How to talk to your child's school about an assessment report

Share the assessment report with your child’s class teacher and treat it as the start of a conversation, not a document to file away. Talk through what the assessment identified, why reading and spelling are hard for your child, what the intervention is teaching right now, and what support would help inside the classroom.

Why should the report start a conversation?

One of the most common questions parents ask me after deciding to begin intervention is: “What should I tell my child’s school?” Many parents feel uncertain. They know their child has been struggling, but they are unsure how to explain the difficulties or whom they should speak to first.

An assessment report should never become just another document filed away. Whether it came from a formal evaluation or an informal assessment of reading and spelling, use it as the starting point for a discussion with the people who see your child every day.

Children spend a significant part of their day at school. Even if they receive excellent intervention outside school, they still need an environment where they feel understood and supported. When teachers understand a child’s learning profile, they are better able to set realistic expectations, provide appropriate support, and build the child’s confidence.

Whom should you speak to first?

Begin with the class teacher. She spends the most time with your child and will notice day-to-day changes before anyone else. If the school has a special educator or learning-needs coordinator, ask for them to be included. A short meeting with the two or three people who actually teach your child achieves more than a report sent to the office.

Bring the report with you, but do not simply hand it over. Reports are written in assessment language, and a busy teacher rarely has time to decode pages of scores. Walk her through the parts that matter.

What should you discuss in the meeting?

Keep the conversation practical. Talk about:

• What the assessment identified.
• Why your child is finding reading, spelling, or writing difficult.
• Which skills are currently being taught during intervention.
• What support may be helpful inside the classroom.
• How parents, teachers, and the intervention therapist can work together.

If the report names dyslexia, explain in plain words what it means: a bright child who needs written English taught differently. If the picture is broader, describe the specific learning difficulties rather than relying on labels alone.

A report has the greatest value when it leads to understanding rather than simply providing information.

The goal is not simply to inform the school that your child has started intervention. The goal is to help the school understand how they can support your child during this process.

How do parents, teachers, and the therapist work together?

Each person sees something the others cannot. The teacher sees how your child copes in a full classroom. The therapist sees exactly which skills are secure and which are still being built. You see the homework, the confidence, and the mood at home. When those three views are shared, decisions improve: the teacher knows why spelling marks may lag while reading improves, the therapist knows which classroom demands to prepare the child for, and you know what to reinforce at home.

Small classroom adjustments follow naturally from that shared understanding. I have written separately about the role of a teacher in helping a dyslexic learner; conversations like this one give a teacher that understanding.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to share the full report with the school?

No. You decide what to share. Many parents share the summary and recommendations rather than every page of scores. What matters is that the teacher understands the difficulty and the support that helps, not that she holds the complete file.

What if the teacher seems dismissive?

Stay calm and specific. Describe what your child finds hard, what helps, and ask for one or two small adjustments to begin with. If the class teacher cannot help, ask whether the school has a special educator or counsellor you can meet instead.

Should my child know about these conversations?

Yes, in an age-appropriate way. Children usually know they are struggling long before adults name it. Hearing that home and school are working together, and that the difficulty has a name and a plan, usually comes as a relief.

How often should I update the school?

A short check-in once a term works well for most families. Share what the intervention is currently teaching and ask what the teacher is noticing in class. When your child reaches a milestone, pass it on; teachers respond warmly to progress they helped make possible.

Dr. V.S. Gayathri is a Dyslexia Therapist, an Orton-Gillingham trained literacy specialist, and the founder of Flourishing Kids. She has delivered over 4,000 hours of one-to-one reading and spelling intervention, helping children across multiple countries build stronger literacy skills. If you are preparing to talk to your child’s school about an assessment report, get in touch for a free 15-minute conversation.