The Cognitive Abilities test (CogAT) measures students’ verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal figural reasoning abilities and assists educators in determining instructional strategies from Foundation to 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
- Running 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
Shortly after you have placed your order, ACER Support will send an email requesting information about your staff, school, and student cohort, so we can prepare your account for testing.
Once your account has been prepared, ACER will send you another email advising your next steps.
3. Creating rosters and adding student data
Add students in bulk
If you are testing more than 50 students, ACER Support will send you a worksheet template to fill out student data. We will also organise access to a secure site where you can upload your template.
The Rostering Assistant allows you to check for potential errors before uploading your file.
Each time you upload a student data file, it will be manually reviewed by the US-based Riverside Insights support team. Any errors will require you to fix and re-submit the file for checking. This process may take up to 10 business days.
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™. You will need to create a roster within DataManager for the student information to be organised into first.
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
You will need to create a test session for each group of students. Then, students will need to log in using the session code and their unique ID.
Once created, test sessions are only active for 12 hours.
Student login URL: https://www.riversideonlinetest.com/studentlogin.aspx
Important: CogAT provides an optional secure proctoring browser app. Do not use this, as it connects to US servers and causes connection issues with Australian customers.
Related article: Creating CogAT test sessions
6. Running test sessions
Each time a subtest is completed, a new ‘linked’ session will open with the next subtest.
Related articles:
- Running a proctor-led CogAT test session (recommended years F–2)
- Running an audio-led CogAT test session (recommended years 3+)
7. 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.