SAGES-2 Test

What is the SAGES?

The SAGES Test (Screening Assessment for Gifted Elementary and Middle School Students) is an aptitude and achievement test, geared towards identifying gifted students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The test was co-written by Susan K. Johnsen, PhD, and Anne L. Corn, PhD, who both serve as major contributors in the field of educational testing. The SAGES-2 offers two different versions of the exam that the student can complete based upon his/her official grade level. One form of the exam is administered to children in kindergarten through third grade. All students that fall within this age category are traditionally read the exam by their designated facilitator. Due to this verbal component, the exam is given in a group setting. The second form of the exam is offered to students in fourth through eighth grade. During this version of the test, students complete the exam independently.

SAGES-2 Test Overview

The design of the SAGES-2 is the same for both versions of the exam. Both versions are composed of three subtests that are intended to measure academic and intellectual abilities. The first two subtests consist of “Mathematics/Science” as well as “Language Arts/Social Studies”. These two sections are intended to measure achievement, or the knowledge a child has absorbed throughout their formal education. These subsections are presented to students in a multiple-choice format.

The third subtest, “Reasoning” targets the student’s aptitude or problem solving abilities. The ability to analogize, and decipher relationships and meaning is critical to this specific subtest. This section is unique as children are presented with figures and pictures that require them to identify relationships between the various items presented.

Ultimately, the SAGES-2 subtests measure the relationship between aptitude and achievement. If the parent or educator is interested in nominating a child for a gifted class or program, this test can be an important first step in assessing ability.  Additionally, the subtests can help parents and students in examining the academic strengths and weaknesses of the child in specific intellectual areas. It may help to gauge which skills can be improved upon both in and outside of the academic setting. for practice questions for the SAGES-2 Test, we recommend viewing our 100 free practice questions.

SAGES-2 Subtests

Subtest 1: Mathematics/Science

• Measures Achievement
• Content is more logical and quantitative in nature
• All questions are presented in a multiple choice format
• Material is based upon modern texts, scholarly articles, and books
• Questions draw on recall, comprehension, and application of mathematical and scientific questions

This part of the SAGES-2 test focuses on assessing students’ achievement in Mathematics and Science, specifically their understanding and application of key concepts and skills in these two disciplines.

• Logical and Quantitative Nature: The test content is largely logic-based and quantitative. This means it involves numerical computations, the application of mathematical principles, logical reasoning, and the interpretation of data. For instance, students may encounter problems that require them to use mathematical reasoning to solve real-world scenarios, or to apply logical deduction to complete a scientific pattern or sequence.
• Multiple Choice Format: All questions in this subtest are presented in a multiple-choice format, which helps standardize responses and allows for objective scoring. Each question will present several possible answers, and the student must select the most correct one. This format also facilitates the testing of a wide range of mathematical and scientific concepts within a limited timeframe.
• Modern Sources: The material for this test is drawn from modern texts, scholarly articles, and books. This ensures the relevance of the content and reflects current standards and trends in Mathematics and Science education. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the subject matter, covering both foundational and more advanced concepts.
• Recall, Comprehension, and Application: The questions are designed not just to test recall of facts and figures, but also to assess comprehension and application. Recall questions might ask students to remember specific mathematical formulas or scientific facts. Comprehension questions could involve explaining mathematical or scientific concepts in the student’s own words, or interpreting data from a graph or table. Application questions require students to use mathematical and scientific knowledge to solve problems or conduct investigations. For instance, they might need to apply a mathematical formula to calculate a result, or use scientific principles to predict the outcome of an experiment.

Subtest 2: Language Arts/Social Studies

• Measures Achievement
• Content is linguistic and qualitative in nature
• All questions presented in a multiple choice format
• Like subtest 1, material draws from classical and modern literature, various texts, and books
• Emphasis is placed on recall, comprehension, and application of language arts and social studies concepts

This part of the SAGES-2 test focuses on assessing students’ achievement in Language Arts and Social Studies, examining their understanding and application of key concepts and skills in these areas.

• Language Arts and Social Studies Content: The test content is largely language-based and revolves around social concepts. This includes reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, writing, and social studies. For instance, students may be required to understand a text, identify the main idea, recognize context clues, and apply grammar rules. Social studies questions could involve understanding social situations, recognizing historical events, interpreting maps, and more.
• Multiple Choice Format: Just like the Math and Science subtest, all questions in this subtest are presented in a multiple-choice format. This structure allows for objective scoring and standardizes responses. Each question offers several possible answers, and the student must select the most correct one. This format also enables the testing of a broad range of language arts and social studies concepts within a limited timeframe.
• Modern Sources: The material for this subtest is derived from modern texts, scholarly articles, and books, ensuring relevance and reflecting current standards and trends in Language Arts and Social Studies education. This provides a well-rounded overview of the subject matter, ranging from foundational to more complex concepts.
• Recall, Comprehension, and Application: The questions are designed to assess not only the recall of facts but also comprehension and application. Recall questions may ask students to remember specific language rules or historical facts. Comprehension questions could involve understanding a piece of text, inferring the author’s intention, or interpreting information from a social studies context. Application questions require students to use their language arts and social studies knowledge to analyze texts, write effectively, or draw conclusions from social and historical scenarios.

Subtest 3: Reasoning

• Unlike Subtests 1 and 2, which measure what your child has learned, this subtest measures aptitude, or what your child is capable of
• This section requires an application of problem solving skills
• Previously learned skill sets or other core content is not required for section preparation
•  Questions presented in an analogy format
•  Students are to identify figures, synthesize relationships between items, and find other figures that relate to the target stimulus
•  Tests the child’s ability to adapt to new scenarios or tasks that were not formally taught in school

This portion of the SAGES-2 test focuses on evaluating students’ reasoning abilities and cognitive aptitude, which are key indicators of their potential for academic achievement and success in problem-solving tasks.

