You can request a special education evaluation without a diagnosis, failing grades, or a teacher’s referral. Under federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, you can ask your school district to evaluate your child at any time, and the evaluation is free.
In California a dated, written request officially triggers the 15-day deadline for the district to respond.
“If you feel like something isn’t clicking, trust your gut. Studies show that waiting until third grade to begin specialized reading intervention makes catching up significantly harder.”
Dr. Leah Skinner, Ed.D.
A federal obligation called Child Find (34 C.F.R. § 300.111) requires schools to identify and evaluate any child who might need help. Even if your child keeps advancing to the next grade, passing grades don’t excuse the district from its duty to respond to your concerns.
The federal rule on first-time evaluations says the request can come from a parent or from the school district. The U.S. Department of Education has confirmed that a parent can ask at any time.
When a school agrees that an evaluation is needed, it has to evaluate the child at no cost to the parents. You are also entitled to a copy of the evaluation report at no cost.
Center for Parent Information and Resources 34 C.F.R. 300.306 Cal. Ed. Code 56329
Under 34 C.F.R. § 300.304, the district must assess your child in all areas related to the suspected disability, and it can’t use a single test or score to decide whether your child qualifies.
If reading is the concern, name it in your letter. Special education law has a category called specific learning disability, which covers trouble with reading, writing, spelling, or math. California’s definition includes dyslexia and names phonological processing, the ability to work with the sounds in words.
The district has to get your informed consent before it evaluates your child. Informed consent means you agree in writing after the plan has been explained to you.
Don’t wait to ask for an evaluation. If you notice your child struggling, request it right away. Earlier help produced bigger gains.
California public schools screen students in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade once a year for risk of reading difficulties, including dyslexia, unless a parent opts out in writing. These screenings can identify possible reading difficulties, but they don’t diagnose a disability or replace a special education evaluation. Districts can’t use the screening process to delay evaluating a child who may need special education. Cal. Ed. Code 53008 CDE screening FAQs
“Screening results shall be used as a flag for potential risk of reading difficulties, not as a diagnosis of a disability.”California Education Code section 53008, subdivision (l). Read the statute on the California Legislative Information site
Researchers at Yale and UC Davis followed 312 children from age 5 to age 42. How well a child read in first grade was linked to how well that person read as an adult.
Ferrer et al., 2023In one study, children in first, second, and third grade received the same reading program. When researchers compared them with children who didn’t get the program, the first and second graders had gained almost twice as much in basic word reading as the third graders.
Lovett et al., 2017About 16 percent of children who weren’t reading proficiently by the end of third grade didn’t finish high school on time, which is four times the rate for proficient readers. The study found a link and didn’t test whether one causes the other.
Annie E. Casey FoundationThe 2024 national assessment shows where California’s fourth graders stand. Fewer than one in three were reading at grade level. In the state’s public schools, 29 percent scored at or above proficient and 44 percent scored below the basic level. NAEP 2024, California grade 4
California requires every school district to have a policy on holding children back between second and third grade and between third and fourth grade. At those two points, the law says students are identified for retention mainly by how well they read. Cal. Ed. Code 48070.5
Our article on the impact of grade retention explains what the research found about the effects of holding children back.
Our page on early reading intervention explains why a young brain learns to read more easily.
Before requesting a formal evaluation, parents often hear reasons to wait. Some are well-intentioned, but none replace the district’s legal obligation to consider a written evaluation request.
Here’s what the law says about some of the most common responses.
The evaluation is how you get the data. A district has to evaluate when it has reason to suspect a disability, and passing from grade to grade doesn’t cancel that duty.
The federal rules say a parent can ask at any time, and they set no minimum grade. Research summarized by the International Dyslexia Association found early signs of dyslexia in children as young as three.
34 C.F.R. 300.301 OSEP Memo 11-07 Gaab, International Dyslexia Association
Take the reading group. The U.S. Department of Education says extra help can’t be used to delay or deny an evaluation. Many schools call this extra help Response to Intervention, or RTI. Others start with a Student Study Team meeting, also called a Student Success Team or SST, where staff and parents talk about classroom support. California doesn’t require one before a referral. Send the letter anyway.
