By Steven Imber, Ph.D.
Educational Specialist
Parent and grandparents may see their child exhibiting behaviors in school and at home that seem different than expected.
The child may not make eye contact, may perform repetitive behaviors, have difficulty relating to peers and adults, experience challenges when following rules and expectations in school and at home, may experience difficulties in learning to read, doing mathematical calculation or problem-solving or expressing in writing.
Identifying the causes of why children exhibit these and other behaviors may not always be easy.
However, such students often need assistance from their parents and from school personnel in order to progress in school.
Within the public school setting, students who experience challenges described above may respond to initiatives that occur within the general education setting without specialized intervention, but what about those students who do not respond favorably?
Parents and school personnel have the opportunity to refer such a child form a special education evaluation which may include psychological testing (e.g., intelligence testing, behavior ratings, etc.), special education testing in various academic areas (e.g., in reading, mathematics and in written expressive written language skills) and in other areas of either the child’s parents or school personnel to determine an issue.
For example, a child who has difficulty being understood by his parents and teachers may have an articulation problem.
Some children have substantial challenges in comprehending what their parents or teachers say or in following directions.
Other students may experience difficulty in expressing their needs.
Such children may need to have an evaluation conducted by a speech and language specialist.
There are children who have substantial difficulty in handwriting, cutting, pasting, using scissors, coloring or painting.
Such students may need to have an evaluation conducted by an occupational therapist.
School departments have personnel who are certified and are usually highly qualified to conduct such evaluations.
Public school departments often conduct competent, thorough evaluations of students who may have disabilities.
But sometimes, a parent becomes concerned about a district’s evaluation.
In some cases, the child may be found to be ineligible for special education services.
In some cases the results of the testing may lead school personnel to conclude that a child who, in the past, has qualified for special education services, appears to no longer need such services.
Sometimes, parents are at odds with school evaluation results that suggest that the child is making substantial progress when the parent believes otherwise.
Parents may also question school recommendations for more or less special education services.
Under the above conditions, what options do parents have?
Under federal and state regulations, parents have a right to an independent educational evaluation by a specialist in the field who is not employed by a local school department, but has the qualifications to conduct an evaluation which is independent of the district’s evaluation.
The parent may request that such an evaluation be conducted at the expense of the school department or may choose to have such an evaluation conducted at private expense.
Districts can elect to challenge the parent and initiate a due process hearing to demonstrate that its own evaluation is “appropriate.”
In other instances, districts may agree to assume the cost of an independent educational evaluation.
Districts must consider the results of an independent educational evaluation but are not obligated to concur with the results or act on the recommendations of an independent educational evaluator.
It is important for parents who wish to gain a “second opinion” from an independent educational evaluator to insure that the person with whom they entrust their child’s education is trained and qualified to conduct such an evaluation without supervision (unless the person is an intern who is closely supervised), is truly independent from the school department, has the ability to interact positively with school personnel, has knowledge about special education regulations and is capable of testifying, if necessary, about the results of their evaluation and on other matters.
If possible, it is always best to select an independent educational evaluator who will cogently advocate for the child’s needs based upon a variety of sources of data in a collaborative manner with school district personnel.
It is wise to expect the evaluator to conduct detailed school observations, to consult with school personnel whenever possible and to review thoroughly the child’s records.
