Getting a private evaluation onto the IEP team’s record
A private evaluation letter asks your child’s team to say, in writing, what it did with each recommendation in the report you already paid for. It works whether the outside report points toward therapy, an accommodation, or a different placement entirely. You can send it today: paste it into an email, replace what sits in brackets, and write down the day the school received it; the table below says which day starts each clock.
What the rule says
“If the parent … shares with the public agency an evaluation obtained at private expense, the results of the evaluation … must be considered by the public agency … in any decision made with respect to the provision of FAPE to the child …”
34 CFR 300.502(c)(1)
The private report you already paid for now factors into the decision, not just your file.
When to send it
- You handed the school a private evaluation weeks ago and no IEP page mentions it since.
- Progress notes still describe the exact struggle the outside report already diagnosed and explained.
- The team discussed the report out loud at the meeting, then nothing about it appears in the notes.
What happens after you send it
| What is being counted | By when | How it is counted |
|---|---|---|
| The team answers, in writing | Set by your state | No IDEA count governs this response; your state’s general timeline standards apply here instead.34 CFR 300.502(c) |
| Reevaluation ceiling | 3 years | If this leads to a reevaluation, IDEA caps the wait at three years absent agreement otherwise.34 CFR 300.303(b)(2) |
What the letter has to contain
The evaluation and its date
An undated report is easy to wave off as something the team already knew.
Results shared with the school must be considered in FAPE decisions. 34 CFR 300.502(c)(1)
Each recommendation, named
Bundling every recommendation into one ask lets the team answer the easy one and skip the rest.
Evaluations you provide are part of the data the team reviews. 34 CFR 300.305(a)(1)(i)
The concern behind the ask
A recommendation with no concern behind it reads as a clinic’s preference; the concern is what the team weighs.
Your concerns are something the IEP Team must weigh directly. 34 CFR 300.324(a)(1)(ii)
The response, on paper
Something said in the hallway is gone by the next meeting; something written stays put.
Declining every recommendation without explanation still owes you something in writing. 34 CFR 300.503(a)(2)
The letter
Replace everything in brackets. The rest sends as it stands.
- To
- Whoever manages your child’s IEP file
- Subject
- Team review of a private evaluation — [Child’s name], dated [Report date]
Dear [Case Manager], On [date you gave it to the school], I shared with the team a private evaluation for [Child’s name], completed by [Evaluator or clinic name]. I would like a record of how each recommendation in it was handled. The evaluation recommends: • [Recommendation one] • [Recommendation two] • [Recommendation three, if there is one] For each item above, please tell me in writing whether the team adopted it, adjusted it, or declined it, and the reasoning either way. A second copy of the full report is attached in case the version already in the file is incomplete. I would like this addressed before the next scheduled meeting rather than left open past it. Respectfully, [Your name] [Email] · [Cell] [Today’s date]
If no answer comes back
Measure the response window your state sets for this kind of request, counting from the day this letter reached the case manager.
- Reply to your own email rather than starting over, so the hand-off date stays attached.
- Ask specifically which recommendations were discussed and which were never addressed at all.
- Ask directly that the next meeting agenda name this report by title.
A no owes you prior written notice: the decision, the reason for it, and the records behind it (34 CFR 300.503).
This is a template, not legal advice: it does not replace your state’s procedures, or advice from someone qualified to read your file.
Have the pages you are writing about read back to you, free.
The review reads every page you upload, names the wording that is vague or missing, and gives you its page number.
Review my IEP — freeFree, no card. It reads your pages and contacts no one.
Where this comes from
- Independent educational evaluations (34 CFR 300.502)The words quoted above.
- Development, review, and revision of the IEP (34 CFR 300.324)Where your concerns get weighed.
- Center for Parent Information and Resources: IEEsHow outside evaluations fit in.
- Prior written notice (34 CFR 300.503)What a no owes you.
Response deadlines are set state by state, and the state pages carry each number with its rule.