Thank you all for your replies.
I suppose I will just let him go ahead with the NNAT. I asked the school if they could do a test that has a verbal component instead, as that is where my son's strengths seem to be. The school said they are looking into it, but I'm not holding my breath.
Has anyone heard of other gifted kids being "silly" or the class clown? I've asked my son why he does the things he does, and he says it's because school isn't fun (it's "boring")...and he wants to try to make it fun for the whole class. I don't think that the work is necessarily too "easy" for him (maybe, but I don't know)...it's just that he's simply not interested in what's being taught. The teacher seems to want me to change my son's behavior. I'm at a loss.
Yes, yes, yes. We've been notified at various times that our boys were clowning around in class. It usually is an indicator that they are not otherwise productively engaged in activities. It can also be, from what I've observed, normal kid behavior. We have talked with our kids when this happens about not disrupting learning for the other students or making things harder for the teacher. Does it work? It depends.
Beyond that, I've never figured out exactly what it is that a teacher expects we can do remotely to control behavior. (Beyond advocating for the right challenge, which helps, but is not foolproof.)
