An independent educational evaluation (IEE) is an evaluation conducted by a qualified evaluator who is not employed by the school district or charter.
An IEE can either be paid for at your private expense, or public expense, where the school district or charter school where your child is enrolled pays for the evaluation.
You can request the IEE at public expense if you disagree with the school’s evaluation of your child that is less than two years old. You may be entitled to one (1) IEE at public expense for each evaluation conducted by the school with which you disagree.
When a parent requests an IEE at public expense, the school has two options— either agree to pay for the evaluation or file a due process complaint within a reasonable time to prove that its evaluation is appropriate. If a school agrees to pay for the evaluation, the school may provide a list of possible evaluators to the parent. But a parent can choose any private evaluator to conduct the assessment, as long as the evaluator meets the same criteria the school requires of their own evaluators.
Once an evaluator has completed an IEE consistent with the school district’s requirements, the district must consider the results of the evaluation. However, the district is not required to agree to or adopt the recommendations made by the evaluator.
- DRAZ has a sample letter for requesting an IEE here.
- You can read more about IEEs on the Arizona Department of Education’s website.
