IEP Initial Referral Form

Streamline Your IEP Referral Process with Paperform

When a student needs additional support, starting the Individualized Education Program (IEP) referral process shouldn't add more complexity to an already emotional time for families. This IEP Initial Referral Form template helps K-12 schools, special education coordinators, and student support teams gather comprehensive information from parents and guardians in a clear, compassionate format—while ensuring you collect everything needed to begin the evaluation process.

Why Schools Choose This IEP Referral Template

The journey toward an IEP begins with a thorough referral that documents parent concerns, developmental history, academic challenges, and formal consent. This template replaces scattered paperwork and email chains with a single, comprehensive form that:

• Captures detailed parent input about their child's strengths, challenges, and specific concerns across academic, social, behavioral, and physical domains
• Documents developmental milestones including speech, motor skills, social development, and early childhood history
• Identifies current academic struggles with specific examples that help evaluation teams understand the scope of need
• Collects formal consent for comprehensive evaluation, ensuring legal compliance and parent awareness
• Gathers background information including previous interventions, medical history, and current accommodations

For special education directors, school psychologists, student support coordinators, and intervention teams, this means less time chasing down incomplete forms and more time focusing on what matters—getting students the support they need.

Built for the Realities of Special Education Administration

Special education teams juggle tight timelines, legal requirements, and the emotional weight of supporting families through uncertain times. This template is designed with those realities in mind:

Compassionate tone throughout: Questions are framed with empathy, acknowledging that referring a child for evaluation can feel overwhelming for families. The language is clear, jargon-free, and supportive.

Comprehensive without being overwhelming: The form guides parents through each section logically—from basic student information to specific concerns, developmental history, academic challenges, and finally consent—so they can tell their child's story completely.

Conditional fields that adapt: The form only asks follow-up questions when relevant, keeping the experience streamlined for each family's unique situation.

Mobile-friendly for busy families: Parents can fill out the form on their phone during pickup, after bedtime, or whenever they have a quiet moment—no need to print, scan, or visit the school office.

Perfect for Schools, Districts, and Educational Support Teams

This IEP referral template is ideal for:

• Public and private K-12 schools managing initial special education referrals
• Special education coordinators who need consistent referral documentation across multiple schools
• School psychologists and counselors supporting families through the referral process
• Charter schools and educational programs building their student support systems
• Early intervention programs transitioning students from early childhood services to school-based IEPs

How Paperform Makes Special Education Administration Easier

Beyond beautiful, professional forms, Paperform helps education teams automate the workflows that follow each IEP referral:

Instant notifications to the right team: Use Stepper to automatically alert your school psychologist, special education coordinator, and intervention team the moment a referral is submitted—no one waits wondering if the form was received.

Automatic calendar triggers: Set up workflows that start your evaluation timeline clock automatically, creating calendar reminders for your team to schedule assessments within your district's compliance windows.

Parent communication sequences: Configure follow-up emails to parents acknowledging their referral, explaining next steps, and providing resources—reducing anxiety and the "what happens now?" calls to your office.

CRM and SIS integration: Push referral data directly into your student information system, Google Sheets, or specialized education software so information flows where your team needs it without manual data entry.

Secure document collection: Add a file upload field for parents to submit relevant medical records, previous evaluations, or work samples—everything stays organized in one place.

Professional, Compliant, and Brand-Consistent

Your IEP referral form represents your school's commitment to student success. With Paperform, you can customize fonts, colors, and layout to match your district branding while maintaining a professional, accessible design. Add your school logo, adjust the theme to reflect your visual identity, and create a form that feels like a natural extension of your website.

And because education data requires the highest security standards, Paperform is SOC 2 Type II compliant and GDPR-ready, with data residency controls and robust privacy protections. You can confidently collect sensitive student and family information knowing it's protected.

Start Supporting Students Faster

Every day a student waits for evaluation is a day without the right support. This IEP Initial Referral Form template helps you start the process right—with comprehensive information, clear parent consent, and automatic workflows that keep your team moving forward.

Whether you're a special education director at a large district or a school counselor at a small private school, this template gives you a professional, compassionate starting point that you can customize to your specific referral process and state requirements.

With Paperform, you get more than a form—you get a complete system for managing the intake process that honors both the families you serve and the team working tirelessly to support every student.