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Anyone can make a referral for evaluation, including you or another person involved in the education or care of your child. However, it is up to the parent or guardian to consent to the evaluation. It is best practice to put the referral in writing and give it to the Special Education contact or Principal at your child’s school. If you don’t know who this person is, ask your child’s teacher. If your child is not in school yet, contact your school district or local education service center to know where your home school is. Then call the school to obtain the name of the Special Education contact or Principal and send the written referral to this person. You should receive a written response from the school.
What happens when the school receives the referral?
Screening/Full and Individual Initial Evaluation
Once the referral is received and reviewed by the school they will decline it, recommend a screening, or develop a plan for a Full and Individual Initial Evaluation (FIE) for the child. Do expect their decision in writing.
A screening is a brief assessment of your child’s development. The testing procedures are different from those of the FIE. A screening is often part of the school’s initial evaluation process. The school will complete a screening if/when they need more information to support that a child may have a disability and a need for special education services. It is also often used to decide whether an FIE is actually needed.
Be advised, a screening can not decide ongoing eligibility for special education and or needed related services. Only an evaluation can decide whether a child has a disability and/or is eligible for special education and/or related services. If you have requested an evaluation for your child in writing, and the school proposes to provide more intensive instruction before doing the evaluation, the school must provide you with Prior Written Notice regarding their decision (see procedural safeguards).
Review of Existing Evaluation Data (REED)
A REED helps schools decide whether current information in a child’s school file can be used to determine a child’s eligibility for special education. A REED does not have to take place in a meeting. However, it must involve an ARD committee (this includes you, a district representative and other qualified professionals). A review of existing evaluation data (REED) on a child includes:
- Evaluations and information provided by the parent and other programs (for example, early childhood programs);
- Observations made by teachers and specialists (for example, speech therapists and physical therapists);
- Classroom-based, local, or state assessments, and classroom-based observations;
- Response to interventions and support services like tutorial, remedial, compensatory, and other services.
On the basis of that review, and input from the child’s parents, the committee must identify additional data, if any, needed to determine:
- Whether the child has a disability, and the educational needs of the child or;
- Whether the child needs special education and related services.
Once the school decides on what action to take, the school must inform parents in writing (in parent’s native language) of such planned action before taking it. For example, the school must send parents a notice in writing of their recommendation for a Full Initial and Individual Evaluation before completing such evaluation. Also included in this notice is a parental consent for evaluation. You should only sign the consent if you wish to have your child evaluated in all areas where he or she may have a disability. This includes health, vision, hearing, social-emotional, general intelligence, academic performance, communication, and physical abilities.
If you decide not to have your child evaluated, the school district can disagree with your decision. The school district also has due process rights. The school can use its right to get permission for the evaluation from the Texas Education Agency.
The school must also inform a parent in writing of the school’s refusal to take an action requested by the parent. For example, prior written notice must be given to the parent when/if the school decides an evaluation is not needed, as requested by the parent. Parents must also be informed in writing when/if the school decides to do a screening instead of an evaluation. Parents who disagree with any school decisions have due process rights they can exercise at any time. For more information on Due Process, please go to "Dispute Resolution".
Parental consent
Parents are expected to sign parental consent only when in agreement with the schools recommendation. Once the school receives signed parental consent, they must complete a Full Initial and Individual Evaluation (FIE) within 60 days of receiving the consent. Be advised, if you don’t give written permission for evaluation, the 60-day time-frame might not begin. If you consent to evaluation, be sure to give this written consent in a timely manner.
This is a good time to share information about your child’s strengths, challenges and interests. You may want to write this information and attach it to the consent. Sharing this information with the evaluators ahead of time helps them decide which test, testing items, and accommodations to use, and what changes to make at the evaluation. As a result, the evaluators will be better prepared and can give a better picture of your child.
Please also know that you have the right to ask the district to provide the names of all test(s) that will be used. Knowing this information allows parents to ensure that the evaluators are using valid and reliable assessments. At the request of a parent and prior to a parent’s consent for a psychological examination or test, a school district shall provide to the child’s parent:
- the name and type of examination or test; and
- an explanation of how the examination or test will be used to develop appropriate individualized education program (IEP) for the child.
If additional evaluations are needed for the purpose of determining a child’s need for special education after the parent’s initial consent, the district must seek new parent consent. The district must inform the parent why the additional evaluation is needed.
What parents need to remember
- Always keep copies of ALL written documents for your records.
- Anyone can make a referral for evaluation.
- You should be part of the Review of Existing Evaluation Data (Reed), if one is done, as part of an initial evaluation.
- You have the right to ask what examinations or tests will be used and how they will be used to develop the individualized education program (IEP).
- The school must send you a written notice when they recommend AND decline a Full Initial and Individual Evaluation or suggest a screening instead of a FIE.
- The school must have your written consent before completing any evaluation.
- You have due process rights in every step of the special education process.
To learn more, click on the next step in the Evaluation Process:
Or go back to:
Additional Resources:
TEA A Guide to The ARD Process, A manual for parents
TEA Legal Framework for Child Centered Special Education Process
TEA Guidance Related to Evaluations: Review of Existing Evaluation Data (REED)
TEA Response to Intervention Guidance
2012 IDEA Manual, a parent manual by The Arc of Texas and Disability Rights Texas
NICHCY’s Building the Legacy: A Training Curriculum on IDEA 2004 - Initial Evaluation and ReevaluationNICHCY’s Evaluating Children for Disability
Special Education Evaluation an Overview by GreatSchools.net
http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/2031The National Center for Learning Disabilities – IDEA Parent Guide
The National Center for Learning Disabilities – A Parents Guide to Response-to-Intervention (pdf)
Revolutionary Common Sense article used with permission from K. Snow, Disability is Natural: Life Beyond the Label (pdf)
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