• Reasoning and Cognitive Tasks: The test content is centered around reasoning and cognitive tasks that require critical thinking, logical analysis, problem-solving skills, and abstract thinking. Questions might involve puzzles, patterns, analogies, logical sequences, and deductive and inductive reasoning tasks.
• Multiple Choice Format: As with the other subtests, all questions in this subtest are presented in a multiple-choice format, which allows for standardized responses and objective scoring. Each question provides several possible answers, and the student is expected to select the one that is most correct. This format allows for a wide range of reasoning abilities to be assessed within a restricted timeframe.
• Modern Sources: The material for this subtest is drawn from contemporary resources, ensuring that the tasks are relevant and reflect the current focus of cognitive and reasoning skill development. These resources provide a comprehensive range of problems and tasks, covering various aspects of reasoning and cognitive ability.
• Recall, Comprehension, and Application: The questions are not merely designed to test recall of facts, but they also assess comprehension and application. Recall might be involved in remembering sequences or patterns. Comprehension questions may involve understanding a complex problem or grasping the rules of a pattern. Application questions require students to apply their reasoning skills to solve problems, complete sequences, decipher patterns, or work through complex scenarios.

Does my child really take the same exam as older children?

Yes, this test is given in two forms. The first form is given to children for grades K-3, and the second form is given to children for grades 4-8.

Does my child need to be able to read at a 3rd grade level to complete the test?

The questions are read to students who take the form for grades K-3. Children in grades 4-8 are expected to read the questions and work independently.

Is this a multiple choice test?

Yes this is a multiple choice test in which the students will have to pick an answer from 5 possible choices.

How is the SAGES-2 Scored?

A student’s overall performance on the SAGES-2 (Screening Assessment for Gifted Elementary and Middle School Students) is determined through a process of norming. A normed exam, such as this one, involves comparing the student’s performance against other children who fall within that same age and grade bracket. Because performance standards vary from state to state, testing items are normed across many different locations (not just age groups). Ultimately, the objective of the SAGES-2 is to determine how a child performs on the subtests as compared to their peers.

The test is scored using a combination of raw scores, scaled scores, and percentiles. Here’s a detailed overview:

• Raw Score: The raw score is the total number of questions a student answers correctly on a test. There’s no penalty for incorrect answers, so it’s always in the student’s best interest to answer every question.
• Scaled Score: Raw scores are then converted into scaled scores to provide a consistent measure that can be compared across different versions of the test. The scaled score takes into account the difficulty of the test version and allows for the comparison of scores from different test forms. For the SAGES-2 test, the scaled scores range from 1 to 99.
• Percentile Rank: The percentile rank compares a student’s performance to that of other students in the same grade level. For example, if a student scores in the 85th percentile, it means that they scored higher than 85% of students in the same grade level who took the test.

The Standard Score Ranges for the SAGES-2

Score of 130+: This is an extremely high score that places the student into the gifted range. Achieving this score means that they quality for gifted schools or programs.

Score of 121-130: Students who score in this range achieved strong performance. In this case they definitely fall within the gifted range.

Score of 111-120: If a student scores within this range then there is a possibility that they will be considered gifted. This range is on the lower end of the testing spectrum, and may demonstrate there to be certain weaknesses on one or more of the subtests.

Score of 90-110: Students who test in this range have demonstrated weaker performance on the exam. In the context of this test, it is unlikely that they will be considered eligible for gifted and talented programs.

Tell us about your experiences

10 Responses

Jaquiline

like

Francis

i am from the caribbean i believe my kids are gifted, how can this exam help their future

camillebergman@aol.com

My kids are in private school. How can I give them the SAGES test?

etandon@gmail.com

where are the 100 free practice questions

wesley.gaus@gmail.com

what about the SAGES 3 exam? isnt the sages 2 the old exam?

eloiselovesdevi@gmail.com

Where are 100 free practice questions?

tjacobs01@yahoo.com

where are the 100 free practice questions located?

TestingMom.com

Hi,

Please email us at help@testingmom.com so we can help walk you through the 100 free questions and answer any questions over the SAGES-2 Test.

Trinity Yuan

Sages test was really hard. I was in 4th grade testing for SDL and the 7th graders tested the same thing as us! It was so hard.

TestingMom.com

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience regarding the SAGES test. The test seemed difficult for you, especially considering you had the same materials as the 7th graders. That can indeed be challenging.

Please remember that tests like SAGES are designed to measure a variety of skills and abilities, and it’s normal to find some of the material challenging, especially when it covers concepts that might be several years ahead of your current grade level.

It’s important to know that it’s okay if you didn’t know all the answers. The test is designed to stretch your thinking and gauge your potential for advanced work, not just to test what you already know.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Difficulty: These tests are supposed to be hard! They’re designed to test your problem-solving abilities and see how you handle complex questions.

Purpose: Remember that the purpose of this test is not to make you feel overwhelmed, but to identify your strengths and areas for growth. This can help your teachers provide the best education possible for you.

Learning Opportunity: Consider this as a learning opportunity. You’re exposed to materials and concepts that are advanced for your grade, which could ignite curiosity and passion for learning more.

Pressure: Don’t feel pressured to get every question right. It’s okay not to know everything. What’s more important is your willingness to try and learn.

See if TestingMom.com supports your child’s test by your school district. If you don't see your child's school district listed, check with us! We have practice for other tests as well.