The achievement test is called the Performance Series. They take it fall, winter and spring of every year. So they say that they will consider the highest scores from the fall and the last school year, but DD had a really hard time last year with her medication.
I think I'd write down a list of the tests she's taken at school, dates, and whether or not meds were on trial or an issue etc on the date of the test and send a copy of that to the school prior to your conference call. I'd also call your ped (or whichever dr oversees your dd's meds) and ask them to write a note stating the time period in which dd was trialing different meds and doses.
Does your dd have a 504 plan with accommodations for her ADHD?
the district thinks a computerized standardized test done on a 6 year old with ADHD is going to be a reliable test to assess giftedness?
No, they really don't think that. They most likely understand all the concerns you've voiced here but they may be putting up walls anyway. The thing that you can do by documenting (even documenting via the list of what happened in the past) is to put it on record - there is a question about the reliability of the testing. They will be more likely to accept alternate testing or to give a bit on one cut-off criteria etc if you make sure they have your concerns re ADHD impacting the test scores in writing.
So I really think her score would be in the 98th percentile if she hadn't screwed up that portion of the test by not paying attention to directions.
I would consider telling them this too - that she may not be following directions and since she has ADHD you could consider asking for an accommodation such as test questions read to your dd.
It is possible they can just miss one or two questions and drop dramatically--but I haven't seen the test so don't know.
I haven't ever heard of the test you mentioned - I'm wondering if it is a state test? Our state's standardized testing is like that. Has your dd had any outside testing such as the WJ-III? If the achievement scores are a huge obstacle and you want your dd in this program, one thing you could consider is having her take an individually administered WJ-III Achievement test privately - if she takes it one-on-one and has the questions read to her she's probably much more likely to make accidental errors. An outside private professional could also give you observational info re was she paying attention or distracted during testing. I don't know that the school would accept the testing, but it would give you additional data points to support your concerns that the current set of tests do not accurately reflect your dd's ability.
The thing is--now that I have seen how ridiculous even the g/t coordinator is, who is supposedly also a teacher there, I don't know if I want DD there even if they accepted her. The lack of communication, the misleading info on the website, and all these qualifying criteria that no one knows about or can understand?
It's totally understandable that if you find this is indicative of the program it's not going to be a good fit and I wouldn't want to send my child there - but otoh, I would go ahead and try my best to get her accepted so that you have an opportunity to sit in on a class if you'd like to, or so that you might have an opportunity to meet some other parents in the program to get a feel of whether or not these frustrations are purely related to getting admitted or they are representative of a classroom that isn't what you'd hope a gifted program would be.
I asked her to call me and she ignored my request and emailed me instead. When I wrote back saying that I read it 10 times and still don't understand, she still didn't call me.
I wouldn't necessarily take this as a sign that she's ignoring you or trying to put you off - it might be as simple as, she's a busy person who prefers email.
One last thing I thought about that has happened to us in advocating for our 2e ds - it's possible there's an invisible wall you're up against that is related to the second e. We've found in advocating for our ds that the gifted staff in our school district *sometimes* have a belief that 2e kids aren't going to be successful in a self-contained classroom with highly rigorous academic expectations. This is actually the polar opposite (ack! polar! lol.... I digress) of what we've found in our ds' schooling - he is better able to cope with his second e when he's appropriately challenged and is working with intellectual-ability-level peers in a classroom where the teacher has high expectations. But the school district just doesn't know that - they think the opposite will happen - the workload will be too much, he can't keep up etc. So another I would do, in your shoes, before the phone conference, is to think through all the ways the school staff might imagine that your dd's ADHD would be a potential impediment to high achieving in a gifted classroom, and think through all the reasons you know it *won't* be an issue. Think of specific examples from her past school experiences if you can.
polarbear
