I need to get my 4 year old tested from the state

Ok... you made a statement... what exactly is your question? And in what state and country would this be in, because none of us have a clue where you live.

We live in New York long island and I live in brentwood suffolk county

WHY do you want your 4 year old tested? And what for?

If you're talking about an educational related evaluation, I don't think they are done until children are old enough for school. Generally, all children are tested for readiness before Kidergarten begins by public school districts, and after that if a problem is noticed or suspected, they sometimes do additional testing, but often refer parents outside of the school system and cooperate with and participate in the testing, but generally have specialists such as physicians and psychiatrists and psychologists conduct testing and screening for conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, visual problems, ADD and ADHD, and the like. Many of these conditions cannot be tested for until children are older than 4.

The state does not generally do testing but they sometimes pay for it, either through medical assistance if you do not have insurance and are low income, or through the schools if it can be done by school personnel.

I am not here to bash any answer but post #5 is pretty far off the mark. Children are not tested prior to kindergarten entrance but many district may screen, primarily for vision, hearing and obvious abnormalities. Laws vary from state to state but the state never does the testing nor do they pay for testing. Individual school districts do testing and most do early childhood screen. You should call your local school districts main office, not just a school, and talk to their special services team. Jenny asked a good question which warrants an answer, what do you suspect is an issue with your child? Have you talked this over with your child's pediatrician?

I've had my own child and foster children start kindergarten in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin over the years and in all three district, for each of about 12 kids who have been in my care when starting kindergarten, they met prior to the start of the school year to go through a brief battery of assessments such as having the child build a stack of blocks that replicates the teacher's stack of blocks, and so on - IQ type tests but for the purpose of establishing where the child is at. At times, I have known parents who were advised it would be best if they wait a year for their chlid to begin school on the basis of these assessments.

This has not been as comprehensive as screening or testing for specific disorders, however, nor as comprehensive as an IQ test. Perhaps what I'm calling a test is what you call "screening" - to me the words are interchangeable in this context, as I'm making clear that they are not specfically looking for specific abnormalities - just looking for readiness and generally where the child is at entering kindergarten, and whether they appear to be ready. We don't know what this parent needs their child to be tested for, so it's hard to be more specific.

Perhaps the practice has been discontinued and/or it's not nation-wide. My most recent foster child who began kindergarten while in my care was four years ago, in Minnesota. It had nothing to do with their foster care status - it was standard for all children enrolled.

People outside of the school system or education field have a hard time knowing exactly what the testing is, in this case it is basic screening. It does not test IQ or anything close.

Please note that states very often do pay for testing of children for a full range of conditions which impact education including autism related disorders, ADHD/ADD, vision problems, behavioral problems and more. This is sometimes because the child qualifies for programs which include these services based on the family financial needs, and sometimes because of other factors such as the child having been in state foster care at some point.

I've had a great many children in my care who have been tested extensively for everything from aspbergers to ADHD to reactive-attachment disorder, and have never paid a dime - in every case, either the school district offered the service with staff psychologists conducting the testing, or it's been covered by state-paid medical assistance programs. Sometimes this has been because the chldren were in foster care, but other times because the children's parents enrolled them in state-sponsored medical coverage such as Illinois KidCare which includes psychological services.

In the case of my own son, who is covered only by private insurance, his ADHD testing was conducted by a psychologist who worked full time for his school district. Follow up testing has also been done by school-employed psychologists who are employed by a different school district, as we moved to a different state. The school district advised me they are required to provide the service by state law here in Illinois. So anyway, the op should not assume she has to pay for it - if her child has a need, and she cannot afford it there's probably a government resource available to her child.

Yes, the key word here is district "conducted by a psychologist who worked full time for his school district. Follow up testing has also been done by school-employed psychologists " These are no state employees and testing is not paid for by the state. The State of Illinois requires a great many things of the school but pay for far less. We are getting a bit off the question asked by the OP who has yet to return to tell us of the actual concern, what issue does she have regarding her 4 year old. My saying the states does not test and does not pay for testing does not mean she has to pay. She has to talk to her local school district about early childhood screenings, usually conducted in the Spring.

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Originally Posted by andrew44

i need to get my 4 year old tested from the state

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The state will not test your child. What sort of testing are you looking for? Do you feel your child might have an attention issue? Learning difficulty? Behavior concerns?

If you have a concern, you bring it to the attention of your child's doctor and they will refer for testing if necessary. Once your child is enrolled in school, you can let them know of your concerns. There will be a set process that will be carried out regarding any screening and/or testing if it has not already been addressed by the doctor.

Much will depend on your specific concerns as to who will test, what testing might be conducted, and when such testing would take place.