First thing I'd do is reframe the question from "what age is the best to test 2e kids" to "what are my child's educational needs and what do I need to do to get those needs met".
There's always going to be a chance with any test on any one day that your child might not perform there best or might not make a connection with a tester or that tester might not be the absolutely most knowledgable tester for the situation with that specific child. With 2e students, there are usually going to be subtests that aren't going to test in "gifted" range due to the impact of the 2nd e. In spite of all that, testing for our 2e kids is usually really helpful in understanding their challenges. The key with testing if for you, as a parent, to understand the impact of the 2nd e on test results, so that you can advocate for your student with school staff that might not understand the impact on scores. I wouldn't shy away from testing if it's part of a school-wide test that ids students for the school's gifted program, but I would be sure that if your ds needs accommodations such as a quiet place for testing, extended time, or other, that he's given those accommodations. If he doesn't have an IEP or 504 in place with accommodations, and you think he needs them, then I'd start with private testing or requesting an eval from the school now.
Re the "best time" with my own 2e kids - the "best time" (jmo) didn't have to do with when their ability scores would be the highest, but instead with re to when they needed testing to either understand what was going on, advocate for accommodations and remediation at school, or support their need for access to higher level programs. Both of my 2e kids have had ability and achievement testing at several different times, and the results on ability testing are actually quite consistent over time. It's the achievement tests that have varied, and those haven't varied except the times when they didn't have appropriate accommodations.
The other thing I've found with my kids is that the challenge with self-esteem is huge, and that struggle isn't related to gifted programming in school, it's (for them) been entirely wrapped around dealing with the frustrations and amount of work the 2nd e creates for them. Having them placed in an appropriately intellectually challenging academic environment has been really important to them - when they've been held back from that due to their 2nd e, it's caused a tremendous amount of frustration. My ds is in high school now, and over the years what he's expressed to us over and over again is that he wants academic challenges, not challenges related to his 2nd e. We can't take away those 2nd e challenges completely, but we've put as much effort as humanly possible over the years in working to help him find ways to deal with those challenges while also placing him in academic programs that meet his intellectual needs. It hasn't been perfect, and it's truly challenging for him (with his particular need) to keep up with the amount of homework, but it's what he needs in terms of his own psyche. It's not easy to see what a student wants when they are only 7, but I think most of the 2e parents here on the board with older children have had similar experiences with their kids as they grow - they need an appropriate level of intellectual challenge, while also needing support and accommodations for the 2nd e. Testing is just one thing that happens along the way to getting there
Re your dd not getting into the middle school gifted program, it sounds like (and I'm just guessing here based on what you've said), that she didn't get in due to challenges with her 2nd e in the classroom rather than on testing. If that's not the case, ignore the rest of this paragraph! Upper elementary and early middle school were really challenging for my 2e kids because their awareness of their own challenges mixed with running into brick walls full of school staff that didn't understand those challenges. It's also a time when *all* students are faced with growing demands on organizational and time management skills, while balancing increased academic demands and often a large increase in homework assigned. All at the same time hormones come into the picture, peer pressure and social issues can spring up etc. It was a time that took a lot of intensive parenting support on my part for *all* of my kids, not just the 2e kids. The thing I'd focus on now for your dd, is to figure out how to help her learn to deal with the challenges that kept her out of the middle school gifted program. If you focus on that, she's going to have great opportunities in high school - and be able to take advantage of them.
Hang in there! And let us know how everything goes.
Best wishes,
polarbear
