Independent Educational Evaluations in Virginia, DC, and Maryland

An IEE here is a full evaluation by someone Fairfax, Montgomery County, or DC Public Schools does not employ. Families in these suburbs use it when the district file is late, thin, or wrong. The evaluator is usually an Educational Evaluator or Licensed Educational Specialist. Browse the directory as Virginia; DC and Maryland practices sit in that same filter.

We list independent evaluators who do IEEs in this market — Educational Evaluators and Licensed Educational Specialists. Filter is Virginia; DC and Maryland are included.

Browse Virginia IEE evaluators

A second battery, not a tutor note

The district evaluation is what the IEP starts from. An IEE is the same kind of written product — cognitive and academic testing, processing, eligibility language — done outside the school system. It is not a screening and it is not a private-school admissions IQ score.

You can pay at any time. You can also ask the LEA to pay after you disagree with its evaluation. Those are different letters and different timelines. NoVA and MoCo families often pay to keep the calendar, then still send the report to the IEP.

How the public-expense request works

If you disagree with the completed district evaluation, put that disagreement in writing to the special-education director or eligibility coordinator. Name the evaluation. Date it. Keep a copy. The LEA then funds an independent evaluation or proceeds to defend its own testing. Silence after a parent email is not a decision.

They may attach criteria — who is qualified, which scores belong in the report. Evaluators who already do private work in Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland know those packets. Do not accept “one more round of interventions” as a substitute for answering a written IEE request once testing is already done.

Parent-funded reports are still something the IEP team has to consider. Paying yourself does not make the findings unofficial. It just means you bought the date.

Who parents book in this area

The person families usually hire is an Educational Evaluator or Licensed Educational Specialist. Ask whether they have delivered IEE reports to Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun, Montgomery County, or DC teams — the meeting is an IEP, and the recommendations should read like IEP language.

A medical neuropsych at a DC hospital is a different wait and a different bill. Useful when you need a medical differential. For a school-facing IEE, start with someone who says they do independent educational evaluations and will name eligibility in writing.

Fees, weeks, and handing it over

Private comprehensive evaluations in this market typically land around $1,800 – $3,500. Band, not a quote. Ask what is in the battery, whether the written report is included, and whether they will attend the IEP (some call in, some bill extra, some will not).

Send the PDF to the case manager before the IEP. Bring paper. You are asking the team to consider specific findings — SLD, dyslexia, 504 versus IEP — not to “look at some outside testing.” If you requested an IEE after disagreeing with the district’s assessment, say that out loud. The team has to consider it.