So - I think this is what you're after (ignore me if I'm wrong!) - you are concerned about appropriate intellectual and academic challenge (acceleration/differentiation), and you've had a concern about written output vs verbal output but that's not what's being targeted in the testing.
My random thoughts are:
The WJ-III type of achievement tests are the type of test that is really useful when you're trying to understand a student's strengths and weaknesses, especially when paired with ability testing. They are not (jmo) all that useful in terms of showing that a child should be grade or subject accelerated or offered subject differentiation - for that you'd want an out-of-level test that's more closely tied in with the curriculum that is taught. "Grade Level Equivalent" on the WJ-III also doesn't mean that a student has mastered everything that would be learned in an X-grade classroom, but instead works like this (someone who is more familiar with testing please correct me if I'm wrong :)) - for example, 3rd grade GLE on the WJ-III means that if a 3rd grader took the same subtest, they would score the same thing that your child scored. It *doesn't* mean that your child is ready to be in 3rd or 4th grade if they have a 3rd grade GLE. Chances are your child *is* capable of working ahead of where they are placed if they are scoring 3rd grade GLE when they are only in 1st grade, for example... but I think a test that showed mastery of the specifics covered in the curriculum taught is more useful in demonstrating to teachers that your child is ready for more. I'm also not so sure that age level equivalents mean a whole lot unless they are way way above your child's true age level since it's an achievement test which depends to a certain extent on exposure to concepts... but that's just me.
Do you think there's a chance that what they are seeing on the DRA might be real? Do you know they've tested her to where she hits a ceiling on it? Our school used to only test to grade level and no further on it. If they have tested up to her ability level, but it doesn't mesh with what they see at home, and the school is also saying she's not needing what you think she's needing in math... and you've had some worries about written output vs oral output... have you thought about private testing?
Also, fwiw, my ds has fine motor dysgraphia (diagnosed by a neuropsych and later by an SLP)... but when he had a fine motor OT evaluation - if we hadn't already known he had dysgraphia, it would not have shown up on the OT evaluation. The OT testing shows a slight weakness in fine motor skills, but that's it. The key thing about dysgraphia is it's neurological in origin - it's about how the brain communicates information, not necessarily something that would show up on an OT report as clearly dysgraphia. At least, it seems like it's something an OT might not recognize without other evidence. The place that makes it obvious that my ds is dysgraphic (other than his handwriting output lol) is in discrepancies on the timed parts of ability and achievement tests that rely on written output, and on the additional types of testing neuropsychs use to determine if those observed discrepancies are due to visual or fine motor or other types of challenges. None of which is to say that your dd is dysgraphic! I do think that it's probably typical at her age for verbal output to be far ahead of written output... but otoh... as the parent of 2e kids... if you have a suspicion something's up, I'd check it out.
Sorry for the ramble - best wishes as you advocate.
polarbear
