CTCS

Features and Benefits

Grade Range: 8 through 12+
Administration: Individual or Group
Time: 55 minutes

The Canadian Test of Cognitive Skills (CTCS) is a reliable academic aptitude test that measures the cognitive abilities important for scholastic success in Grades 8–12. CTCS includes scores for three critical cognitive factors—verbal, non-verbal and memory (CTCS is the only major academic aptitude test in Canada that measures memory).

• Set Realistic Goals for Your Students

CTCS provides the information you need to plan an educational program best suited to the learning and developmental needs of your students. It measures selected abilities, such as understanding verbal and non-verbal concepts and comprehending relationships between ideas, so you can screen students for placement in special programs and identify students in need of further diagnosis of learning problems.

When teamed with the Canadian Achievement Tests, Third Edition (CAT·3) CTCS provides predicted achievement scores which identify students whose achievement levels are lower or higher than would be expected, given their cognitive skill levels.

• Canadian Development and Norming

CTCS is a thorough Canadian adaptation of CTB McGraw-Hill's Test of Cognitive Skills, Second Edition (1992). Item selection for the CTCS, based on 10 years of research in the use of the original Test of Cognitive Skills (1981) in Canada, has resulted in improved measurement accuracy and content focus at each target grade range.

Norms for the CTCS were developed from a Canada-wide norming study involving 78 school jurisdictions. The stratified random sample of over 36 000 students ensured representativeness by region, district size and degree of urbanization.

CTCS Subtests

• Test 1, Sequences: Measures a student's ability to comprehend a rule or principle implicit in a pattern of figures, letters or numbers.
  
• Test 2, Analogies: Measures a student's ability to discern various literal and symbolic relationships.
  
• Test 3, Memory: Measures the ability to recall paired pictures or nonsense words.


• Test 4, Verbal Reasoning: Measures the ability to reason deductively, analyze category attributes and discern verbal relationships and patterns.

Time Limits, Recommended Grade and Age Ranges
Level	Grade	Time
4	8 – 9	55 min.
5	10 – 12+	55 min.

Planning Your CTCS Order

To order CTCS material, please call (905) 513-6636 or 1-800-668-1006 (outside the Toronto area) or email us at info@canadiantestcentre.com

1. Decide which grades to test.
2. Select the appropriate test levels by referring to the CAT·3/CTCS Level Chart.
   
3. Decide whether to machine-score or hand-score.
   (Because of demands on teacher time, machine-scoring is strongly recommended when testing 30 students or more.)
4. Decide the quantity required for your order by referring to the chart below. Remember that test booklets\ are reusable.

Components with ISBNs and Prices

Predicted Achievement

The CTCS may be used in combination with the CAT3 to implement the popular "predicted achievement" concept. This procedure offers schools an effective and efficient method of analyzing the achievement of their students, both individuals and groups, in relation to realistic and objective expectations based on CTCS scores. Predicted achievement scores assist teachers, counsellors, parents and administrators in estimating the extent to which their students are achieving in comparison with students of similar age, grade and academic aptitude.

The Process

• Students write all subtests of the Canadian Test of Cognitive Skills (CTCS) and all or selected subtests of the Canadian Achievement Tests, Third Edition.
  
• The aptitude tests should be administered before the achievement tests.
  
• The following combinations are applicable when CTCS is used with the CAT for the purpose of obtaining Predicted Achievement Scores:

The Results

• Scores are predicted for each CAT test based on the students' CTCS subtest scores, through a multiple regression analysis.
  
• Significant differences between predicted and actual scores are identified by an asterisk or boldface print.
  
• A negative discrepancy indicates a possible learning problem or disability.
  
• High scores on both achievement (CAT) and aptitude (CTCS) may indicate a gifted student.

Ordering