Wake County Public School System AIG and CogAT guide.

AIG stands for Academically or Intellectually Gifted, Wake County Public School System's identification and services program. CogAT stands for Cognitive Abilities Test, a nonverbal, verbal, and quantitative reasoning assessment.

This guide is written for WCPSS parents across Raleigh and the wider county who want to understand when universal screening happens, what the referral path looks like for younger students, and what score the district actually uses.

What WCPSS says about AIG identification

WCPSS automatically screens all 3rd graders using the CogAT; exact dates are set by each school rather than published as one district-wide date. Students who score at or above the 95th percentile on the CogAT, the Iowa Assessment, or both, are identified for AIG services. Some school-level guidance describes an 85th percentile CogAT result as a threshold that can route a student into further Iowa Assessment screening as a second step, so a strong CogAT score without hitting 95th percentile does not necessarily end the process.

For kindergarten through 2nd grade, there is no universal screening window. A parent, teacher, or other adult familiar with the student can submit a referral, after which the student may be considered for testing outside the 3rd grade cycle. WCPSS also weighs classroom assessments, grades, and other standardized measures such as EOG or STAR scores alongside the CogAT and Iowa results, not the test score in isolation.

The CogAT's Nonverbal battery is the section closest in spirit to the NNAT® format GateBuddy currently supports: visual pattern reasoning without reading or vocabulary demands. The Verbal and Quantitative batteries are different in kind, built around word relationships and number reasoning rather than pure visual logic.

Why K-2 families should not assume they have to wait until 3rd grade

Because WCPSS's universal screening is a 3rd grade event, it is easy for a family of a younger, clearly advanced student to assume there is nothing to do until 3rd grade arrives. That is not quite right: a referral can be submitted for a K-2 student at any point, and it is the family or a teacher who has to initiate it, since there is no automatic screening to opt into at that age.

The practical move for a K-2 family who suspects giftedness is to ask the school's AIG specialist directly how to submit a referral, rather than waiting for a universal window that will not arrive until 3rd grade.

Questions WCPSS parents should ask

1. Has our school announced the exact 3rd grade CogAT testing date yet?
2. For a K-2 student, what does the referral process look like, and who can submit one?
3. Is 95th percentile still the current threshold on CogAT and/or Iowa?
4. If my child scores in the 85th to 94th percentile range on CogAT, will they be considered for the Iowa Assessment follow-up?
5. What other data, besides CogAT and Iowa, factors into AIG identification this year?
6. What AIG services are available at our school once a student is identified?

Our broader questions to ask your school guide can help you turn those into one clear conversation with the office or program contact.