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(Updated 1/2/2026)

RE-EVALUATION FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION ELIGIBILITY 
(FOR INDIVIDUALS AGES 3-21)

As children grow and develop their needs change. For students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP), those needs must be identified and reflected in the IEP.

What is the purpose of a re-evaluation?

Periodic re-evaluations for special education services are necessary to: 

  • determine if a student continues to be an eligible individual with a disability as defined by the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) and, if so,
  • to gather the latest information about the student’s needs and abilities to be used to create an appropriate IEP.

How often is a re-evaluation completed?

When a student has an IEP, IDEA requires IEP teams to consider re-evaluating the student at least every three years. An individual’s re-evaluation due date can be found on the first page of the current IEP. 

A re-evaluation may be needed sooner than three years if:

  • a parent or teacher requests a re-evaluation;
  • the IEP team decides that a re-evaluation is needed to understand the student’s educational or related service needs better
  • the IEP team is proposing to exit the individual from special education, or
  • a student moves from another state and more information is needed to see if they qualify for special education or to create an IEP

A parent may request a re-evaluation up to one time per year. Possible reasons that parents may consider a re-evaluation request include:

  • when a student is not making the progress that is expected,
  • there are new concerns at school related to the disability, or
  • the child has received a new diagnosis that may impact his or her education

When would a three-year re-evaluation not be required?

Iowa Rules of Special Education require that a re-evaluation must occur at least once every three years, unless the parent and the public agency agree that a re-evaluation is unnecessary (Iowa Admin. Code r. 281—41.303). If the AEA, the school district, and the parents all agree that the student is still eligible for special education and related services, and there is no need to change the current services, the team can decide that the three-year re-evaluation is not necessary. If they agree, they will record this decision in a Prior Written Notice (PWN).

The decision to skip a re-evaluation should be rare and unusual. Best practice is not to skip, but if the team agrees to skip, a three-year re-evaluation is skipped only once. If a parent feels a re-evaluation is needed, the three-year re-evaluation should be completed.

What should the re-evaluation process look like?

Before the re-evaluation date for a student, teachers and AEA team members need to reach out to parents. They should have a discussion about the upcoming re-evaluation. This can be done through a phone call or in a meeting.

Parents play an important role in the IEP team and should take part in deciding what information is needed for the re-evaluation. The team should look at the current information first and decide if more tests or observations are needed. Any concerns from the parents should also be talked about and included in planning for the re-evaluation process.

After discussing the student’s re-evaluation, parents will receive a form titled Consent for and Prior Written Notice of Re-evaluation for Special Education. This form will outline whether the IEP team is: 

  • recommending additional assessments, including which skill areas (or performance domains) they will be assessing. A signed consent form from the parent is needed to begin testing. Or,
  • not recommending additional assessments. No signature is needed from parents.

Parents might not agree with what is suggested in the PWN and can look at their choices for solving disagreements in the Procedural Safeguards Manual.

Once the re-evaluation is completed, the results will be documented in a Re-evaluation Report. The IEP team will then meet to go over these results and consider the need for any changes to the IEP.

What else should parents know about the re-evaluation for special education?

  • A re-evaluation needs to be thorough to identify all the special education and support services a child might need. This could include concerns related to academics, social-emotional behavior, adaptive behavior, physical, communication, assistive technology, or other identified or suspected needs.
  • If parents have concerns about how their child is doing in school or want the team to gather information to think about adding a new goal or service, they should consider putting that request in writing.
  • There is no specific time limit set by law for when a re-evaluation must be finished. However, all evaluations under the IDEA should be done in a reasonable time frame.
  • Parents should ask for a copy of the Re-evaluation Report before the meeting. This way, they can look over the information ahead of time and come up with any questions they might have.
  • If parents disagree with the results of the re-evaluation, they can request an Independent Educational Evaluation. 

Is a re-evaluation necessary for a student to “exit” special education?

Typically, a student must be re-evaluated and an IEP meeting is held before the team can decide that the student no longer qualifies for special education services. Parents must be fully informed and receive Prior Written Notice of any decision to “exit” their child from special education. This means ending special education and related services offered in the IEP, along with the child’s protections under IDEA.

A re-evaluation is not required before a student exits an IEP under these circumstances:

  1.  When a student with an IEP graduates with a diploma.
  2. When a student “ages out” of special education by exceeding the age eligibility under state law (age 21 in Iowa).
  3.  parent or student over the age of 18 who is their own educational decision-maker decides they no longer want to receive special education services. This is called Revoking Consent for Special Education.

Related Resources

Look for the following information sheets at www.askresource.org/resources

  • A Comprehensive Special Education Evaluation
  • Sample Letter Requesting a Re-evaluation
  • What Can I Do If I Disagree with the IEP Team? Conflict Resolution Options in Special Education
  • Independent Educational Evaluations
  • Prior Written Notice

ASK Essential Questions

  1. Is there any new information or areas of concern that could be evaluated for possible goals or services in the IEP?
  2. Have I requested a copy of the Re-evaluation Report to review before the IEP meeting?
  3. How does the re-evaluation information compare to any outside evaluation information that I have?