Unhappy with your child's school evaluation?
Unhappy with your child's school evaluation?
For a variety of reasons a school's evaluation may be insufficient or invalid. In these cases, you have a right to a free IEE.
All Indiana school districts must pay for an Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) by an independent evaluator who is NOT employed by the school system if requested by a family or parent who disagrees with the school's evaluation. The IEE is essentially a second opinion by a provider not employed through the school system. The school must ensure that this service is FREE to the family, must not delay the IEE, and must provide names of nearby independent evaluators (such as Dr. Edwards).
All Indiana school districts must pay for an Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) by an independent evaluator who is NOT employed by the school system if requested by a family or parent who disagrees with the school's evaluation. The IEE is essentially a second opinion by a provider not employed through the school system. The school must ensure that this service is FREE to the family, must not delay the IEE, and must provide names of nearby independent evaluators (such as Dr. Edwards).
All parents should know that school system administrators and staff are often not allowed to refer parents to the most appropriate diagnostic service (e.g., neuropsychological evaluation), even when the school system is unable to offer specialized assessments and even when obvious medical history (e.g., brain injury, cancer treatment, seizures, fetal exposure to drugs, etc.) could be impacting learning, test taking, and memory in ways that the school system professional cannot fully assess or understand. Schools fear that such common-sense referrals would result in parents inappropriately seeking reimbursement for a service that the school is not competent to conduct or unable to complete quickly enough. Unfortunately, this all-to-often scenario results in children waiting up to 2 months, or much longer, for evaluations (especially during COVID-19 distancing) from the school that, in some cases, are destined to be insufficient and inappropriate. This is a problem with Indiana law and is not a reflection of your school systems employees.
All parents should know that school system administrators and staff are often not allowed to refer parents to the most appropriate diagnostic service (e.g., neuropsychological evaluation), even when the school system is unable to offer specialized assessments and even when obvious medical history (e.g., brain injury, cancer treatment, seizures, fetal exposure to drugs, etc.) could be impacting learning, test taking, and memory in ways that the school system professional cannot fully assess or understand. Schools fear that such common-sense referrals would result in parents inappropriately seeking reimbursement for a service that the school is not competent to conduct or unable to complete quickly enough. Unfortunately, this all-to-often scenario results in children waiting up to 2 months, or much longer, for evaluations (especially during COVID-19 distancing) from the school that, in some cases, are destined to be insufficient and inappropriate. This is a problem with Indiana law and is not a reflection of your school systems employees.
When the school system pays for your IEE evaluation via public funds the resulting report must be provided directly to the school system from Dr. Edwards.
When the school system pays for your IEE evaluation via public funds the resulting report must be provided directly to the school system from Dr. Edwards.
How to request an IEE?
How to request an IEE?
1) Compose a letter officially requesting an IEE with Dr. Edwards (sample letter in the documents tab), who will conduct the evaluation objectively and formulate independent opinions, valid diagnoses if indicated, and recommendations.
1) Compose a letter officially requesting an IEE with Dr. Edwards (sample letter in the documents tab), who will conduct the evaluation objectively and formulate independent opinions, valid diagnoses if indicated, and recommendations.
2) Ask the principal or call the school district’s main office to find out who should receive the letter. The school system may ask for the reason(s) that you do not agree with the schools findings, but you do NOT have to explain.
2) Ask the principal or call the school district’s main office to find out who should receive the letter. The school system may ask for the reason(s) that you do not agree with the schools findings, but you do NOT have to explain.
3) Without delaying the IEE, the school may either grant an IEE or initiate a hearing to defend the IEP evaluation.
3) Without delaying the IEE, the school may either grant an IEE or initiate a hearing to defend the IEP evaluation.
4) Importantly, the IEE can only be granted in cases where an IEP evaluation was already conducted and the parent/guardian is dissatisfied.
4) Importantly, the IEE can only be granted in cases where an IEP evaluation was already conducted and the parent/guardian is dissatisfied.
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