Independent Educational Evaluations

According to Part 300 of the Federal Regulations § 300.502 parents may obtain an independent educational evaluation at the school district’s expense if they disagree with the evaluation completed by the school district. An Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) is an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not an employee of the East Penn School District. A request for an IEE must be made in writing to the Director of Special Education within one year of the date on the District’s evaluation report.

In the context of an IEE, evaluation means the procedures to determine whether a child is a child with a disability and in need of Special Education or specially designed instruction and related services.

The East Penn School District will grant requests for IEEs at District expense only in extraordinary circumstances. The District will notify the parents, in writing, of its approval or disapproval of the request. Failure to comply with the criteria listed in this procedure will result in a denial of the parent’s request for an IEE at District expense.

According to Part 300 of the Federal Regulations § 300.502(c)(1) Parent initiated evaluations:

If the parent obtains an IEE at private expense, the results of the evaluation must be considered by the District if it meets the District criteria, in any decision made with respect to the provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

General Provisions
The parents of a child with a disability have the right to obtain an independent educational evaluation of their child. An IEE is an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not an employee of a student’s school district.

Upon approval of a parent’s written request for an independent educational evaluation, the District will provide the parents information about where an independent educational evaluation may be obtained and the District’s criteria applicable to independent educational evaluations.
The criteria under which the independent evaluation is obtained must be the same as the criteria the District uses in conducting an evaluation.

The following criteria are required:

  1. If the independent evaluation is at public expense, it must be conducted within the state of Pennsylvania.
  2. An evaluation of a child for autism, emotional disturbance, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, other health impairments, specific learning disability or traumatic brain injury must be done by a school psychologist certified in the State of Pennsylvania. An evaluation for other disabilities (i.e. speech and language) must be done by a person licensed or certified to conduct and interpret assessments of the area(s) of concern. The credentials and/or licenses of the evaluator must be submitted to the District with the IEE.
  3. The IEE, at public expense, cannot exceed $500 without approval by the East Penn School District.
  4. The evaluator and the East Penn School District must have written permission to communicate and share information.
  5.  The evaluator must release the results of the evaluation directly to the District in the form of an original, signed, typewritten report.
  6. The District encourages and prefers that IEEs include a 45 minute personal observation of the student in the relevant school environment by the person administering the evaluation and/or should include input from appropriate school staff.
  7. The report shall include a statement of all standard and scaled scores obtained, a description of the student’s behavior during the evaluation, a description of the student’s behavior observed in the school, an analysis of the results, and specific educational recommendations.
  8. Tests and similar evaluation materials shall be:
    1. Selected and administered in a manner free from racial or cultural bias.
    2. Administered in the native language or mode of communication of the child, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.
    3. Selected and administered so the test results accurately reflect the student’s aptitude, achievement level or whatever other factors the test purports to measure, rather than the student’s impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, unless those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure.
    4. Validated for the specific purpose for which they are used in a manner generally accepted within the profession.
    5. Administered in accordance with the instructions or testing protocols provided by the publisher of the test or materials and in accordance with sound professional practice.
    6. Selected and administered to assess the specific areas of educational need or ability and not merely single standard scores or quotients.
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