Second Grade

Jr. Explorers at Adams Elementary School

At Adams Elementary we have one AIG teacher, Ms. Sheehan. She works with teachers and families to support our higher ability students in grades K-5. In second grade Ms. Sheehan works with students through the Jr. Explorers program.

Jr. Explorers consists of small pull-out groups taught directly by Ms. Sheehan each week. These groups focus on different learning opportunities that promote critical thinking, creative expression, and problem solving.

All learning opportunities align to second grade standards.

Jr. Explorers typically starts during the second quarter of the school year. Jr. Explorers is flexible and open to all students showing the need in second grade. The AIG teacher and the classroom teachers work together to select students from each class who have current data showing the need for an additional boost. Classroom teachers are still working hard to provide all students with enrichment and extension opportunities in their classrooms. Jr. Explorers is simply an additional layer of support for our highly capable students.

AIG Tests/Screening Students for Gifted Education In 2nd Grade

All students enrolled in a WCPSS school during second grade will be initially screened for AIG using the CogAT tests starting in January 2026. A few weeks before this testing starts the classroom teachers and the AIG teacher will work with the students to ensure they are familiar with how the tests are set up. We do not do test prep or provide materials to families to study for these tests.

County leadership schedules and plans all of this testing.

Below are the testing windows that were released to school the week of November 10th. Our testing coordinator, Deanna Hansbrough, will schedule all CogAT and Iowa testing for students at Adams Elementary.

Cognitive Abilities Tests

(CogAT Tests)

All second grade students will take the CogAT tests unless a parent/guardian requests otherwise. No parent/guardian nomination is required.

The best way to prepare your students for these tests is to make sure they are getting plenty of sleep, are eating healthy foods, and are attending school when not sick.

During the 2025-2026 school year the test will be administered online for all students without paper/pencil accommodations.

The CogAT measures general thinking and problem-solving skills. It shows how well students use these skills to solve verbal, math-related, and visual puzzles. These skills develop at different rates for everyone and are important for school success. The test results help teachers plan lessons that support each student’s learning.

The CogAT is just one of many tools used to plan teaching strategies.

CogAT Overview

The test has three sections, called batteries:

Verbal Battery
This part measures how well students think and solve problems using words. It also checks how flexible and creative they are with verbal tasks. These skills help with reading, writing, and critical thinking.
Quantitative Battery
This section looks at how students work with numbers and math concepts. It measures problem-solving skills and creativity in using math strategies. These skills are important for solving problems in math and other subjects.
Nonverbal Battery
This part uses shapes and figures to test problem-solving skills. Students don’t need to read or use outside knowledge. It checks how flexible and creative they are in solving new kinds of problems.

Iowa Assessments

(Math & Reading)

All second grade students can take the Iowa Assessments. They must be nominated by a teacher or parent/guardian in order to test.

The best way to prepare your students for these tests is to make sure they are getting plenty of sleep, are eating healthy foods, and are attending school when not sick.

The Iowa Assessments (Iowa) consists of a number of educational achievement subtests designed to measure growth in fundamental areas of school achievement including reading comprehension and mathematics.

Reading: The Iowa Assessments Reading test contains passages that vary in length from a few lines to a full page. Both literary passages and informational passages are included. Many of the passages are excerpts from previously published works. A significant number of questions may require students to draw inferences or to generalize about what they have read.

Mathematics: In the Iowa Assessments Mathematics test students must demonstrate an understanding of Mathematics concepts, relationships, visual representations, and problem solving. The questions deal with number sense and operations, algebraic patterns and connections, data analysis, probability, statistics, geometry, and measurement.

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