How to Request a Special Education Evaluation in Texas: FIIE, Timelines, and Your Rights

The school has been monitoring your child's progress for months. Maybe there have been interventions, RTI tiers, or a referral to the campus support team. But nothing has changed, and you want answers. A formal special education evaluation — called a Full Individual and Initial Evaluation (FIIE) in Texas — is how you get them.

Here is exactly how to request one, what the district is required to do, and what to do if the process goes wrong.

The Difference Between RTI/MTSS and the FIIE

Texas schools use a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework to provide intervention before referral for special education evaluation. Tiers 1–3 of MTSS involve increasingly intensive classroom and support interventions. The goal is to identify whether a child's struggles respond to targeted instruction — or whether the challenges persist even with intervention, suggesting a possible disability.

The problem is that MTSS can become an indefinite delay. Districts sometimes tell parents they must complete all MTSS tiers before a FIIE can be requested. This is not accurate under Texas law.

Texas recognizes the Child Find obligation under TAC §89.1001 — the requirement to identify and evaluate all children who may have a disability requiring special education. Child Find applies regardless of MTSS status. If you have "reasonable cause" to believe your child has a disability, you can request a FIIE without completing the MTSS process.

Your written evaluation request does not depend on what tier your child is in. Submit it. The clock starts when the district receives your request.

How to Write a FIIE Request Letter

Your evaluation request should be in writing — email or certified mail — addressed to both the principal and the special education director (or coordinator) for your campus. Keep the following in a dated record.

The letter should include:

1. Your child's identifying information Full name, grade, date of birth, campus.

2. The specific concerns prompting the request Be concrete: "My child has difficulty decoding unfamiliar words, reads below grade level despite Tier 2 intervention, and was recently diagnosed with dyslexia by a private provider." Or: "My child has had 15 disciplinary referrals this year for behavior that we believe is related to ADHD and has not responded to classroom management strategies."

3. A formal request for a Full Individual and Initial Evaluation Use the term "FIIE" and cite IDEA and TAC Chapter 89: "I am requesting a Full Individual and Initial Evaluation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Texas Administrative Code Chapter 89 to determine whether my child is eligible for special education services."

4. All areas of suspected disability you want assessed Be specific about what areas you want the evaluation to cover. For a reading/dyslexia concern: cognitive ability, phonological processing, academic achievement (reading decoding, reading fluency, reading comprehension, written expression). For ADHD: cognitive ability, academic achievement, behavioral rating scales, executive function assessment, classroom observation. For autism: cognitive ability, academic achievement, adaptive behavior, communication (SLP assessment), autism diagnostic instruments, behavioral rating scales.

5. A request for the FIIE timeline "Please confirm receipt of this request and provide the evaluation timeline in writing, including the anticipated date of the initial ARD meeting."

What Happens After You Submit the Request

The district must respond in writing with a Prior Written Notice (PWN) either:

• Agreeing to evaluate and providing consent paperwork, or
• Refusing to evaluate and explaining why

If the district agrees to evaluate, the 45-calendar-day clock starts when you sign and return the consent form. Under TAC §89.1011, the district has 45 calendar days to complete the FIIE and hold the initial ARD meeting — with narrow exceptions for holiday periods.

If the district refuses to evaluate, the PWN must explain why and inform you of your right to dispute the refusal through mediation, due process, or a TEA state complaint.

The 45-Day Clock and What Counts

The 45-day timeline in Texas is one of the stricter evaluation timelines in the country — it is calendar days, not school days, and it runs from the date you provide signed consent.

Exceptions are limited:

• Holiday periods where school is not in session for five or more consecutive school days do not count (Winter Break, Thanksgiving week if applicable)
• Summer break does not count if consent is received fewer than 35 days before the last day of school

If the FIIE is not complete or the initial ARD has not been held by day 45, the district is in procedural violation. Document the timeline and, if the district is still running past the deadline, send a written notice citing the violation and ask for a written explanation.

What Must the FIIE Include?

The FIIE must assess all areas related to the suspected disability using a variety of tools. It cannot rely on a single test. Under TAC §89.1040, the evaluation must include:

• A review of existing records
• Information from the parents
• Information from the student's teachers
• Direct assessment data appropriate to the disability category

For SLD/Dyslexia evaluations after HB 3928 (2022): the FIIE must include phonological processing assessment and specific reading measures. A general cognitive-achievement battery alone is not sufficient.

The evaluation must be conducted by qualified professionals. For cognitive assessment and behavioral evaluation: an LSSP (Licensed Specialist in School Psychology). For academic achievement and SLD identification: an Educational Diagnostician or LSSP. For communication: an SLP. For autism-specific assessment: LSSP and/or BCBA.

After the FIIE: What Happens at the ARD

The FIIE report is reviewed at the initial ARD meeting. The ARD committee determines eligibility and, if eligible, begins IEP development. You have the right to:

• Receive the FIIE report before the meeting (best practice is at least five days before, though Texas does not mandate a specific number of days)
• Ask questions about the evaluation findings
• Bring a support person, advocate, or private evaluator's report
• Request that the ARD reconvene if you need more time to review

If you disagree with the FIIE results — because the evaluation was incomplete, the conclusions do not match the data, or a private evaluation tells a different story — you have the right to request an IEE at public expense. See texas-independent-educational-evaluation for that process.

Evaluation After Identification: Reevaluations

The FIIE is just the initial evaluation. Students who are already receiving special education services must be reevaluated every three years (or sooner if circumstances change, or if you request a reevaluation). The same process applies — you can request a reevaluation in writing at any time, and the district must conduct it or provide a PWN explaining why not.

If you believe your child's current evaluation data no longer accurately reflects their abilities or disability profile — for example, an autism evaluation that is five years old and was conducted before a significant developmental period — you can request a reevaluation before the three-year mark.

The Texas IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a fill-in-the-blank FIIE request letter template, a 45-day timeline tracker, and guidance on reviewing FIIE reports to identify gaps before the ARD meeting.

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