IEE Navigator
Disagree with your child's school evaluation? Answer a few yes-or-no questions to see where you stand, which dispute options fit, and what to send next.
What an IEE is
An independent educational evaluation is an evaluation of your child done by a qualified examiner who does not work for the school district. Federal special education law (IDEA) gives parents the right to ask for one, at public expense, when they disagree with an evaluation the district completed.
"At public expense" means the district pays the full cost or makes sure the evaluation is provided at no cost to you.
What happens when you ask
Once you ask, the district has two choices. It must, without unnecessary delay, either pay for the IEE or file for a due process hearing to prove its own evaluation was appropriate. Saying no and doing nothing is not one of the choices.
The district may ask why you disagree, but you do not have to explain, and it cannot hold up its answer waiting for one.
Rules the district can set
The district can require the IEE to meet the same criteria it uses for its own evaluations, such as examiner qualifications, location, and reasonable cost. It must tell you what those criteria are and where an IEE can be obtained. It cannot add extra conditions, and it has to let you show when your child's needs justify an exception.
After the IEE
The IEP team must consider the results of any IEE that meets district criteria, including one you paid for yourself. Considering is not the same as adopting, but the team cannot ignore it. An IEE can also be used as evidence at a due process hearing, and a hearing officer can order one.
How many you get
You are entitled to one IEE at public expense each time the district conducts an evaluation you disagree with. If the district goes to hearing and wins, you can still get an IEE, but not at public expense.
Where CDA fits
Cognitive Diagnostic Associates provides independent evaluations, reviews district reports and test data, and offers expert testimony when a disagreement reaches due process. A strong IEE is thorough enough to answer the questions the district evaluation left open and clear enough for an IEP team or hearing officer to act on.
The rules at a glance
Parent disagrees with a district evaluation. 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)
Fund the IEE or file for due process, without unnecessary delay. 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(2)
District may ask; parent need not answer. 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(4)
No conditions beyond those for district evaluations. 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(e)
Includes parent-funded IEEs that meet criteria. 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(c)
Per district evaluation the parent disagrees with. 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(b)(5)
Federal guidance treats an FBA as an evaluation, so IEE rights apply. OSEP, Letter to Baus (2015)
District must explain refusals in writing. 34 C.F.R. § 300.503
Pick any combination. Families often use more than one at once, and some pairings have rules about how they interact.
Your combination
Due process rows reflect the state selected at the top. Check your state education agency's procedural safeguards notice for anything not shown.
Send it by email and keep the sent copy, or deliver it in person and ask for a date-stamped copy. Your written request date starts the clock on the district's response.
Approved, but nothing's happening?
Once the district approves your IEE in a Prior Written Notice, the evaluator you chose has to sign an agreement with the district before testing can start. That step happens between the evaluator and the district, so families usually don't see it.
This is where IEEs most often stall. A district may respond with new requirements, one at a time, while weeks pass. If your evaluator seems slow to schedule, this is usually why.
A district may require an IEE to meet the same criteria it uses for its own evaluations, including the location of the evaluation and the examiner's qualifications. Beyond that, it may not impose other conditions or timelines. 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(e)
Federal guidance repeats it: the district "is prohibited from imposing other conditions or timelines." OSEP, Letter to Savit (2016)
- Step 1District approves the IEEUsually in a Prior Written Notice
- Step 2You choose an evaluatorAnd complete their intake paperwork
- Step 3Evaluator sends the agreementTo the district's special education office
- Step 4 · Most delaysDistrict signs the agreementNew demands often appear here
- Step 5Testing is scheduledRecords, observation, sessions
- Step 6Report and IEP meetingThe team must consider the results
Roadblocks evaluators run into
Collected from real district responses. Check any the district has raised; each adds a paragraph to the letter below. Pick your state at the top to see what your state adds.
Another option: pay now, seek reimbursement later
Families don't have to wait out a contracting standoff. You can pay an evaluator privately so the evaluation happens now, then ask the district, or a hearing officer, to reimburse you.
When families consider it
- The need is urgent or time-sensitive, and months of delay would harm your child.
- Your child is in residential treatment, including out of state, and needs an evaluation where they are.
- You've made a unilateral placement, moving your child from public school to a private school, and plan to seek reimbursement for it.
- The district approved the IEE but contracting has stalled for weeks.
How it works
- Keep your IEE request on record. Reimbursement is strongest when you asked the district in writing first and it delayed, refused without filing for due process, or approved and then stalled.
- Tell the district in writing that you're proceeding privately because of the delay and will seek reimbursement. Ask whether it will reimburse directly if the evaluator meets its criteria.
- Choose an evaluator who meets the district's criteria, so the cost can't be refused on that basis.
- Keep every receipt, invoice and message.
- Share the report with the IEP team. The team must consider a privately paid evaluation that meets district criteria 34 C.F.R. § 300.502(c).
- If the district won't pay, reimbursement can be sought through due process or, for procedural violations, a state complaint.
Know the risks
- Reimbursement isn't guaranteed. If a hearing officer finds the district's own evaluation was appropriate, you may not be repaid.
- Costs above the district's cost criteria may be repaid only in part, unless you show unique circumstances.
- Private school placements have notice rules. To seek reimbursement for a unilateral placement, parents generally must reject the district's placement at the most recent IEP meeting, or give written notice at least 10 business days before removing the child. Skipping notice can reduce or deny reimbursement 34 C.F.R. § 300.148.
- Residential placements raise extra questions, such as whether the placement is needed for educational reasons.
Before you pay privately, and especially before a private or residential placement, get legal advice. Notice requirements, deadlines and your state's rules can decide whether you're repaid. CDA can share contacts for special education attorneys.
Letter to the district
Coming from you, the parent, this carries weight. Copy your evaluator so everyone has the same record.
If the district still doesn't sign or explain, a state complaint can address the delay. Find your state's link at the bottom of the Deadlines tab.
All 13 CDA states
Tap a row to switch the whole tool to that state.
Compiled from state statutes, regulations, and state education agency guidance in November 2026. Laws change; confirm deadlines with the cited source or a special education attorney before relying on them.
Enter any date to see the timelines that follow from it, using the rules for your state.
Sample dates filled in. Replace with yours.
District evaluation
Date of the report you disagree with
Your IEE request
Date you asked in writing
Evaluation consent
Date you signed consent for an initial evaluation
Due process filed
Date the parent's complaint was filed
Hearing decision received
Date you received the hearing decision
State complaint filed
Date the state agency received it
Your upcoming deadlines
Filing windows usually run from when you knew or should have known about the problem, which is often but not always the report date. School-day estimates skip weekends only; add holidays and breaks from your district calendar. Hearing officers can extend hearing timelines at a party's request.