The Ready Seat. IEP Guide.
How to request an IEP evaluation from your school
Last reviewed September 6, 2026. Federal rules cited from the IDEA regulations at 34 CFR Part 300. Your state may set a shorter evaluation timeline; check your procedural safeguards notice. Educational information, not legal advice.
QUICK ANSWER
Quick answer: to request an IEP evaluation, send a dated, written request to your school’s principal or special education director asking the district to evaluate your child in all areas of suspected disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and keep a copy. The district must respond with prior written notice that either proposes the evaluation and asks for your consent or explains in writing why it refuses (34 CFR 300.503). Once you give written consent, the initial evaluation must be completed within 60 days unless your state sets its own timeline (34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)).
A verbal request can be forgotten. A written request creates a date, and the date is what the timelines run from. This guide walks through the letter, the eight steps, and what the school is required to do next.
Who can request an evaluation?
Either a parent or the school district may request an initial evaluation to decide whether a child is a child with a disability (34 CFR 300.301(b)). You do not need a doctor’s diagnosis, a teacher’s agreement, or a failing grade to ask. The district also has its own duty, called Child Find, to identify and evaluate children who may need special education (34 CFR 300.111), so a school cannot treat your request as unusual.
You can request an evaluation for a child in a public school, a public charter school, or a private school, and for a child who is home schooled. For children in private schools, the district where the school is located handles the evaluation (34 CFR 300.131).
How to request the evaluation, step by step
Step 1. Put the request in writing and date it
Write a short letter or email addressed to the principal and the district’s director of special education, and put today’s date at the top. A dated written request becomes the record you and the school will both rely on. Keep a copy for your own file.
Step 2. Ask for an evaluation in all areas of suspected disability
Use that phrase. Federal rules require the district to assess the child in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communication, and motor abilities (34 CFR 300.304(c)(4)). Naming the phrase prevents a narrow evaluation that looks at reading and nothing else.
Step 3. Describe what you see, in facts
Give two to five concrete observations: what happens, how often, and for how long. “Reads 20 minutes of homework in 90 minutes and cries most nights” is more useful than “struggles with reading.” You do not need to name a condition, and you should not guess at one. Attach anything relevant you already have, such as report cards, work samples, or outside reports.
Step 4. Ask for your procedural safeguards notice
The district must give you a copy of the procedural safeguards notice upon a request for evaluation (34 CFR 300.504(a)(1)). Asking for it in the same letter gets your rights, including your state’s specific timelines, into your hands early.
Step 5. Ask for a written response and the consent form
Ask the district to respond in writing within a reasonable time, and to send the consent form it needs from you. The district’s response must be prior written notice, which has required contents: what it proposes or refuses, why, and what information it relied on (34 CFR 300.503(b)).
Step 6. Deliver it so you can prove delivery
Email the letter and also hand deliver or mail a printed copy. Ask for a reply that confirms receipt. Save the sent email, and note the date, time, and the person who received the paper copy.
Step 7. Sign the consent promptly and record the date
The 60-day federal clock, or your state’s clock, starts on the day the district receives your signed consent for the evaluation (34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)). Consent for evaluation is separate from consent for services, and it does not commit you to anything else (34 CFR 300.300). Write the consent date in your log.
Step 8. Track the clock and prepare for the eligibility meeting
Count 60 calendar days from consent, or your state’s timeline, and calendar it. When the evaluation is complete, a team that includes you decides eligibility, and you are entitled to a copy of the evaluation report and the eligibility documentation at no cost (34 CFR 300.306(a)(2)). If your child is eligible, the IEP meeting must be held within 30 days of that decision (34 CFR 300.323(c)(1)).
What the letter should include
The date, your name, your child’s full name, date of birth, school, and grade.
A clear sentence: “I am requesting a full and individual initial evaluation of my child in all areas of suspected disability under IDEA.”
Two to five factual observations from home and, if you have them, comments from teachers.
A request for a copy of the procedural safeguards notice.
A request for the consent form and a written response.
A sentence noting that you want to participate in every meeting and to receive copies of all evaluation reports before the eligibility meeting.
Your phone number and email, and a signature.
Keep the tone warm and businesslike. The best letters read like a parent who is organized and ready to work with the team, not a parent preparing for a fight.
What the school must do after it receives your request
Requirement
What the rule requires
Where it is written
Respond to your request
Prior written notice that proposes the evaluation or explains a refusal
34 CFR 300.503
Get your consent
Written parental consent before the initial evaluation
34 CFR 300.300(a)
Complete the evaluation
Within 60 days of consent, or the state’s timeline
34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)
All areas of suspected disability, using a variety of tools
34 CFR 300.304
Decide eligibility with you
A team of qualified professionals and the parent
34 CFR 300.306
Give you the report
A copy of the evaluation report and eligibility documentation at no cost
34 CFR 300.306(a)(2)
Write the IEP
Meeting within 30 days of an eligibility determination
34 CFR 300.323(c)(1)
Several states set shorter timelines than 60 days or count school days instead of calendar days. The unit matters: 60 school days can run past a whole semester. Your state’s rule is in the procedural safeguards notice.
What if the school says no, or says to wait?
A district may refuse to evaluate, but it must do so in prior written notice that explains why and what information it relied on (34 CFR 300.503). A verbal “let’s wait and see” is not a refusal you can act on, so ask for the decision in writing.
A school may not use a response-to-intervention process to delay or deny an evaluation of a child suspected of having a disability. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs said so directly in a January 2011 memorandum (OSEP Memo 11-07).
If the district refuses, you can ask for mediation, file a state complaint with your state education agency, or file a due process complaint (34 CFR 300.506, 300.151, 300.507). Many disagreements resolve once the request and the refusal are both in writing.
Common questions about evaluation requests
Do I need a diagnosis before I ask for an evaluation?
No. The evaluation is how the school determines whether your child has a disability that requires special education. An outside diagnosis can be helpful information for the team, but it is neither required to request an evaluation nor sufficient on its own to establish eligibility (34 CFR 300.306).
Can the school make me try interventions first?
A school can offer interventions, but it cannot use them to delay or deny an evaluation you have requested for a child suspected of having a disability (OSEP Memo 11-07). If the school wants to try interventions, ask it to put its response in prior written notice.
Does my request have to use special legal words?
No. A clear request for an initial evaluation under IDEA is enough. The phrase “in all areas of suspected disability” is useful because it mirrors the regulation the district must follow (34 CFR 300.304(c)(4)).
What if my child is in a private school or is home schooled?
You can still request an evaluation. For a child in a private school, the district where the school is located is responsible for Child Find and the evaluation (34 CFR 300.131). Services for parentally placed private school children differ from public school services, so ask the district to explain the options in writing.