Special Education: Evaluation and Eligibility

How to Ask for an Evaluation

If your child is struggling and you think they may have a disability:

Write a short letter or email to your school’s special education coordinator. Follow this link for a template letter to request a special education evaluation.
Say you want your child evaluated for special education and date the letter.
Keep a copy of your letter for your records.

The school must review your request quickly and decide to either:

Request parent’s signatures for consent and begin the evaluation which must be complete within 60 days of the signed consent.
Refuse to evaluate, but only by issuing a formal written notice explaining their reasoning and the parent’s rights.

Parents must be invited to IEP eligibility meetings, and it is very important that you attend the meeting. You have the right to copies of the evaluation results as part of your child’s educational record to review in advance of the meeting.

What Happens Next

If the school agrees to test your child:

The school will send a consent form home with your child for you to sign and return. Do so as quickly as possible so the process is not delayed.
Once you sign, the school has 60 calendar days to finish all testing.
Within 30 days after that, a team (including you) meets to decide if your child qualifies.
If your child qualifies, the IEP must be written and started as soon as possible.

🕒 Timeline example:
Day 1 – Parent signs consent →
By Day 60 – Testing finished →
By Day 90 – Eligibility meeting →
By Day 120 – IEP written and started

What Is an Evaluation?

An evaluation is a set of tests, interviews, and observations that help the team understand your child’s needs. It looks at:

Learning and thinking skills
Reading, writing, and math
Speech and communication
Social and emotional behavior
Health, vision, and hearing
Motor skills

All tests must:

Be fair and not biased by race or culture
Be given in your child’s main language
Use more than one kind of information (no single test decides everything)

Problem Solving Teams (PST) – Response to Intervention (RTI)

Before a school refers a child for testing, it may try classroom supports through a PST or RTI. These are short-term help plans like tutoring or behavior support. Schools will often help students who are struggling by having the PST meet and determine appropriate RTI strategies to improve learning and behavioral outcomes.

NOTE: When parents initiate a request for an evaluation for special education, the school can NOT delay the evaluation by requiring RTI strategies to be implemented first. They MUST start the IEP evaluation process while also offering RTI supports at the same time. From the time of this request, the school has 60 DAYS to complete the evaluation.

If your child still struggles, or YOU REQUEST AN EVALUATION FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION, the school MUST move forward with special education testing.

Schools can’t delay testing just to “try more interventions.”

If you find that your child’s school is delaying the IEP evaluation by using RTI or PST, connect with one of our special education advocates here.

Reevaluation

Your child must be reevaluated at least once every 3 years, or sooner if needed.

You or the school can request a reevaluation if:

Your child’s needs have changed, or
The current plan isn’t working.

The team reviews current information and decides whether new tests are needed.

To connect with one of our special education advocates, please reach out to Disability Advocacy Solutions.