Have you ever had a sinking feeling that something just isn’t right but you can’t put your finger on it? You’re sitting with your child, you’re watching them struggle to read or do their homework, and you just KNOW something is “off.” So you ask the school to evaluate (they’re the experts after all) and then they come back and say…”everything is normal.” In fact, they tell you to lower your expectations! It’s a frustrating place to be. So what if I told you there’s a powerful tool, that you can ask for, that will provide you with a second opinion. 

An IEE is a powerful tool that not many parents are aware of.  But what exactly is an Independent Educational Evaluation?

An IEE is an evaluation of your child conducted by a qualified professional who is not employed by the school district. This is really important because it provides a level of objectivity that doesn’t always happen with a school’s evaluation.  Additionally, you can request a comprehensive evaluation to be performed by a neuropsychologist or someone trained in dyslexia. I like to think of the IEE as a second opinion, especially when you don’t agree with the school, or the outcome of the initial CSE meeting to determine eligibility. CSE stands for Committee on Special Education.

Let’s step back for a second and see if this sounds familiar.  You, as the parent contacted the school and initiated an evaluation of your child. Perfect.  From there, the school had 60 days to conduct several assessments to determine if your child has a learning disability and do they require special education services to access a Free and Public Education (FAPE). Now, let me pull back the curtain and share some facts.  Schools do not like to be an outlier.  This means they don’t want to be above the state average for the percentage of students in Special Education. Why, you may ask? Well for several reasons…first because this might indicate that the curriculum being used is ineffective.  From the State’s perspective, too many kids in special education can be seen as a red flag that learning is not occurring as it should be. Another reason that schools may want to keep the percentage of students in Special Education low, is that the services are expensive. 

But wouldn’t the issues show up in the testing that is done you might ask?  Well…not exactly.  First of all, which tests are being administered?  Let’s say your child broke his leg.  You expect the doctor to use an x-ray to see if the bone is broken.  So, what if the doctor gave your child a vision test and then declared that everything is fine?  You need to understand the evaluations that are being given and what each one is trying to measure.  The tests need to correspond to the suspected disability. I like to tell parents: “Caveat Emptor” which is Latin for buyer beware.  

Now, let’s talk about another possible scenario. The evaluations were administered, and your child is described as “perfectly average.” Great from the school’s perspective but not from yours. You need to do some digging. Let me explain why.  Someone once described averages as “my head is too hot, my feet are too cold but “on average” I’m fine.  Averages can hide a lot of things. So, the first question that you need to ask is about the subtest results. Are they separated out? How did your child score on each subtest?  Lumping subtest results together may “hide” weaknesses. So, if you read the school’s evaluation and think, “This doesn’t sound like my child,” or “I feel like they missed something” they might not have captured the full story.  

Now what are your options? 

You can pursue a private evaluation or IEE. Let’s start with the IEE. It gives you, the parent, a chance to have an outside expert evaluate your child. This independent evaluator will conduct their own set of tests, observe your child, and provide a comprehensive report from a neutral standpoint. 

“That sounds expensive,” you might be thinking.” What many parents do not realize, is that you have the right to request that your public school district pay for the IEE in one specific circumstance: when you disagree with the results of the evaluation that the school conducted and state in the initial CSE meeting that you disagree with the school’s evaluation.

The IEE (Independent Education Evaluation) Process :

1. The school completes its evaluation and gives you the report, usually at the Committee on Special Education (CSE) meeting. As a side note, request a copy of the report 3 days before the meeting.
2. In the meeting, if you disagree with the findings—maybe you believe they didn’t test for the right things, or you feel the conclusions are inaccurate—you need to state your disagreement and ask that it be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
3. The school needs to issue in writing, a Prior Written Notice (PWN) stating the disagreement.
4. Then you need to request (in writing) a publicly funded IEE. A simple letter or email to the Special Education Director, with copy to the Principal, will suffice. You don’t even have to give a detailed explanation of why you disagree. Simply that you disagree and you are requesting an IEE at public expense.

So, then what happens? When the school receives your request, they only have two choices. First, they can agree to pay for the IEE without unnecessary delay. Or, they can file for a Due Process Hearing to prove that their evaluation was appropriate. Frankly, a due process hearing runs around $50K (compared to much less for an IEE). Most schools agree to the IEE. 

The school can provide you with a list of possible practitioners to conduct the IEE, their credentials and the cost range. But you’re not required to choose someone from a list they provide.  Find a neuropsychologist in your area that specializes in reading issues.  You might want to think twice before using anyone that the school recommends. I say this because that person may not be completely objective if the school sends them business.

There is one drawback for an IEE, and that is timing. The process takes time. Think months! You have to wait for the Prior Written Notice to be provided to you.  Then you need to request the IEE, wait for the school’s approval, find an evaluator who meets the criteria, has availability, then the school needs to issue a purchase order. Only then, can you schedule the testing.  Oh, and one last thing, a lot of evaluators are scheduling 3-6 months out.  So from the moment you request an IEE, it may take 9 months for your child to be evaluated. Finally, it will take a few more weeks to issue the report. Only at this point can the CSE meeting be reconvened for your child. All said and done the process may take almost a year.