Independant Evaluation Serivce
Independent Evaluation Service is for parents or legal guardians who do not agree with the evaluation or re-evaluation done by the school district. Parents, legal guardians or surrogate parents are entitled to ask for one independent evaluation done by others who do not work in the school district. You may request as many (or as few) separate assessments as you wish when you request your one independent evaluation.
There is a process outlined in the Parental Rights in Special Education (PRISE) with safeguards, because there may be a time when you and the school district disagree. Your request for an independent evaluation may be because you decided that the evaluation was not performed correctly, was incomplete or you may believe that the school district’s evaluation should have included an assessment(s) that the school district did not do. The New Jersey Child Study Team provides such a service. An independent evaluation may be provided at no cost to you and will be at public expense.
If your child was evaluated prior to the referral to the child study team in your school district, then the report(s) may be used as assessments for an initial evaluation as part of the child study teams determination of eligibility for special services and related services. The report must have been completed within the past year and must be reviewed by the child study team member or other person in the district qualified to review the report. If the district determines that the report meets the requirements in the State regulations for evaluating students, the report may be used as one of the required assessments of your child.
Many disagreements can be resolved by communication with your child’s teacher, case manager, the school principal, or other school district personnel. There are also procedures established under state and federal law to address your concerns, such as complaint resolution, mediation or a due process hearing.
More information and clarification can be found in the New Jersey Department of Education "Parental Rights in Special Education".