding staff users
CogAT online is delivered on Riverside Insight’s DataManager™ platform: https://www.riversidedatamanager.com/BalancedManagement/user/signin
Once you have purchased, the ACER Support Team will be in touch to assist you with setting up your account and getting ready for testing.
3. Creating rosters and adding student data
Create roster
The student roster contains the data of every student being assessed in a given period or testing window (for example, ‘Greenville Primary School April 2025’).
Add students in bulk
Note
Each time you upload a student data file, it will be manually reviewed by the US-based Riverside Insights support team, which may take up to 10 business days. Any errors will require you to fix and re-submit the file for checking.
The Rostering Assistant allows you to check for potential errors before uploading your file.
If you require testing sooner, you will need to manually enter individual student information into DataManager™.
Related article: Bulk importing students to DataManager for CogAT testing
Add students individually
If you are testing a small number of students (for example, fewer than 50), or if you need to test students within a short time frame, it is often more efficient to manually enter student details one at a time in DataManager™.
Related article: Adding individual students to DataManager for CogAT testing
4. Creating test events and assigning tests
Once student data is entered in the DataManager™ system, you will need to create the test event and assign the relevant tests.
Related article: Creating CogAT test events and assigning tests
5. Creating and starting test sessions
Creating test sessions is the final step in the administration sequence and must be done on the day of testing.
Note
Once created, test sessions are only active for 12 hours.
Student login URL: https://www.riversideonlinetest.com/studentlogin.aspx
DataManager™ offers a secure browser application that can be installed on student devices that will ensure students are not able to access other apps while the assessment is underway.
Installation of this secure browser is optional but should be completed before the day of testing.
Related article: Creating CogAT test sessions
6. Generating reports
Once your testing is complete, you are ready to run reports.
Related articles:
- The CogAT dashboard – the main display
- The CogAT dashboard – student roster
- The CogAT differentiated instruction report
- The CogAT individual profile narrative report
Once you have decided which report would best suit your needs, follow the instructions on the DataManager™ CogAT Reporting User Guide.pdf document to generate your reports (you may need to open this guide in a different browser or private browsing mode if you receive an error message). You will need to be logged into the DataManager™ platform to access this guide.