What should I do when I disagree with the school’s assessment?

You know your child best — if the district performs an assessment of your child and you feel it does not accurately reflect their strengths and needs, it’s probably not a thorough assessment. If you disagree with the results, you have the right to an Independent Educational Evaluation, or IEE, at public expense. An independent assessment is conducted by a qualified professional who is not employed by the school district. It can be beneficial if you feel the district’s report does not fully or accurately capture your child’s strengths and weaknesses, or if your child is not making anticipated progress. A private psychologist may be able to determine why your child isn’t progressing as expected and/or pinpoint specific areas where they need support, even (or especially) when the district has not been successful at doing so.

You can also seek an independent assessment if you disagree with the district’s more specialized assessments such as assistive technology assessments, speech assessments, occupational or physical therapy assessments, and functional behavioral analysis assessments — you can request an independent assessment for any purpose if it impacts your child’s education. Remember that if the assessment you disagree with is more than a year old, it is likely the district will want to retest your child themselves prior to funding an independent assessment.

For more information about assessments, check out our article Assessments and IEEs.