An independent educational evaluation, or IEE, is an evaluation done by someone outside the school district, triggered specifically by a parent's written disagreement with the district's own evaluation of their child. Requesting an IEE starts a formal process under IDEA, the federal special education law, that puts the district on the clock to respond in one of two specific ways.
Before any IEE process begins, the district needs your disagreement in writing. A dated letter or email stating that you disagree with the district's evaluation, and that you are requesting an independent educational evaluation at public expense. Keep a copy for your own records. Under federal regulation 34 CFR 300.502, the district cannot require you to explain your reasoning before it responds, but stating one anyway can help the process move smoothly.
Once the written request is received by the district, they have two options to respond "without unnecessary delay" as stated in the Procedural Safeguards Notice. It can agree to fund the independent evaluation at public expense, or it can file for due process to defend its own evaluation as appropriate. The district cannot respond by simply rejecting the request for an IEE. Most Arizona districts will agree to fund the evaluation rather than file for due process, since due process is slow and costly for them too. But a district choosing to file for due process instead does happen, and once it does, you're in a legal proceeding. At this point finding legal representation or reaching out to Disability Rights Arizona would be your best route for assistance.
If the district agrees to fund the IEE, "public expense" means the district pays the full cost. You will work with the district to pick a provider prior to setting up appointments to complete the IEE. If you go the self-funded route instead, without requesting public expense at all, evaluations cost thousands of dollars and the cost can vary depending on the type of evaluation you are requesting.
A private diagnosis or second opinion you already have in hand, a developmental pediatrician's ADHD diagnosis, a private speech-language evaluation, a neuropsychologist you saw on your own, is not automatically an IEE, and it doesn't trigger the district's funding obligation on its own. Under 34 CFR 300.502, if you share it with the district and it meets the district's evaluation criteria, the district has to consider it in decisions about your child's services. But considering it is not adopting it, and it doesn't carry the same procedural weight as a formal IEE requested through this disagreement process.
You're entitled to one IEE at public expense per district evaluation you dispute. Timing your IEE request and receiving the results may not align with the next annual IEP review, however it won't stop the IEP team from convening. IEE results are considered once received and any changes needing to be made to the IEP can be done at any time.
Sources
- https://www.azed.gov/specialeducation/iee
- https://www.azed.gov/sites/default/files/2024/08/Independent%20Educational%20Evaluation%20flowchart%20and%20reference%20document%20July%202024.pdf
- https://www.azed.gov/sites/default/files/2024/01/Procedural%20Safeguards%20Rev%20%207-10-15.pdf
- https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/e/300.502
- https://disabilityrightsaz.org/resource/special-education-tip-of-the-day-independent-educational-evaluations/