Walkthrough
How to read an evaluation report
It arrives as a stack of pages full of numbers, and you have about a week before you're expected to have opinions about it. You don't need to understand every table. You need to know which six things to look at, and which numbers can be safely ignored.
Before you open it
- Give yourself an hour and a pen — not the ten minutes between school pickup and dinner.
- Read it twice. The first pass is emotional whether you want it to be or not. The second pass is the useful one.
- Deficit language is the genre, not a verdict on your child. Every report reads like this.
- If you got it fewer than a few days before the meeting, you can ask to reschedule. That's a reasonable request, and asking for it in writing usually gets it.
What the numbers mean
Almost every score in the report is one of these five things.
- Standard score
- Built so 100 is average. Roughly 85–115 covers the middle. Below about 85 is where most teams start calling it a weakness.
- Percentile rank
- Out of 100 same-age kids, how many scored at or below your child. The 9th percentile means 91 of 100 scored higher — not '9% correct.'
- Scaled score
- Used for subtests. 10 is average; 7–13 is the typical range.
- Grade equivalent
- The least useful number in the report. '2.4' doesn't mean your child reads like a mid-second-grader — ignore it and read the percentile instead.
- Confidence interval
- The range the true score likely falls in. It's why a single point below a cutoff should never decide anything by itself.
Section by section
Reason for referral / background
Who asked for this evaluation and why, plus your child's history. It sets the frame for everything the reader thinks afterward.
Check that your concerns are here in your words. If the referral reads like it came only from the school, ask for your written concerns to be added.
Assessments administered
The list of tests given, usually with dates and the evaluator's name and credential.
Compare it to what you asked for in writing. Anything you requested and didn't get should have a documented reason — and you can ask for it again.
Observations
What the evaluator saw in the classroom or testing room: attention, effort, frustration, strategies your child used.
One 30-minute observation on one Tuesday is one data point. If it doesn't match what you see daily, that's exactly what your home logs are for.
Cognitive / intellectual testing
How your child reasons, remembers, and processes — usually a full-scale score plus index scores like verbal comprehension, working memory, and processing speed.
The spread between index scores often matters more than the overall number. A big gap is frequently the whole story.
Academic achievement
What your child can currently do in reading, writing, and math.
Look for subtest detail, not just broad areas. 'Reading' can hide strong comprehension sitting on top of very weak decoding.
Speech, language, OT, or other specialist reports
Focused testing on communication, motor skills, sensory needs, or behavior.
These often contain the most concrete recommendations in the whole file — and they're the ones most likely to be summarized away in the meeting.
Eligibility determination
Whether your child meets criteria under one or more IDEA categories, and the reasoning.
Eligibility is a legal decision by the team — which includes you. If you disagree, say so and ask for it in the notes.
Summary and recommendations
The evaluator's conclusions and suggested supports.
Recommendations aren't automatically services. Anything you want your child to actually receive has to make it into the IEP itself.
Mark it up like this
- Highlight every score below the 25th percentile — that's your list of things to ask about.
- Circle any sentence containing 'appears to,' 'seems,' 'declined to,' or 'inconsistent.' Ask what it's based on.
- Star every recommendation. Later, check each one against the draft IEP and ask about any that vanished.
- Write your own margin note wherever the report contradicts what you see at home, with a date and example.
- Flag anything about attention, mood, or effort during testing — a tired or anxious child produces a floor, not a ceiling.
If you disagree with it
You can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at public expense when you disagree with the school's evaluation. Put the request in writing. The district must either fund it or file to defend its own evaluation at a hearing — it can't simply say no and move on. Your state's Parent Training and Information Center will walk you through the local version of this for free.
Firm Footing is an independent resource. This is general information, not medical, psychological, educational, or legal advice, and special education rules vary by state and district.