You're right about asking for an IEE. The school can say yes or it's Due Process - those are the 2 options schools have. To remove an IEP, the school should do a reeval showing the student isn't behind. The special ed tests they use are normed. What teachers do tends to be subjective which is why you want a normed eval. In theory, schools should be offering parents 3 options for meeting times. We have lives outside of our kids and our schedules might not mesh with the school's. (There are doctors and other professionals who have kids with IEPs where they can't rearrange their schedules on short notice.) They shouldn't meet without you without giving you some options first. Meeting during the week before school starts when the teachers have their inservice could be an option. Teachers have lives outside of school too. IMO, special ed is a stressful job. Lots of teachers burnout after a short career. I can see how teachers miss things like having a meeting before heading to MS as they tend to have a lot of things to do to wrap up the year. If you see a goal, you can ask: How are you going to measure progress and determine if the goal has been met? If you feel the yardstick is subjective let them know. (Will they send you a copy of their proposed updates so you have time to review them before the meeting?) A good measure is imagining another teacher stepping to implement the IEP and measure the goals. Could they do what the teacher is doing and see the same thing? This is a good way to test how clear what's in the IEP is. I've also seen where a goal is met in therapy but the skill doesn't transfer outside of the therapy room. To move from a 504 back to an IEP, the school would need to do a new evaluation. It's data that drives what's in the IEP and this is how schools get that data. Hope this helps.

@JSD24, thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my questions. I did reach out to my child's school last week via E-mail and told the team that "I would like to better understand how the data they sent demonstrates that my child has met the two goals outlined in their IEP. If someone could please explain in detail how the data supports this determination, I would appreciate it." I also told them I have not received any additional data sets, nor have I received notice of a review meeting & asked if they could advise when the review meeting would occur and when I can expect to receive the remaining data? The SPED teacher responded with "so sorry for the delay regarding the data and scheduling the review meeting as it slipped my mind." They're aware that my child is moving to middle school. I'd like to give them grace, but I've been gaslit so much in the past year, it's hard for me to believe this was an oversight. Additional data was sent home, but there was 3 months missing. The school principal then responded that they can schedule a meeting on Tuesday at 11:30. I'm already losing time from work to attend my child's awards ceremony that day. I'm afraid to take any additional time off from work but school ends here on Friday. Last time I had a meeting with them, it was an hour + of time and then they didn't even address everything in the PWN. My fear is that they'll meet without me and switch the IEP to a 504 & remove some accommodations. They've brought this up numerous times in past meetings. And I know it's going to be a challenge to get switched back to an IEP. (They've already changed goals before an IEP meeting & they weren't SMART goals, so I have little trust in them.) I almost wonder if it would be best for me to tell them to send me the the details for their data that supports their position and I'll discuss it with the new school. I still want to request an IEE though. If they say "no," I guess the next step is due process if I'm not mistaken? Thanks for listening to one stressed out parent.....

Is there a specific timeline for requesting an IEE after the school completes testing? There isn't. Since it's been 15 months, they might want to do another eval rather than pay for an IEE. You might want to talk to the special ed director and ask them. I do agree that your child needs to be tested for pragmatics (and social skills). These are the areas of need with ADHD & autism. To whom is an IEE request addressed to? The school principal, school district SPED director, state agency? I'd address it to the principal, case manager (this would be the special ed teacher who writes the IEP), and the special ed director. (Send an email.) If the IEP goals aren't measurable (and the school was aware,) can I argue for an IEE? No. You do an IEE to get data. If a goal isn't measurable...well, you want SMART goals. My child is moving over to Middle School next school year, should there be a transition meeting which includes the SPED teacher at the new school? Not required under IDEA. It's a nice thing to do. Since the SPED teacher stated my child has mastered their goals, is it beneficial to ask for a meeting to have them show me how the data was collected even though they admitted the program they used only shows completion and isn't measurable? "What does that look like?" Ask that question when you feel a goal isn't measurable. If they didn't back their teacher, they would be admitting the IEP isn't FAPE.

