The NNAT-2 Test Levels the Field

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - July 31st, 2012

The NNAT-2 Test, or Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test, 2^nd edition, is an intelligence exam that measures the nonverbal thinking and rationalization skills of children. It is one of several tests used extensively by schools when selecting students for gifted and talented learning programs.

Of all the intelligence assessment exams used by schools to determine a child’s potential and current intellectual capacity, many argue the NNAT-2 Test is the most appropriate, even more so than the widely used OLSAT. The OLSAT, or Otis-Lennon School Abilities Test, which has been believed by some to be the most credible of the gifted and talented assessments, has come under some scrutiny in recent years. This is primarily because the OLSAT exam appears to favor specific groups of children, with kids from particular ethnic and racial groups and socio-economic classes consistently performing better on the test than others.

The NNAT-2 test on the other hand, seems to give children from disparate backgrounds, traditions and even primary language groups a level playing field on which to prove their intellectual skills and abilities. This is because the NNAT-2 Test measures nonverbal and reasoning skills and does so in a manner that doesn’t draw on learning experiences to which some test takers may not have been previously exposed. In other words, the NNAT-2 Test does not favor any single group and instead measures intelligence equally well among all children.