What Is the NGAT?
Naglieri General Ability Test
About the Test
A Test of Reasoning, Not Curriculum
Starting with the 2025-2026 school year, FCPS changed the ability-testing system used for AAP (Advanced Academic Programs) screening. Previously, all 2nd graders took the CogAT and all 1st graders took the NNAT. Both have now been replaced by a single test, the NGAT, used for screening in grades 2–7.
The NGAT was developed by Jack Naglieri, the same psychologist behind the NNAT, and measures reasoning ability and problem-solving potential rather than learned content. It's organized into three sections — Verbal, Nonverbal, and Quantitative.
Key Facts
NGAT at a Glance
3
Sections
Verbal, Nonverbal, and Quantitative reasoning — no outside curriculum content is tested.
Gr. 2–7
Eligible Grades
All 2nd graders are screened automatically; grades 2–7 may be screened through a parent or teacher referral.
Top 3–5%
Full-Time AAP Range
Roughly the top 3–5% of scores is typical for Full-Time (Level IV) AAP, alongside portfolio evidence.
Timeline
The Full Screening & Placement Timeline
| Stage | Timing | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Universal 2nd-Grade Screening | Fall, every year | All 2nd graders take the NGAT automatically — no referral needed. |
| Referral Window (Grades 2–7) | Mid-Aug – Mid-Dec | Parents or teachers submit a referral to the school's AART for students outside the automatic 2nd-grade screening. |
| Testing Administered | Jan – Feb | The NGAT is administered at school for all screened students. |
| Results & Portfolio Review | Feb – Mar | Parents receive results; eligible students proceed to a Portfolio Review of grades and teacher evaluations. |
| Final Placement Notification | Apr | FCPS mails placement letters; Full-Time AAP begins the following school year at a designated center school. |
Exact dates can shift slightly year to year — check with your school's AART (Advanced Academic Resource Teacher) or the official FCPS AAP page.
Three Sections
Verbal · Nonverbal · Quantitative
Verbal
Presents six pictures; the student identifies the concept shared by five of them. Uses images instead of written or spoken language, so it's designed to be fair across language backgrounds.
Nonverbal
Measures logical reasoning through shapes, colors, sequence, and orientation — typically presented as matrix-style visual patterns.
Quantitative
Evaluates relationships between numbers and symbols — how a student thinks mathematically, not computational speed.
Scoring
Reading the NAI and Percentile
- Results are reported as a Naglieri Ability Index (NAI) and a Percentile Rank, not a raw score.
- The NAI compares a student to same-age peers, with an average of 100 — most students score between 85 and 115.
- A 99th percentile means a student scored higher than 99 out of 100 same-age peers.
- Full-Time AAP (Level IV) placement typically requires scores in roughly the top 3–5%, but scores are never the sole factor — teacher evaluations and academic performance are also weighed through Portfolio Review.
- FCPS still accepts privately administered CogAT, NNAT-3, or WISC-V scores as alternative evidence.
Try It Yourself
Sample Questions by Format
These are original, illustrative example questions written by Daniel Math Academy to help families understand each section's format. They are not real, leaked, or official NGAT test questions — the NGAT is a secure, copyrighted assessment, and no legitimate publicly available past-exam questions exist for it.
Verbal
Look at these five words: apple, banana, grape, chair, orange. Four of them share something in common — which one does NOT belong?
- A. Apple
- B. Banana
- C. Chair
- D. Orange
C — Chair. The other four are all fruits; a chair is a piece of furniture and shares no conceptual category with them. (On the real NGAT, this concept is shown using pictures rather than written words.)
Nonverbal
Picture a 2×2 grid of shapes. Top-left: a small light-gray square. Top-right: a medium gray square. Bottom-left: a medium gray square, rotated 90°. Bottom-right: a blank box — what belongs there, following the same pattern of size and rotation?
- A. A large dark-gray square, rotated 90°
- B. A small light-gray square, not rotated
- C. A medium gray circle
- D. A medium gray square, not rotated
A — Moving left to right and top to bottom, the shape grows one size larger, darkens one shade, and rotates 90° each step. The bottom-right shape should continue both trends: larger, darker, and rotated.
Quantitative
If ● + ● + ▲ = 12, and ▲ = 4, what does ● + ▲ equal?
- A. 6
- B. 8
- C. 10
- D. 12
B — 8. Since ▲ = 4, then ● + ● = 8, so ● = 4. Then ● + ▲ = 4 + 4 = 8.
How to Prepare
Reasoning Skills Aren't Built Overnight
Since the NGAT measures reasoning rather than curriculum knowledge, memorization and formula drills are ineffective. The most practical preparation is familiarizing your child with all three question formats — Verbal, Nonverbal, and Quantitative. For the Quantitative section specifically, building conceptual math thinking through programs like Singapore Math or Beast Academy provides genuine, lasting preparation.
Prepare for the NGAT with Daniel Math Academy
We help students build reasoning skills across the Verbal, Nonverbal, and Quantitative sections, tailored to their level.