January 6, 2015, by The Critical Thinking Co.™ Staff

The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test®, or OLSAT® is commonly utilized as part of the entrance process for students identified as potentially gifted and talented. The OLSAT® (Otis-Lennon School Ability Test®) is published by NCS Pearson, Inc. (previously Harcourt Assessment, Inc./The Psychological Corporation, the original publisher of the test).

The test, administered to students in kindergarten though high school, measures abstract thinking and reasoning abilities. It is a group-administered, multiple-choice exam.

Reasoning is synonymous with learning and problem-solving. The OLSAT® assessment's measurement of the five reasoning areas helps provide a balanced view of the child’s potential for academic success.

Here’s a look at each section of the test and some sample item types:

• Verbal Comprehension measures skills such as following directions (up to grade 3), antonyms, sentence completion, and sentence arrangement (grade 3 and above).

• Verbal Reasoning measures arithmetic reasoning (K-2), verbal analogies, verbal classifications grade 3 and up), and inference (grade 4 and up).

• Pictorial Reasoning (grades K-2) measures pictorial classifications, pictorial analogies, and picture sequences.

• Figural Reasoning measures figural classifications (up to grade 3), figural analogies, and figural sequences.

• Quantitative Reasoning (grade 3 and up) measures number series, numeric inferences, and number matrices.

For grades K-1, we recommend working with the materials in the bundles over at least one month, but we also recognize parents often receive a testing date with less than 30-days’ notice.

One way to measure the mastery is to use the first few items in each activity as a pre-test. If you see that your child answers quickly and correctly, you may want to consider moving on. If they struggle, go through the activities as best you can, but bookmark them and consider going back over them.

Using the pre-test technique will give you a good idea of where the child’s strengths and weaknesses are across the skills and abilities the material covers.

The bundles offer a lot of material, but if you make working with the books part of the daily routine, you’ll be surprised how fast things will move. Remember, the youngest students have shorter attention spans, so 15 minutes a session is fine.

It is also important to point out that all the titles have value well beyond the testing window. Each title will help enhance your child’s ability to reason and analyze, skills that are essential for success in many arenas.