Outside Evaluators

What’s Required

When an Outside Evaluation is provided by a parent(s), a HCISD multi-disciplinary team (MDT) must consider the findings for a student in Special Education. The term “Outside Evaluation” refers to any evaluation that was not conducted through a public school referral and eligibility process. The MDT determines whether or not to accept the findings of the Outside Evaluation, and may choose to accept all, none, or a portion of the findings. Authorities: 20 U.S.C. § 1414; 34 C.F.R. Part 300; Texas Education Code; 19 TAC Chapter 89

A Full and Individual Evaluation (FIE) must consist of procedures to determine if the child is a child with a disability and to determine the educational needs of the child. 300.301 (2)(i)(ii)

The evaluation shall be conducted using procedures that are appropriate for the student’s most proficient method of communication. 29.004(b)

A variety of assessment tools and strategies must be used to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information about the child, including information provided by the parent, that may assist in determining whether the child is a child with a disability and in determining the content of the child’s IEP, including information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general education curriculum (or for a preschool child, to participate in appropriate activities). 300.304(b)(i)(ii)

The evaluator must ensure that the child is assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities. 300.304(c)(4)

What We Do

When an Outside Evaluation is received by HCISD, a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) release may be requested. This will allow the MDT to contact the outside evaluator(s) for more information, if needed.

The HCISD evaluator(s) will conduct an analysis of the data generated from the Outside Evaluation based on the requirements of the district’s FIE using the attached Outside Evaluation Analysis Tool. If the Outside Evaluation is as a result of an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), a comparative analysis of data generated from HCISD’s evaluation and data generated from the Outside Evaluation will be conducted using the attached Outside Evaluation Analysis Tool.

The HCISD evaluator(s) will make recommendations based on the analysis; and the ARD committee will determine whether the Outside Evaluation will be accepted.