Louisiana Dyslexia Evaluation in School: What the Law Requires and How to Get It

Dyslexia is the most common learning disability affecting Louisiana students, and it is also the one where schools most frequently delay, dodge, or outright refuse to evaluate. If your child is struggling with reading and the school keeps telling you to "give it time," "wait and see," or "try more RTI first," you are likely experiencing a pattern that Louisiana law specifically prohibits.

Here is what the law actually requires, what schools are obligated to do starting in kindergarten, and what you can do when the school is refusing to identify a reading problem that you can already see clearly.

Louisiana's Mandatory Dyslexia Screening Law

Louisiana Revised Statute 17:7(11) and Louisiana Bulletin 1903 establish a mandatory early literacy screening framework for all public school students. This is not optional, and it is not triggered only by parental request. Every Louisiana public school is required to screen all kindergarten through third-grade students for reading difficulties within the first 30 days of each school year.

The screening is designed to catch early signs of reading difficulties — including phonological awareness deficits, rapid automatic naming challenges, and encoding problems — before a child falls years behind. If a student's screening results indicate a deficit, the law requires the School Building Level Committee (SBLC) to conduct additional screenings in phonological awareness, rapid automatic naming, and encoding.

If these additional screenings identify dyslexia or a reading disability, the school is required to implement evidence-based, multisensory structured language and literacy instruction. Under Bulletin 1903, this instruction must use all learning pathways simultaneously — visual, auditory, and kinesthetic — and must be explicit, systematic, and cumulative. Programs like Orton-Gillingham, Wilson Reading System, and similar structured literacy approaches meet this standard. General reading groups and repetitive phonics worksheets do not.

The Difference Between Dyslexia Screening and Special Education Evaluation

The SBLC screening process under Bulletin 1903 is not the same as a special education evaluation under IDEA and Bulletin 1508. This distinction matters enormously.

The early literacy screening tells you whether a reading deficit exists. A Section 504 evaluation or a special education evaluation tells you whether the child has a disability under the applicable legal standard and what services they need.

A child identified through SBLC screening as having dyslexia characteristics may qualify for either a Section 504 plan (if dyslexia substantially limits the major life activity of reading but the child does not need specially designed instruction) or an IEP (if the child has a Specific Learning Disability that requires individually designed instruction). The school's obligation to provide structured literacy instruction under Bulletin 1903 exists independently of — and in addition to — any IEP or 504 plan obligations.

The error parents encounter most frequently is accepting a Bulletin 1903 structured literacy intervention as a substitute for a formal evaluation. The intervention may help, but it does not determine eligibility for an IEP or 504 plan, and it does not create a legally binding document specifying the services the school must deliver.

What to Do When the School Won't Evaluate for Dyslexia

If you suspect your child has dyslexia and the school has:

• Said the child needs more time in RTI before they can be evaluated
• Said the child is "borderline" and does not quite meet the threshold
• Said grades are acceptable so there is no need to evaluate
• Simply not responded to your verbal request for evaluation

...then you need to submit a formal, written evaluation request.

Under Louisiana Bulletin 1508 and IDEA, you do not need the school's permission to formally request a special education evaluation. The request triggers a 10-business-day deadline for the school to seek your consent for the evaluation, and a 60-business-day deadline to complete it once consent is given. The school cannot lawfully delay this process by requiring additional RTI cycles. The LDOE has explicitly stated that RTI must not be used to delay special education evaluations when a disability is suspected.

Your written request should:

• Be addressed to the principal and the director of special education
• State that you suspect your child has a Specific Learning Disability (dyslexia) that adversely affects educational performance
• Request a full and comprehensive evaluation under Louisiana Bulletin 1508 and IDEA
• Include the phrase "Child Find obligation" — this invokes the federal mandate that requires schools to identify and evaluate students with suspected disabilities
• Be dated and sent via email (which creates a timestamp) with a follow-up hard copy

If the school refuses to evaluate after receiving your written request, they must issue Prior Written Notice (PWN) within 10 business days explaining why they refused. That refusal notice creates the exact paper trail you need to file a state complaint with the LDOE at [email protected].

The Independent Educational Evaluation Option

If the school conducts an evaluation and finds your child does not have dyslexia or a Specific Learning Disability, but you disagree with those findings, you have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at the school's expense. The school must either fund the evaluation or file for due process to defend the adequacy of its own assessment — and most districts choose to fund the IEE rather than litigate.

An IEE conducted by a private psychologist who specializes in reading and learning disabilities often uses more comprehensive assessments than school evaluations. Many school evaluations underidentify dyslexia because they rely on curriculum-based measures rather than phonological processing batteries. A private evaluation using the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP-2) or similar assessments gives a much clearer picture.

Request the IEE in writing, referencing your right under Bulletin 1706 Section 503 and IDEA. Under Bulletin 1706 revisions, the school must respond to your IEE request within 15 business days — either providing the evaluation information or initiating due process.

The Louisiana IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook includes the exact written evaluation request language, a guide to what Bulletin 1508 requires from a dyslexia-related evaluation, and the IEE request script that triggers the school's 15-day response window.

Dyslexia is highly treatable when identified early. Louisiana law creates specific obligations for early identification that most parents do not know exist. Knowing those obligations — and invoking them in writing — is how you force the evaluation your child has a legal right to receive.

See more United States guides →