IEP evaluation timeline by state: what “60 days” actually means where you teach

The federal special education evaluation deadline is 60 days from parental consent — but only until a state replaces it, and most have. 34 CFR §300.301(c)(1) says the initial evaluation “[m]ust be conducted within 60 days of receiving parental consent for the evaluation; or (ii) If the State establishes a timeframe within which the evaluation must be conducted, within that timeframe.” Across the 29 states documented below, the clock runs anywhere from 30 school days (Michigan, Minnesota) to 90 calendar days (New Jersey, North Carolina) — and the number by itself will mislead you, because states disagree on what kind of day they are counting and on what has to be finished when the clock stops.

This is the reference chart for SPED teachers, case managers, and anyone who has moved districts across state lines. Every row is cited to the state’s own administrative code, statute, or department-of-education guidance, and links to the full breakdown for that state.

Special education evaluation deadlines, 29 states compared

Table 1. Initial evaluation clock by state — the length of the clock, the kind of day it counts, the shortest calendar span it can occupy, and what must be finished when it expires. Sorted by shortest calendar floor.

“Calendar floor” is arithmetic, not law. It converts a school-day or business-day clock at five days per week with zero holidays, which is the fastest the clock can possibly run. Every real school year has holidays, so the true elapsed time is always longer. Use it to compare states, never to calculate an actual due date — for that, count the days your own calendar says.

Five kinds of “day” — and why the same number means different deadlines

Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana all give districts “60 days” to evaluate, and all four deadlines land in different months. The federal definition is the starting point: under 34 CFR §300.11(a), “[d]ay means calendar day unless otherwise indicated as business day or school day.” States then choose which kind they count, and two states have invented their own.

The practical consequence is that a shorter-looking number can be the later deadline. Louisiana’s 60 business days and Oregon’s 60 school days both stretch past twelve weeks; Missouri’s 60 calendar days are done in two months. And the two clocks behave differently in summer: school days simply stop accruing when school stops, while business days keep ticking through July.

The part most teachers get wrong: what the clock has to end with

Two states can print the same number and be four steps apart in what they require by that date. Federally the process is two clocks bolted together — evaluate within 60 days (§300.301(c)(1)), then hold the IEP meeting “within 30 days of a determination that the child needs special education and related services” (§300.323(c)(1)). States either keep that split or collapse it, and collapsing it is what makes a clock hard:

• Clock ends at the report. Texas (45 school days to the written FIIE report) and Pennsylvania (60 calendar days to the Evaluation Report). The IEP meeting gets its own separate window afterward — 30 calendar days in Texas.
• Clock ends at the eligibility decision. Oklahoma (45 school days to a signed MEEGS), Washington (35 school days), Arizona, Wisconsin, Virginia. Testing being finished is not enough; the team has to have met and decided.
• Clock ends at the IEP meeting. Illinois, California, Massachusetts, Indiana. In Illinois the IEP meeting sits inside the 60 school days, so there is no second window to fall back on.
• Clock ends at services running. Kentucky (60 school days), New Jersey (90 calendar days), North Carolina (90 calendar days, counted from the written referral rather than from consent). These are the single-clock states — one deadline covering referral through delivery.

Two states also start the clock somewhere other than consent. North Carolina counts from the written referral, and Virginia counts 65 business days from the referral as well — so in both, the days a parent spends deciding whether to sign are the district’s days, not free time. Maryland runs both: 60 days from consent, or 90 days from the written referral, whichever applies (COMAR 13A.05.01.06A).

Does the clock stop for summer?

There is no national answer, and neighbouring states go opposite ways. This is the single most expensive assumption a case manager can carry across a state line.

• Runs straight through summer: Alabama’s 60+30 calendar-day clock expressly continues through summer vacation (Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.02). Arizona’s 60 calendar days count school breaks (A.A.C. R7-2-401(E)(3)).
• Excludes the break: Pennsylvania subtracts summer break days from its 60 calendar days (22 Pa. Code §14.123(b)). Florida excludes school holidays, Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks, and summer vacation. Georgia tolls for breaks of five or more school days — unless consent arrived 30+ days before year end, in which case the clock runs anyway.
• Neither — the deadline jumps: Illinois. If fewer than 60 pupil attendance days remain in the year, everything must be finished before the first day of the next school year (105 ILCS 5/14-8.02(b)). The work does not pause; it gets front-loaded onto June and August.
• Structurally immune: any state counting school days. The clock simply stops accruing in June and resumes in August, which is why a 60-school-day consent signed in April is a next-October deadline.

Transition planning age by state

Federal law sets 16 as the floor, and 21 of the 28 states charted below start earlier. 34 CFR §300.320(b) requires transition content “[b]eginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team.” Because the federal rule is a floor rather than a standard, the practical trigger is a state question — and in four states it is a grade rather than an age, which means a retained or accelerated student’s transition plan is due at a different age than a classmate’s.

