Requesting an IEE: Independent Educational Evaluation

What is an IEE? An assessment with a professional that is not part of your school district. Thus, the evaluation is “independent.” The IEE occurs after you review the findings of the district’s evaluation of your child. If you review the district’s results and belive that their testing was incorrect or incomplete, you can request an IEE.

For example, you may believe the results were incorrect, because accomodations your child needs were not provided during testing (e.g. testing in native language). Or your child receives incorrect tests (e.g. tests are not current, examiner is not qualified). You may believe the results were incomplete because the testing did not fully look at the areas you are concerned about. For example, there was not enough testing of math or reading to clearly see your child’s difficulties. Or specific types of tests were not part of the assessment (e.g. neuropsychological, speech and language).

You can request an Independent Educational Evaluation “at public expense.” This means the testing is FREE to you, just as the Educational Assessment for Special Education Services, discussed in Part 2 of this blog series. Just as with the previous assessment, you will want to make this request in writing, and make sure you get proof of delivery. We know it can sometimes be hard to find the words we want to say. Therefore, we are including a sample letter below to give you some ideas.

You submitted your request, now what? Check back Monday for the fourth and final part to this blog series. We will look at what comes after the IEE. Just starting to read this series and wondering what you missed:

Part 1: What is an IEP and Does My Child Need One?
Part 2: Evaluation for Special Education

Need help wording your request?

Here is a sample request letter to help:

Full Name
Director of Special Education
Name of School District
Address
City, State, Zip

Re: Independent Educational Evaluation Request for Child’s Name, age (DOB), grade

Date

Dear (Mr., Mrs., or Dr.) Last Name:

Please accept this letter as our formal request for an Independent Educational  Evaluation (IEE) at public expense of our son/daughter, CHILD’s NAME, for his/her eligibility for special education services (IDEA) and/or Section 504 accommodations.

We received the results of the educational evaluation done by the school district, dated [enter date], and disagree with the findings. After reviewing the report, we have determined that the evaluation was inadequate and inappropriate. In short, it does not present an accurate picture of our child’s abilities and functioning in the educational environment.

Then, BRIEFLY include 2-3 sentences that explain your concerns. Basically, why you are asking for this help for your child. Examples include:

• The district’s examination did not include a comprehensive evaluation of reading abilities including spelling, reading comprehension, phonemic awareness, etc.
• The reason for testing included attention and behavior issues, yet these areas were not fully examined.
• The testing our child needs requires psychological and neuropsychological testing. However, the results did not include this testing, as the district’s evaluator was not qualified.

We are requesting that an IEE at public expense be completed without delay, as it is important that our child be given the support needed to access the educational environment. Furthermore, it is our understanding of state and federal education law that this evaluation can be provided at no charge to our family.

Respectfully,

Mike and Carol Brady

cc: NAME, School Principal, Name of School (Do not just put this, remember to send them a copy)