Is Special Education Right for My Child?

What is Special Education?

Special Education is specifically designed for individual or group instruction that addresses unique learning needs for children. These educational services at no cost to parents, ensure that your child will overcome learning obstacles through their PreK-12 experience. 

For additional information, check out the US Department of Education Individuals with Disabilities Education Act page (IDEA)

How do I determine if my child needs special education intervention?

Before your child can receive special education and related services for the first time, a full and individual initial evaluation of your child must be conducted to see if your child has a disability and is eligible for special education.

  • You can request that your child be evaluated. Parents are often the first to notice that their child’s learning, behavior, or development may be a cause for concern. If you’re worried about your child’s progress in school and think he or she might need extra help from special education services, you can call, email, or write to your child’s teacher, the school’s principal, or the Director of Special Education in the school district. If the school agrees that an evaluation is needed, they must evaluate your child at no cost!
  • The school system may ask to evaluate the child. Based on a teacher’s recommendation, observations, or results from tests given to all children in a particular grade, a school may recommend that a child receive further screening or assessment to determine if he or she has a disability and needs special education and related services. The school system must ask parents for permission to evaluate the child, and parents must give their informed written permission before the evaluation may be conducted.

Informed written consent and timeline: Before the school proceeds with an evaluation, parents must give them an informed written consent. The consent is only for the evaluation and does not include the school going forward with providing any special education services. After consent is given there is a timeline for the initial evaluation to be conducted. This is a federal law that states that it must be completed within 60 calendar days, unless the timeline is extended by parents agreement.

What does an initial evaluation consist of?

The evaluation must use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to collect functional, developmental, and academic information about your child. These assessments should always be administered by specialists. Here are some examples included in the evaluation.

  • Motor abilities
  • Health history
  • Vision and hearing
  • Social and emotional status
  • General intelligence
  • Academic performance
  • Communication abilities

What happens after an evaluation?

You will be invited to participate in a school meeting to consider your child’s eligibility. During this meeting, assessment results should be explained by the specialist who performed the evaluation. Based on disabilities listed under the IDEA special education requirements, your child may be eligible to develop an IEP.

If you don’t agree with them, you have the right to conduct an independent educational evaluation (IEE). Schools should be able to provide you with a list of private providers who can conduct the evaluation for a cost. In most cases, the school is responsible to pay for this evaluation. However, the school can push back with a due process hearing, to explain why they believe their evaluation results are accurate. 

Provided by the National Parents Union.