Pre-Evaluation Eligibility Checklist

Organize what you have observed and put it into a written evaluation request the school has to answer.

Under IDEA you have the right to request a special education evaluation in writing at any time, and the school has to respond on a timeline. Most families never learn this, and instead spend a year being told to wait and see while their child falls further behind.

The hard part is not the right, it is the request. A vague concern is easy for a school to absorb and defer. A written request that names specific difficulties, references the school's own record, and asks for evaluation in every area of suspected disability is much harder to set aside.

What's inside

• Part one: an educational impact checklist covering academics, communication, behavior, attention, peer relationships, and school avoidance
• Part two: a school history section for what the school has already tried and what came of it
• Part three: what your formal written request needs to contain, item by item
• The federal timeline context, with a note that specific deadlines vary by state

How to use it

You do not need to check every box. Check what is true, then use what you checked as the evidence inside your written request. Date the request, keep a copy, and send it to both the principal and the district special education director.

Use these alongside it

A worksheet tells you what to look for. An audit tells you what your child's IEP actually says.

We review your child's IEP across six research-grounded domains and send you a plain-language report with the specific questions to ask. Families pay nothing.