Table 3. Age or grade at which transition content must appear in the IEP, earliest trigger first.

Oklahoma is omitted from Table 3: our Oklahoma page does not yet document a state-set transition age, and we do not publish a state requirement we have not read in the state’s own text.

How to use this chart without getting burned

1. Read the “kind of day” column before the number. It changes the answer more than the number does. A 45-school-day clock is longer than a 60-calendar-day clock.
2. Check what the clock ends at. If your state’s clock ends at “services running,” you cannot back-plan from testing — schedule the IEP meeting before you schedule the last assessment.
3. Confirm the start event. Consent in most states; the written referral in North Carolina, Virginia, and (for the 90-day alternative) Maryland.
4. Write the due date on the consent form the day it comes back. Every overdue evaluation starts as a date nobody calculated. An IEP due-date tracker exists for exactly this.
5. Verify against your own state’s current code before a compliance decision. This chart is a comparison tool. State administrative codes get amended; the citation in each row is the thing to check.

Coverage and method

This chart currently documents 29 states, not 50. Each row was built from that state’s administrative code, statute, or department-of-education guidance, and every state page linked here carries the full citation trail. States are added as their source text is read — we would rather publish 29 rows we can defend than 50 rows where 21 were guessed. If your state is missing, the federal defaults in §300.301(c)(1)(i) and §300.323(c)(1) are the floor until your state code says otherwise.

Frequently asked questions

What is the federal deadline to evaluate a student for special education?

60 days from receipt of parental consent — but only as a default. 34 CFR §300.301(c)(1) says the initial evaluation "[m]ust be conducted within 60 days of receiving parental consent for the evaluation; or (ii) If the State establishes a timeframe within which the evaluation must be conducted, within that timeframe." That second clause is why the number is different in almost every state. A state timeframe, once established, replaces the federal 60 days entirely.

Does '60 days' mean calendar days or school days?

Calendar days, unless the rule says otherwise. 34 CFR §300.11(a) defines day as "calendar day unless otherwise indicated as business day or school day." That default is what makes cross-state comparison treacherous: Pennsylvania's 60 days are calendar days with summer excluded, Illinois' 60 days are school days, and Louisiana's 60 days are business days. Same number, three different real-world deadlines.

Which state has the shortest special education evaluation timeline?

Of the 29 states documented here, Michigan and Minnesota are shortest at 30 school days from consent, followed by Washington at 35 school days. Massachusetts also uses 30 days, but they are "school working days" and they cover only the assessments — its eligibility and proposed-IEP deadline is 45 school working days. And shortest is not the same as most demanding: Michigan's 30-school-day clock ends at a notice of the FAPE offer, while Kentucky's longer 60-school-day clock has to end with the IEP written and services already being delivered.

Which state has the longest special education evaluation timeline?

New Jersey and North Carolina both run 90 calendar days, and Virginia runs 65 business days (roughly 91 calendar days). All three are long because all three are single-clock states: the 90 days do not just cover testing, they cover evaluation, eligibility, and a written, implemented IEP. States with shorter evaluation clocks add a separate 30-day window afterward to hold the IEP meeting.

What does the evaluation clock actually have to end with?

It varies by state, and this is the most misread part of the chart. In Texas the 45-school-day clock ends when the written evaluation report is finished. In Oklahoma and Washington it ends when eligibility is decided. In Illinois, California, and Massachusetts it ends when the IEP meeting has been held. In Kentucky, New Jersey, and North Carolina it ends when services are actually running. Two states can share a number and be four steps apart in what they demand.

Does the evaluation clock pause over summer break?

It depends on the state, and the answers genuinely conflict. Alabama's clock expressly runs through summer vacation (Ala. Admin. Code r. 290-8-9-.02). Pennsylvania excludes summer break days from its 60-calendar-day count (22 Pa. Code §14.123(b)). Georgia tolls its clock for breaks of five or more school days but not when consent arrives 30+ days before year end (Rule 160-4-7-.04(1)(b)). Illinois does the opposite of a pause: if fewer than 60 attendance days remain, everything must finish before the first day of the next school year (105 ILCS 5/14-8.02(b)).

At what age does transition planning have to start?

Age 16 under federal law — 34 CFR §300.320(b) requires transition content "[b]eginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team." Sixteen is a floor, not a standard: of the 28 states charted here, 21 start earlier. Florida starts at 12 or seventh grade, whichever comes first; South Carolina at 13; Illinois at 14½.

Related guides

• The special education referral process — what happens before any of these clocks start.
• Triennial IEP reevaluation — the three-year clock, and the five triggers that are not the calendar.
• IEP due-date tracker — turning these deadlines into dates you can actually watch.
• IEP compliance checklist — what has to be in the document once the clock stops.
• Transition IEP goals — writing the plan once the age trigger in Table 3 hits.