“States and LEAs [school districts] have an obligation to ensure that evaluations of children suspected of having a disability are not delayed or denied because of implementation of an RTI [Response to Intervention] strategy.”OSEP Memo 11-07, January 21, 2011. Read the memo on the Department’s IDEA site
The district tests for a specific learning disability, and California’s definition of that term names dyslexia. Nothing in IDEA prohibits the word. Ask in your letter for testing in phonological processing.
5 C.C.R. 3030 Cal. Ed. Code 56337.5 OSERS letter, October 23, 2015
Whether she qualifies gets decided after the evaluation, by a team that includes you, with the results on the table.
A spoken request doesn’t start the 15-day clock. A written request does, and the letter below is that request.
Fill in the form and the letter builds itself as you type. Anything still missing shows up in blue brackets. When the letter looks right, you can print it, save it as a PDF, or copy the text into an email.
This form has no submit button. The letter is built in your browser.
Check every area where you have a concern. The district has to assess all areas related to the suspected disability, so name them here.
Phonological processing is the ability to work with the sounds in words. Checking this box asks the district to test it.
Orthographic processing is how the brain stores and recalls the look of letters and words.
For example: guesses at words, avoids reading aloud, cannot remember letter sounds from one day to the next.
Section 504 is a separate federal law with a broader definition of disability. This adds a 504 evaluation request alongside your IDEA request.
[Your full name]
[Street address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Phone]
[Email]
[Date]
Delivered by hand
Director of Special Education
[School district name]
[District office address]
RE: Request for special education assessment of [Child's full name], date of birth [Date of birth]
Dear Director of Special Education:
I am the parent of [child's name], who attends [school name] in [grade]. I am requesting a full and individual initial evaluation to determine whether my child is eligible for special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1414; 34 C.F.R. § 300.301). This letter is a written referral for assessment under California Education Code section 56029.
I am asking the district to assess my child in all areas related to the suspected disability, as 34 C.F.R. § 300.304(c)(4) and Education Code section 56320(f) require. Those areas include:
Please send me a proposed assessment plan within 15 calendar days of receipt of this letter, as required by Education Code sections 56321(a) and 56043(a). I will review the plan and return it promptly.
My child may participate in any interventions the school offers while the assessment proceeds. I do not agree to extend the assessment timelines.
If the district decides not to assess my child, please send me prior written notice of that decision under 34 C.F.R. § 300.503 and Education Code section 56500.4. The notice should include the reasons for the decision and the records the district relied on.
Please also send me a copy of the assessment report two business days before the IEP team meeting so that I can prepare.
You can reach me at the phone number or email address above. Thank you for your help.
Sincerely,
[Printed name]
Parent or guardian of
[child's name]
cc: Principal, [school name]
The deadlines run from the day the district receives your letter, so you need proof of that day. Any of these three works.
Address the letter to the district’s Director of Special Education and send a copy to the principal, so both offices have your request on the same day. Once the district has your letter, the deadlines begin.
Provided free by READ Academy of Sacramento. This letter builder is educational information. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. A district’s response depends on the facts of each child’s situation.
Federal law gives a district 60 days to finish an evaluation and lets each state set its own timeline. California’s timeline has three counts, and each one starts on a date you can prove. 34 C.F.R. 300.301 Cal. Ed. Code 56043
for the district to send you an assessment plan
at least, for you to review the plan and sign it
for the district to finish the evaluation and meet with you
Days between school terms don’t count toward the 15 days or the 60 days, and neither do vacations longer than five school days.
The end of the school year changes the math too. If you send your request in the last 10 days of the year, the assessment plan is due within the first 10 days of the next year. If you send it in the last 30 days, the IEP deadline moves to 30 days after the next year begins.
The district can extend a deadline only if you agree in writing. The 60 days can stop applying if your child is repeatedly not made available for testing or changes districts.
The IEP team meets to answer two questions. Does your child have a disability that IDEA recognizes? Does your child need special education because of it? If the answer to both is yes, the district writes an IEP. 34 C.F.R. 300.306 34 C.F.R. 300.8
You are a member of that team. Federal law names the required members: at least one of your child’s general education teachers, at least one special education teacher, a school psychologist or other specialist who can interpret the evaluation results, and a district representative knowledgeable about the availability of resources. You can also bring anyone you choose. 34 C.F.R. 300.321
California law says you are entitled to a copy of the evaluation report. Ask the district to send it at least two business days before the IEP team meeting so you have time to read it and prepare questions. The letter builder on this page includes that request.
