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Independent Educational Evaluations
Law-in-Brief: Special Education #8
Date: December, 2000
Prepared by: Beth Stevens, Legal Advocacy Team
A student’s eligibility for special education and related services is determined through an educational evaluation, a process of gathering information about the student’s strengths, interests, and needs and whether the student has a disability requiring specially designed instruction. Once parents give a school district written consent, the evaluation must be completed within thirty-five school days by a group of people called a multi-disciplinary team (MDT). The MDT must include a teacher, the child’s parent, and a specialist trained in the area of the suspected disability but may also include a school psychologist, an occupational therapist, a social worker, a health professional, or others who have special knowledge about the child’s learning. The educational evaluation may consist of testing the student, watching the student work in class, documenting physical problems the student may have, and talking with the student and the student’s parents. The results of each test, procedure, or observation are used by the MDT to determine whether the student requires special education services.
Parents who disagree with the results of the school district’s evaluation of their student have the right to an independent educational evaluation. An independent educational evaluation is an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the school district or other public agency responsible for the education of the student. Parents may also request an independent evaluation whenever the school district does not comply with the evaluation regulations or when the school district does not seem to be assessing the child in all areas of the suspected disability. Parents should always make the request before they actually arrange for the evaluation, and the request should be made in writing by certified mail.
Once parents request an independent educational evaluation, the school district must either provide the evaluation at no expense or initiate an administrative hearing to determine if the initial evaluation was appropriate. If the school district fails to undertake either action, the parents may file a citizen’s complaint with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) or with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. To do this, parents should send a written, signed complaint to one or both offices stating that the school district has not followed the special education laws. The specific facts which are the basis for the complaint should also be included. Complaints may be mailed to:
OSPI, Special
Education
Old Capitol Building
PO Box 47200
Olympia, Washington 98504
or
U.S. Department of
Education
Office for Civil Rights, Region X
Henry M. Jackson Federal Building
Mail Code 10-9010
915 Second Avenue, Room 3310
Seattle, Washington 98174-1099
If granted an administrative hearing, the school district has the burden of proving that the evaluation in question was adequate. The hearing officer may request that an independent educational evaluation be included as part of the hearing, but the school district must pay for this evaluation. If the hearing officer agrees that the school district’s evaluation was appropriate, the parents have the right to obtain an independent educational evaluation at their own expense. An independent educational evaluation obtained at the parent’s expense may still be presented as evidence at any hearing regarding the special education of the student and must be considered in any decision made by the school district with respect to the free appropriate public education of the student.
This document is an information service of the Washington Protection & Advocacy System (WPAS). It provides general information only and should not be used as legal advice for any specific situation. If you would like more information about this topic, call us and ask for a Resource Advocate.
To receive this document in an alternative format, such as large print or Braille, please call Washington Protection & Advocacy System (WPAS) at 1-800-562-2702.
WPAS is a member of the National Disability Rights
Network
A substantial portion
of the WPAS budget is federally funded.
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