I have a few questions which I hope the community can answer: Is there a specific timeline for requesting an IEE after the school completes testing? To whom is an IEE request addressed to? The school principal, school district SPED director, state agency? If the IEP goals aren't measurable (and the school was aware,) can I argue for an IEE? My child is moving over to Middle School next school year, should there be a transition meeting which includes the SPED teacher at the new school? Since the SPED teacher stated my child has mastered their goals, is it beneficial to ask for a meeting to have them show me how the data was collected even though they admitted the program they used only shows completion and isn't measurable? Here's a bit of background: In February 2025, the school completed the triennial testing for my child's IEP evaluation (DX with Autism & ADHD.) Although the results showed that my child was at average and even above average on some of the tests that they completed, I still didn't agree with the results. During our IEP meeting last March to go over the results, it was mentioned that timers were stopped because of "intrusive thoughts" but that wouldn't have affected the scoring. They also declined to test pragmatic language skills. I debated about requesting an IEE then, but the local state advocacy group was like, well, try to write them a letter stating that you don't agree with the results. (I had one of their advocates with me during the meeting. I don't think she said more than 10 words the entire meeting.) Fast forward to August 2025. I receive an E-mail from the new SPED teacher who set up a meeting to go over the annual IEP. When I received the draft, the two goals my child had were rewritten. Not only were they rewritten, it was done in a way which essentially stated child will complete X in 4 out of 5 opportunities. I brought up to the team that the goals weren't measurable this way, but my concerns were again dismissed. I also asked the SPED teacher why my parent concerns letter was summarized in the IEP and was told that they don't have to put my full letter in there. At this point, the school wasn't listening to me nor my advocate, so I called the district SPED Director to ask that she join us for another meeting. I spent 45 minutes on the phone with the SPED director and was told that my parent concerns letter was not where I put in that I disagree with the decisions made by the IEP team and that they don't have to put my full letter in my child's IEP. They also fully backed their teachers and the decisions that they were making, but they would contact the principal to request another meeting. Another meeting was scheduled, but that didn't work out because the school had tech issues & my child's teacher couldn't be in attendance for more than 15 minutes. After going back and forth with the school, I got another meeting scheduled and the state advocacy group put me in touch with one of their director's to attend with me. The state advocate pointed out that info was missing from the IEP and that the goals as written weren't measurable. The school principal was in this meeting and we discussed her suggestions to my child's IEP which I actually agreed with. After an hour plus meeting, it seemed like both sides were making progress, although I felt like I was being lectured for “not letting my child be independent.” The PWN comes with the amended IEP. Sure enough, it's missing a good deal of what was discussed at the meeting. And when I E-mailed the principal about it (when I had to e-mail and ask where the data was that backed up their progress reports,) she didn't directly address it. It was pushed off on the SPED and Gen Ed teachers to answer my questions. I'm literally at my wits end. I don't seem to be getting anywhere with the school and the state advocacy agency is super vague. It's more or less, "it's up to you what you want to do." As a parent who has no idea what they're doing, I'm just looking for some direction on what the next best steps are, especially with the school year ending next Friday. Thank you.

I write this putting aside my ineffectiveness with my own kids… If I am reading correctly, he was diagnosed with ADHD after they denied an IEP? I would immediately ask for him to be evaluated (yup, again) for an IEP. I think his new diagnosis (definitely share this with them in writing) would be reason they could reevaluate, even if you were still within the time frame to ask for an IEE. So ask, and if they say no, immediately request the IEE in writing. No need to elaborate why, just make the request in writing. If they agree to evaluate for an IEP again, this is your opportunity to rebut/provide everything in an eligibility meeting. Due to timing, this would be next school year:(. I am not well-versed in 504 meetings, but I would attend. You can agree to anything they offer that would be helpful while also clearing stating (when you agree to the meeting, at the meeting, and in a follow-up email) that you believe your son needs an IEP, that you asked for them to evaluate/or for an IEE, and that pending those results, you want his 504 to be as robust as possible because You Believe He Needs an IEP! Lastly, get every piece of evidence you can that shows your kiddo’s struggle. My kiddo tests at the 87% (this is just in average) in written expression one round, then I show up with his actual work, any writing I can get my hands on, because standardized scores are not everything (not always). Another example: written expression score is “average” on one standardized test, but Below Average on a different one. Look at the subtests carefully. Teachers ratings cannot always be trusted and should not be a “tiebreaker”. My kids rarely mark anything that comes up elevated, and I have years of teachers ratings vs my ratings that are very different at times. Fortunately and unfortunately, time has shown that my ratings are accurate, and teachers much less so. Do not let them say that one or two teachers ratings determine anything. Just show them all the proof of what the teachers were not seeing. (If this sounds nutso, think of this situation: I pick up my then 7 year old at school, he is pale with wide eyes and falls into my arms burning up. He has pneumonia. Teacher never noticed all day the many sign that I saw immediately: moms see differently than teachers. These are our kids and teachers have to notice what is happening with many, so nuances of one can be missed). I am also going through the end of school panic:(. I don’t think there is much you can do to change the beginning of middle school…. But I could be wrong, so see what others say here. In addition to asking for the IEP eval or IEE, I would also try to get as much information about his 6th grade schedule and see what you can do to just get him prepared over the summer, and be very communicative with the middle school right away, and document as much as you can (always) but every day of middle school. Things went very haywire very fast for one of my kiddos at this point….not to scare you, but to let you know that this is when previously small things get pushed front and center. For us, social skills. Lastly, do not let them show you As and Bs and use them to mean anything. Get every piece of your kiddos work, make copies, and keep it! I can only see my kiddos assessments one time per quarter (now in 9th), and have found where they are not making wrong answers (in math!). It is really disheartening, but it begins to feel like their objective is hiding or twisting data to make everything good, while parents are forced to have extensive evidence to prove otherwise. Please keep us posted!

400 hours is over 16 days (24 hour days). There is no way she is getting that much instruction in a week. Most schools are only open to 35 hours a week and they won't take away lunch to provide instruction. I think you need to get the IEP corrected if it really says 400 hours per week. Could it be 400 minutes per week? Not sure how she could have missed 1000 instructional hours. If school meets for 180 days that are 6 hours long, that's 1080 hours in total. Again, this isn't realistic for any IEP unless your child is going to school every day. Could it be 1000 minutes? I think asking the IEP team to document the IEP minutes your child gets daily is not unreasonable. And asking them to make up missed time isn't unreasonable either. I do think you need to get the amount of time in the IEP straight before your write to the school. If you know how to put 400 hours into a week that typically lasts 168 hours (24 X 7 = 168), please let me know. I'm behind on some paperwork and could use that extra time to catch up.