Independent Educational Evaluation in Maryland: How to Get One at Public Expense

Your child's school just completed an evaluation and concluded she doesn't qualify for special education services. Or the evaluation did find a disability, but the results feel thin — one test, minimal observations, goals that don't reflect what you see at home every day. You sense something is wrong, but you don't know what to do next.

In Maryland, you have a right that most parents are never clearly told about: the Independent Educational Evaluation, or IEE. Here's what it is, how Maryland's rules work, and the exact steps to request one.

What an IEE Actually Is

An Independent Educational Evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of your child conducted by a qualified professional who has no employment relationship with the school system — not a district psychologist, not a county specialist. The evaluator you choose is genuinely independent.

When you disagree with any aspect of the school system's evaluation, you can request that the district pay for this independent assessment. This isn't a courtesy — it's a right under both the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Maryland Education Article § 8-405.

The IEE carries real legal weight. Once completed, the IEP team is legally required to consider its findings. They don't have to adopt every recommendation, but they have to engage with the data on the record.

Maryland's 30-Day Response Rule

Federal law establishes that when a parent requests a publicly funded IEE, the school must respond — but Maryland's statute tightens the timeline considerably. Under Maryland Education Article § 8-405, once the local school system receives your written IEE request, it is placed on a strict 30-day timeline.

Within those 30 days, the LEA must do one of two things:

1. Approve the request in writing and provide you with information about how to arrange the evaluation (including criteria such as evaluator qualifications and geographic area), or
2. File a due process complaint to proactively defend the appropriateness of its own evaluation before an Administrative Law Judge at the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH).

The district cannot simply ignore your request, delay indefinitely, or offer a verbal "we'll get back to you." The written request you submit starts a legal clock.

How to Request a Special Education Evaluation — or Dispute an Existing One

Whether you are requesting an initial evaluation because you suspect your child has a disability, or requesting an IEE because you disagree with the school's completed assessment, the mechanism is the same: a written, dated letter submitted to the school.

For an initial evaluation request, address the letter to both the school principal and the local special education coordinator. State clearly that you are requesting a comprehensive evaluation under IDEA and COMAR 13A.05.01. Describe the specific concerns you are observing. Reference any outside diagnoses, medical records, or private assessments you have. Specify the areas you believe need to be evaluated — academic achievement, processing, social-emotional functioning, language, motor skills, or whatever is relevant.

This matters because Maryland's 60/90 dual-timeline rule begins the moment your written referral is received. The IEP team must complete the evaluation and hold an eligibility meeting within 60 calendar days of receiving your signed consent, or within 90 calendar days of your initial written referral — whichever comes first. Maryland closes a loophole that other states leave open: they can't stall by dragging out the consent form.

For an IEE request, your letter should clearly state that you disagree with the school system's evaluation conducted on [date] and that you are requesting an Independent Educational Evaluation at public expense pursuant to IDEA and Maryland Education Article § 8-405. You don't have to give elaborate reasons. The simple fact that you disagree with the school's evaluation is sufficient.

Send the letter via email to the special education director and follow up with a printed copy. Keep confirmation of receipt — this is your paper trail.

What Evaluations Must Cover Under COMAR

Maryland's evaluation standards under COMAR 13A.05.01.04 and .06 are more protective than the federal baseline in several ways:

• No single-test eligibility. A student cannot be found eligible or ineligible based on one instrument. The law requires a variety of assessment tools and sources of information.
• Classroom observation required for SLD. If Specific Learning Disability is being considered, at least one IEP team member must conduct a direct observation of the child's academic performance in the regular classroom setting.
• Comprehensive scope. Evaluations must assess all areas of suspected disability. If you believe your child has co-occurring challenges in language and social-emotional functioning, the evaluation must address both — not just the one the district selected.

When you receive the school's evaluation report, read it carefully against these standards before your eligibility meeting. If it relied on a single standardized test, lacked classroom observation, or didn't assess an area you raised in your referral letter, document those gaps in writing before you sit down at the table.

When the IEE Comes Back

Once an independent evaluator completes the assessment, the IEP team must convene to review it. The school cannot schedule a meeting before you have had adequate time to review the report — and under Maryland's Five-Day Rule, documents must be provided to parents at least five business days before any IEP meeting. This applies to the IEE report being submitted by you, too: send it to the district well in advance and request a meeting date.

The independent evaluation may conclude that your child is eligible when the district said she wasn't, that she needs more intensive services than the IEP currently reflects, or that a specific related service — occupational therapy, augmentative communication, behavioral support — was missed entirely. Each finding requires the team to respond with data of its own or document why it is not adopting the recommendation.

If the team continues to refuse appropriate services despite a compelling IEE, that documented pattern becomes the foundation of a formal MSDE State Complaint or, if warranted, a due process filing.

Building Your Evaluation Paper Trail

Maryland's formal state complaint process allows parents to report violations that occurred within the past year. If the district violates the 30-day IEE response rule, misses the 60/90 evaluation timeline, or fails to assess all areas of suspected disability, those are documentable procedural violations that the MSDE Family Support and Dispute Resolution Branch investigates.

Keep a running log of every communication: dates, names, what was said and what was promised. If a school psychologist verbally tells you the IEE request is being "processed," follow up in writing by email: "As a summary of our conversation today, I understand the district is processing my IEE request dated [date]. Please confirm in writing whether the district will approve or file for due process within the 30-day window."

That email creates a record. Bureaucracies respond differently when they know the parent understands the rules.

Getting Tactical Support for the Evaluation Process

The Maryland IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/maryland/advocacy/ includes ready-to-send letter templates for both initial evaluation requests and IEE demands, with the exact COMAR and statutory citations pre-loaded. It also covers what to do when the school system files for due process in response to your IEE request — a scenario that intimidates most parents but is actually a signal that the district is on uncertain legal ground.

Maryland's evaluation timelines are among the tightest in the country. Use them. A written request submitted today starts a clock the district is legally required to honor.

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