Asking the school to test how your child speaks and understands
Speech and language testing looks at how your child talks, listens and takes in what is said at school, and this letter requests it. You can send it whether or not your child already has an IEP, and no clinic referral comes first. You can send it today: paste it into an email, replace what sits in brackets, and write down the day the school received it; the table below says which day starts each clock.
What the rule says
“The child is assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, … academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities.”
34 CFR 300.304(c)(4)
Communicative status sits on the regulation’s own list, so a reading referral never settles the language question.
When to send it
- Two teachers have written that they cannot make out what your child says in class.
- Your child answers a question nobody asked, and the team recorded that as inattention.
- A private speech therapist has seen your child since summer and nobody at school asked for the report.
What happens after you send it
| What is being counted | By when | How it is counted |
|---|---|---|
| Word comes back | Set by your state | IDEA leaves this one open, so your state’s regulation sets the days you count.34 CFR 300.503(a) |
| Testing is finished | 60 days | The count opens at your signature on the form, unless a state timeframe stands in.34 CFR 300.301(c)(1) |
| The next full look | Three years | A reevaluation comes at least that often, so a skipped area waits a long while.34 CFR 300.303(b)(2) |
What the letter has to contain
The breakdown, in plain words
Naming a test you read about online narrows the referral. Describe what fails and let the evaluator choose.
Assessments are used for the purposes they are valid and reliable for. 34 CFR 300.304(c)(1)(iii)
Where it costs your child
Communication trouble read as attitude earns a behavior plan. Tie it to the lesson and it gets tested.
The evaluation gathers functional, developmental and academic information about your child. 34 CFR 300.304(b)(1)
Any outside therapy report
A report nobody asked for sits in a drawer at home. Attached, it becomes part of the record.
The team reviews evaluations and information you supply alongside its own. 34 CFR 300.305(a)(1)(i)
The consent form itself
Asking for the form moves the answer from a maybe in the hallway to a signature with a date.
Informed consent is obtained from you before an initial evaluation is conducted. 34 CFR 300.300(a)(1)(i)
The letter
Replace everything in brackets. The rest sends as it stands.
- To
- The principal, with the speech-language pathologist copied
- Subject
- Request to evaluate speech and language — [Child’s full name], [Grade]
Dear [Speech-language pathologist] and [Principal], I am asking the district to evaluate speech and language for [Child’s full name], [Grade], [School name]. My signature goes back on the day a consent form reaches me. What I hear at home, and what [his/her/their] teachers describe: [word endings dropped, answers that miss the question, sentences that stall, or two-step directions that go nowhere]. Three things already on the record: • [Date] — [what a teacher said or wrote] • [Date] — [a moment nobody could make out] • [Date] — [what an outside therapist found, if you have seen one] Enclosed: [report cards, classroom writing, or a private therapy report]. If the district declines to test, please answer with the prior written notice that 34 CFR 300.503 describes, and the data behind it. With appreciation, [Your name] [Phone] · [Email] Sent on [Today’s date]
If no answer comes back
Your state prints the window; start it the day your email was received, then write again.
- Attach the first email to a shorter one and ask where the request sits.
- Find out who does speech assessments in the district, and write to that person.
- Call the parent training center your state funds and ask how a speech referral moves locally.
A no owes you prior written notice: the decision, the reason for it, and the records behind it (34 CFR 300.503).
This is a template, not legal advice: it does not replace your state’s procedures, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the pages you are writing about read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
Review my IEP — freeFree, no card. It reads your pages and contacts no one.
Where this comes from
- Areas an evaluation covers (34 CFR 300.304)Where communicative status is listed.
- Reevaluations (34 CFR 300.303)When the next look happens.
- Speech-language pathology services (34 CFR 300.34)What the service itself covers.
- Prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503)What a no owes you.
Response deadlines are set state by state, and the state pages carry each number with its rule.