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What do I do if my child was only assessed in English and not their native language?


Published: Feb. 17, 2026Updated: Feb. 23, 2026

Start by writing a letter (or email) to your school team saying that English is your child’s second language and that you have concerns about the validity of the assessments. You could indicate that the testing is not reflective of your child, and you want to request IEEs because your child wasn't tested in their first language. Once you put it in writing, there's a good chance that they're going to work with you. Most likely, they’ll say they want to retest in the correct language instead of doing an IEE. The district must hire a translator to help with the testing.

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