Qualifying and getting reading instruction that works are two different things. Our article Does an IEP Actually Teach a Child to Read? covers what a reading IEP should include and what to do when a school says a child doesn’t qualify.
If the team decides your child doesn’t qualify under IDEA, you can dispute the evaluation. You can also ask the school about a Section 504 plan, which uses a broader definition of disability and typically covers accommodations like extra time on tests.
A district can decide against an evaluation, but it has to follow rules when it does, and you have ways to respond.
This is called Prior Written Notice (34 C.F.R. § 300.503). It must explain what the district refused, why it refused, and what tests, records, or reports it relied on. If someone refuses your request in person or over the phone, ask for Prior Written Notice by name.
Federal law says a district can’t reject or delay an evaluation because a child hasn’t gone through an intervention program. The U.S. Department of Education’s 2011 memo on Response to Intervention makes that clear.
If the district misses a deadline or breaks another special education rule, you can file a written complaint with the California Department of Education. The complaint has to describe a violation from the past year, and the department finishes its investigation within 60 days unless exceptional circumstances apply.
If the district refuses an evaluation, you can request mediation or file a due process complaint through the Office of Administrative Hearings. If the district has violated special education law, you can also file a compliance complaint with the California Department of Education.
Office of Administrative Hearings California Department of Education
If you disagree with the district’s evaluation, you can ask for an independent educational evaluation at public expense. The district then has to pay for one or file for a hearing to defend its own evaluation, and it has to choose without unnecessary delay.
You can get only one independent evaluation at public expense each time the district completes an evaluation you disagree with.
You can also share an evaluation you paid for yourself. If it meets the district’s criteria, the district has to consider the results, although the team can consider a report and still disagree with it.
READ Academy offers a dyslexia assessment for families who want answers on their own schedule. Our assessment has a fee, and the district’s evaluation is free.
Disability Rights California publishes a plain-language manual on evaluations and assessments, and the federally funded Center for Parent Information and Resources lists the parent centers in every state.
Send the district a written request for a special education evaluation and say that you suspect dyslexia. The district tests for a specific learning disability, and California’s definition of that term includes dyslexia. Ask the district to assess all areas of phonological processing, the ability to work with the sounds in words. The letter builder on this page writes the request for you.
Yes. California’s duty to find and assess children who may need special education runs from birth to age 21, so no grade is too early to ask. Kindergarten is also the first year of the state’s required reading screening.
No. An evaluation only answers whether your child qualifies. Federal rules say consent to an evaluation can’t be treated as consent to services, so if your child does qualify, nothing begins until you give a second consent.
No. California law counts a parent’s written request as a referral for assessment, and the letter builder on this page produces one. An attorney or advocate becomes useful later, if the district refuses, misses a deadline, or returns results that don’t match what you see at home.
No. The district has to consider a private evaluation that meets its criteria, but the IEP team still makes the eligibility decision. To qualify a child, the team has to find both a listed disability and a need for special education. A detailed private report gives the team specific findings to consider.
Yes. Charter schools that operate as their own local educational agency have the same Child Find and evaluation duties as any other school district. Charter schools that are part of a larger district follow that district’s process.
READ Academy created this free guide to help California parents understand their rights, request a special education evaluation, and navigate the process without needing professional assistance.
READ Academy is a private school in Sacramento serving students in grades 2 through 12 with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, and executive function differences. Daily reading and writing instruction uses Structured Literacy, an evidence-based approach recommended by the International Dyslexia Association for teaching students with dyslexia. We are accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges. All high school students earn a diploma upon graduation.
We also offer private dyslexia assessments for a fee. You don’t need one of our assessments, or to enroll with us, to use anything on this page.
If you have questions about the evaluation process or about our school, call us at (916) 258-2080 or email info@readacademy.com. A conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
A place where students who learn differently grow, create, and thrive.
A place where students who learn differently
grow, create, and thrive.
A place where students who learn differently grow, create, and thrive.