Special Education:
Requesting an eligibility evaluation

Updated: 18 October 2024

Published: 28 July 2017

Oregon’s Special Education Process

In Oregon, the Special Education process—from your initial request to the Individualized Educational Program (IEP)—typically takes at least 4–5 months and sometimes longer.

When you request an evaluation, your school district’s Special Education department must respond promptly (during the school year). However, they may decide they haven’t been presented strong enough evidence to suspect that your child has a qualifiying disability. They might refer you back to your child’s regular teachers (e.g., to try 6–8 weeks of an intervention or consider a Section 504 plan). It is important to understand that Special Education staff make this decision based on existing records without directly observing or evaluating your child themselves (because that generally requires your prior written consent). Therefore, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your child wouldn’t qualify if they did an evaluation without delay.
Once your school district’s Special Education department agrees to evaluate, they will schedule a meeting to plan the evaluation and obtain your parental consent.
Once you provide signed parental consent, your school district’s Special Education department has 60 school days to complete the evaluation. Because this timeline excludes weekends and holidays, this part of the process often extends beyond three calendar months.
You’ll meet again to review the evaluation and determine eligibility. If your child is found eligible, the IEP team (which includes parents) can develop the IEP at that same meeting or at a separate meeting within 30 calendar days.
Once the IEP is developed, you can review it before you sign consent for the Initial Provision of Services; the IEP cannot be implemented until you provide that written consent.

Flowchart & Your Rights

The Understood.org flowchart at the end of this article follows the typical paths from a request for an evaluation to an IEP, and the Oregon Department of Education reviews your rights in their Procedural Safeguards Notice that your school distrist is required to provide to you during the Special Education evaluation process.

Making a Request

You can simply write to the school, “I’m requesting an evaluation for Special Education eligibility,” but I recommend making a clear, dated request in writing (e.g., via email) simular to the Parent Request Example below to prevent any misunderstandings—provided that drafting a detailed request doesn’t stop you from sending it right away, as the process is already lengthy.

Parent Request Example

[Date]

Special Education Department,

My child has been struggling at school. [OPTIONAL: describe your concerns in detail, providing supporting evidence such as test scores, teacher communications, work samples, etc.]

I have been working with my child’s teachers and greatly appreciate their dedication and support. [OPTIONAL: describe interventions that were tried, such as after-school tutoring, differentiated or small-group instruction, response to intervention (RtI), informal accommodations in the classroom, a Section 504 Plan, evaluation for a diagnosis from a mental health or primary care provider, etc.]

Unfortunately, even with the teachers’ best efforts, my child has not made meaningful progress—although my child has had some successes, there has not been enough consistent growth to conclude that the general education supports are meeting my child’s needs and closing the gap with grade-level expectations. Therefore, I am writing to formally request a comprehensive evaluation for eligibility for special education and related services under the Child Find obligations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

I understand that you will be reviewing records. Please email me a complete copy of these records in advance of a meeting regarding my request. I cannot effectively review them unless I receive those copies, as it is difficult to follow along otherwise, regardless of the meeting format.

I look forward to working with you. Thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely,
[Parent’s Full Name]
[Parent’s email]