INDEPENDENT EVALUATIONS AND CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

An Independent Educational Evaluation is an evaluation that a parent can request when they disagree with the school district's evaluation of their child. The school district must bear the cost of the outside evaluator. Most parents are not aware of this option and rarely use it. What parents also seldom realize is that this evaluator, or their child's psychologist, can actually observe the child in class. This observation can give the evaluator an excellent view of how the child respond's to behavior modification techniques, teaching modalities, and the curriculum. The reason so few parents are aware of this is that IDEA (the federal law governing special education) is silent as to whether districts must permit evaluators hired by the child's parents to observe the child in the classroom. However, the law, both Article 7 of the Indiana Code and IDEA, require that individual educational evaluations follow the same criteria as the district's own evaluations. Most districts in the U.S. have the evaluators see the child's classroom experience prior to writing an educational evaluation.

A recent case out of Florida, further illustrates this legal principal. In the case of School Bd. of Manatee County, Fla v. L.H. by D.H. and B.H., 53 IDELR 149 (M.D. Fla. 2009), the Court found that a Florida district had to allow a private psychologist observations in school of an 11 year old student with Asperger's syndrome. The district fought this all the way to the District Court which affirmed the due process decision.

In conclusion, parents should exercise their rights for evaluations of their children both in testing and in classroom observation. Don't be afraid to ask for what you need.