I have never had to appeal a placement decision. However, over the years I have been fortunate enough to get unsolicited information from teachers and administrators through informal chats, which may or may not apply to your gifted programs. It is difficult to give you good advice without information on your specific programs, including the driving force behind their selection/exclusion process.
In general, it seems the squeakiest wheel gets grease so that the parents who make the biggest fuss over non-placement are more likely to get their kids into the programs, often even over more objectively qualified kids. However, that is true partly because the qualification criteria are often set too low, the number of slots are far too few, so that the bottom half of the accepted kids are fairly interchangeable with the top rejected kids. It may well be that there is only a small group of kids who are sufficiently beyond the minimum criteria with the rest/majority of kids who are borderline either way. In that scenario, there is no reason why your DD couldn't be one of the ones who gets to move over that arguably arbitrary line.
In your DD's case, it would be helpful to point out that the relevant STAR score is not an accurate reflection of your DD's general performance based her other higher STAR scores. Perhaps she was sick or sleep-deprived that day . . .
Another point that was brought home to me was that not all teachers are equal. Some opinions are more respected than others so bring in other past teachers even if they can't be the official designated recommendation. In a completely different context, I have used the opinions of more experienced/respected teachers to sway the actions of other teachers/administrators.
By the way, I would not argue the straight A's and 100% scores on ELA unless straight A's and 100% are actually difficult to get in those particular classes. In my kids' elementary school, straight A's were fairly common and many many assignments were designed for most kids to succeed so that 100% on worksheets/tests were not unusual/unexpected. However, if you have outside testing scores of any kind (I.Q., Achievement, Talent Search, etc.), then it wouldn't hurt to bring those in.
Good luck and go into the meeting confident that your DD belongs in the program.
