SCAT

The SCAT (School and College Ability Test) is a multiple choice test administered by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY). The SCAT Test is an above-grade level test that measures math and verbal reasoning abilities in gifted children.

CTY uses three levels of the SCAT:
Students in grades 2-3 take the Elementary SCAT designed for students in grades 4-5.
Students in grades 4-5 take the Intermediate SCAT designed for students in grades 6-8.
Students in grades 6 and above take the Advanced SCAT designed for students in grades 9-12.

The SCAT has two sections, verbal and quantitative. Each section contains 55 questions, including five unidentified experimental items that do not count toward the student’s score.

The verbal section measures a student’s understanding of the meaning of words and verbal reasoning ability. Verbal questions are multiple-choice analogies, which require a student to choose the best pair of words to complete an analogy. Often, there may appear to be more than one answer that fits the analogy, but the correct answer is the one that best completes the analogy.

The quantitative section measures a student’s mathematical reasoning ability and thus often does not require computation. The quantitative questions are multiple-choice mathematical comparisons, which require a student to compare two mathematical quantities and determine which is greater, whether the two values are equal, or for the older students, if enough information is given to determine an answer at all.

SCAT Scaled Scores range from 401 to 514 depending on the level the student takes.

Here are the ranges:

Elementary Level
Verbal Range = 401-471
Quantitative Range = 412-475

Intermediate Level
Verbal Range = 405-482
Quantitative Range = 419-506

Advanced Level
Verbal Range = 410-494
Quantitative Range = 424-514

This scaled score is based on the number of questions the student answers correctly out of the 50 scored questions in each section.

SCAT percentiles are used to compare students to the older population to whom the student will be compared. For example, Grade 2 students are compared to a general population of 4th graders and so on, as detailed below.

Grade 2 is compared to Grade 4
Grade 3 to Grade 5
Grade 4 to Grade 6
Grade 5 to Grade 8
Grade 6 to Grade 9
Grade 7 to Grade 12
Grade 8 to Grade 12.

The two sections, each 22 minutes long, are separated by a 10-minute break. The break is optional and student-directed. In other words, the test center administrator will not start and end the break. It is the student’s responsibility to return to the test on time. If students take any other breaks during the test, timing will continue. Your appointment time will be 90 minutes but the test itself usually takes less than one hour.