What to Do if Your Child's New School Wants to "Wait and See"

By: Brett Kraftson, Advocate

It's the beginning of August, and we're just settling into a new school year. Maybe you've had concerns about your child's learning for a while now — or maybe they surfaced over the summer as you watched your child struggle with reading, or dread homework, or avoid anything that looked like a worksheet. Either way, you're planning to bring those concerns to the school. And there's a good chance you'll hear some version of this response:

"Let's give it a little time and see how things go."

If you've heard that, or you're bracing to hear it, here's what you need to know before your next conversation with the school.

First: "Wait and See" Isn't Automatically a Red Flag

I spent years as a school psychologist, and I said some version of this sentence to parents more times than I can count. Here's the truth: it's not necessarily the wrong response. Schools don't need an IEP in place to give your child excellent, differentiated instruction — good teachers adjust, support, and intervene for kids every single day without a formal plan attached to it.

But there's a big "if" attached to that reassurance: it's only an acceptable answer if the school can tell you exactly what they're going to do during that waiting period. "Wait and see" should never mean "do nothing and hope it resolves itself." If the school can't clearly describe the specific supports, strategies, or interventions they're putting in place right now, that's your signal to push for more clarity — not to simply wait quietly on your end while nothing changes on theirs.

Second: Ask What Data They're Actually Watching

A wait-and-see period only means something if someone is tracking whether it's working. So ask directly: What data are you collecting while we wait?

And don't stop there — dig one layer deeper:

• Does that data actually reflect your specific concerns, or is it measuring something adjacent that won't tell either of you much?

• How will you know, concretely, whether the intervention is working?

• What's the threshold everyone is agreeing to — the specific point at which "this isn't working" triggers a change in approach?

Without clear answers to these questions, "let's wait and see" can quietly turn into "let's wait and hope," which isn't the same thing at all. You want measurable, agreed-upon markers, not a vague sense that things will "probably be fine."

Third: Nail Down the Timeline — In Writing, If You Can

How long is "waiting" supposed to last? Get specific. You and the school should walk away from that first conversation with a shared understanding of exactly when you'll reconvene to revisit your concerns.

We're talking weeks — something like six to eight — not months. If the timeline starts drifting toward "let's check in sometime this semester," that's too vague to hold anyone accountable.

Put an actual meeting on the calendar before you leave that first conversation. A concrete date does two things: it builds in accountability on the school's side, and it gives you a clear point to look back and ask, "did what we agreed to actually happen?" Don't leave it as a loose verbal promise to "touch base soon" — soon has a way of quietly becoming never.

Fourth: Know That "Wait and See" Doesn't Override Your Right to Request an Evaluation

Here's the piece that surprises a lot of parents: even if the school proposes a wait-and-see period, you can request a formal evaluation at any time — during the wait, right alongside it, whenever you decide you're ready. You don't have to let the waiting period run its full course first.

And critically: the school is not allowed to deny that evaluation request just because they haven't yet tried a particular strategy, intervention, or tiered-support process (like RTI or MTSS) with your child. That's not a matter of school policy or preference — it's a protection built into special education law. A school can absolutely continue supporting your child through those strategies while an evaluation is underway, but "we haven't tried that yet" is not a legally valid reason to refuse or delay evaluating your child.

If you're not comfortable waiting — if your gut is telling you this needs a closer look now — you are within your rights to ask for that evaluation today, full stop.

And If They Still Say No?

If you've gotten to this point — you've asked what data they're tracking, you've nailed down a timeline, you've requested an evaluation — and the school is still resistant to better instruction or unwilling to consider an IEP, it's time to bring in reinforcements.

Reach out to an advocate. You don't have to navigate this alone, and you shouldn't have to fight for basic answers about how your child is being supported. We're here to help you get your child the help they need — and to make sure "wait and see" never quietly becomes "wait forever."