Re-evaluation Process

A Re-evaluation must be conducted at least every three years or earlier if conditions warrant. Re-evaluations may be requested by any member of the IEP team prior to the triennial due date (e.g., when teams suspect a new disability, when considering a change in eligibility for services, or for program planning purposes). This process involves a review of previous assessments, current academic performance, and input from a student’s parents, teachers, and related service providers. This information will be  documented on the Re-evaluation Summary Report (RSR). The documented previous assessments should include any assessment results obtained as part of an evaluation (e.g., comprehensive evaluation, program planning evaluation, secondary disability evaluation, or Independent Educational Evaluation).

Teams will review the RSR during an IEP meeting before deciding on and obtaining consent for re-evaluation needs. Therefore, it is advisable for the IEP team to meet at least 60 calendar days prior to the Re-evaluation due date. Reminder: All IEP and re-evaluation meetings require a 10-day notice of the meeting. Depending on the child’s needs and progress, Re-evaluation may not require the administration of tests or other formal measures. Consequently, the IEP team must thoroughly review all relevant data when determining each child’s evaluation need.

Some of the reasons for requesting early Re-evaluations may include:

• concerns, such as lack of progress in the special education services;

• new information or data acquired by an IEP team member of

• review and discussion of the student’s continuing need for special education (i.e., goals and objectives have been met and the IEP team is considering the student’s exit from his/her special education program); or

  • new or additional suspected disabilities (i.e., significant health changes, outside evaluation data, changes in performance leading to additional concerns).

The IEP team may decide an evaluation is needed or not in order to determine continued eligibility. All components of the RSR must be reviewed prior to determining the most appropriate decision for Re-evaluation. Reasons to consider evaluating or not are listed below.

Evaluation is needed:

• The team determines no additional data and/or assessment is needed for the student’s primary disability. The IEP team decides that the student will continue to be eligible for special education services in his/her primary disability; however, the IEP team determines that the student may have an additional disability. Therefore, an evaluation needs to be completed in the suspected disability area to determine if the student has a secondary or additional disability classification. The eligibility should be updated after the completion of the evaluation if the team agrees another disability is present (this should not change the primary disability eligibility date).

• The team determines additional data and/or assessment is needed for program planning purposes only. This is a limited evaluation that is specific to address and gather information for goals or service planning. This evaluation does not include all assessment components utilized when determining an eligibility, therefore eligibility cannot be determined from information gathered during program planning. If a change in primary eligibility needs to be considered, a comprehensive evaluation should be conducted.

• The team determines an additional evaluation is needed to determine if this student continues to be eligible for special education services with the currently identified disabilities. A comprehensive evaluation is necessary anytime a team is considering a change in the primary disability, therefore eligibility is not determined until the completion of the evaluation. It should be noted that comprehensive evaluations must include all components required for the eligibility(s) in question. 

• For out-of-state transfers: The team determines additional data and/or assessment is needed when a student transfers from out-of-state, because all eligibility requirements did not meet current Tennessee eligibility standards. Therefore, the IEP team decides that the student would be temporarily eligible for special education services in Tennessee under their out-of-state identified disability(s) while a comprehensive evaluation is being conducted.

The team determines no additional data and/or assessment is needed:

• The IEP team decides that the student will continue to be eligible for special education services with their currently identified disability(s).

• The IEP team decides that the student will continue to be eligible for special education services in their primary disability; however, the IEP team determines that the student is no longer identified with their secondary disability.

• The student is no longer eligible for special education services.

The Special Education Case Manager is responsible for scheduling the Re-evaluation meeting and ensuring that all required observation forms (i.e., Parent Observation, General Education Teacher Observation, Related Service Provider Observation, etc.) are completed prior to the Re-evaluation meeting. The Certifying Specialist will complete the RSR and will facilitate the Re-evaluation meeting. 

All Re-evaluation forms should be generated in . Please see the guidance below regarding Re-evaluations for students identified as having a Specific Learning Disability.