TPietras LEP

A Licensed Educational Psychologist is a School Psychologist in Massachusetts who, through advanced supervision and years of experience, has earned the right to provide services privately. We are trained to work with and assess children with a variety of needs and backgrounds. 

We live in a world based on data, and that includes schools and how we work with children. Schools are required to routinely gather data on their student’s progress and their needs. However, that data is not always accurate, or the school may be reluctant to provide certain services. If any of these scenarios are familiar, you may benefit from an evaluation:

1) My child needs special education, but the school is refusing to provide them services!

2) My student’s needs were not accurately assessed. The school says they are doing well, but that is not what I see at home!

3) I’m a college student, and I’m struggling! I need accomodations so that I can continue working on my degree!

4) My child is struggling in school, but I don’t know why! 

An independent and experienced evaluator can help make a compelling case for why your child may need certain services! 

A Psycho-Educational Assessment is a comprehensive assessment which includes review of all relevant records that are made available at the time of the evaluation; interviews with all relevant individuals, which may include: parents, student, teacher(s), and outside agencies; observations within the testing environment and within the educational setting (if made available); standardized and/or curriculum-based assessments; rating scales are distributed and collected from all relevant sources, which may include: parents, student, and teachers.

An Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) is a comprehensive assessment that is typically requested by a school district, an attorney, or a parent requesting an assessment at public expense. An IEE is done by a person who does not work for the child’s school district, public charter school, or intermediate unit (IU). IEEs include review of all relevant records, including: comprehensive review of all educational records that are made available at the time of the evaluation;  interviews with all relevant parties, including: parents, student, teacher(s), and outside agencies; multiple observations within the testing environment and multiple observations within the educational setting; standardized and/or curriculum-based assessments; rating scales are distributed and collected from all relevant sources, which may include: parents, student, and teachers; participation in all relevant IEP meetings (maximum 2 hours). Any additional time required to participate in additional IEP meetings or a due process hearing will be billed at a negotiated hourly rate.

​In comparison to a psycho-educational assessment, an IEE usually requires an extensive amount of time reviewing school records, travel, and interaction with IEP teams, attorneys, and attendance in Due Process hearings.

If a parent of a child with a disability or suspected disability, do not agree with the results of the psycho-educational evaluation of his/her child that was conducted by the school system, the parent have the right to obtain an IEE (§300.502). This means that the parent may ask a professional, competent evaluator (i.e. Licensed Educational Psychologist) who is not employed by the school system to conduct another evaluation of the child. If the parent request for an IEE, the school must provide the parent with information about where he/she can obtain such an evaluation. Some IEEs are conducted at public expense (meaning, the school system pays for the evaluation), and others are paid for by the parents.

For instance: 

Let say that you are the parent of a child with a disability and you don’t agree with the school’s evaluation of your child. You have the right to request an IEE at public expense. This means that the school system would pay for an entirely new and independent evaluation of your child.

​The school may grant your request and pay for the IEE, or it may file a due process complaint and request a due process hearing to demonstrate that its own evaluation was appropriate. The school may ask you why you object to its evaluation, but it may not require that you explain, or cause unreasonable delays in providing the IEE at public expense or in initiating due process to defend its evaluation.

​If the school initiates due process, and the final decision of the hearing officer is that the evaluation of the school was appropriate, you still have the right to an IEE but not at public expense. If you have an IEE conducted of your child, you will have to pay for it yourself.

​Sometimes, as part of a due process hearing, the hearing officer will ask that an IEE be conducted of the child. If this happens, the evaluation must always be conducted at public expense.

All parents have the right to invite an advocate to their child’s special education meetings to help represent their interests and provide their insight into the case at hand. Special education meetings can be an intimidating process. Remember, you never have to be on your own! A Licensed Educational Psychologist can be a very strong advocate due to their knowledge of how a child’s needs are assessed in all areas!

An IEP refers to an Individualized Education Plan, which is a plan designed for students with disabilities who require special education services. To obtain an IEP, student’s must be assessed. Please note that doctors and other medical professionals “diagnose” while schools “identify” meaning that a medical diagnosis is not always enough for an IEP. For more information, I recommend going here: https://www2.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html

A 504 plan is similar to an IEP in that it requires that a student has a disability. It is different, however, in that a 504 is focused on accomodations. For instance, a student with an IEP may need to work one-on-one with a special educator to focus on an area of deficit. A student with a 504 may need accomodations inside the classroom, such as reminders to focus, access to a fidget toy, etc. 

The part that schools do not want parents to know is that providing these services costs a significant amount of money, and not all decisions are made with your child’s best interests in mind. Not every student needs an IEP or a 504, but many do, and unfortunately it is up to parents to advocate for their child’s needs. I can help!