Your Child Is Turning 3: What Every EI Family Needs to Know About the Transition

If your child is currently receiving Early Intervention services, there is a date coming that changes everything: their third birthday.

On that day, Early Intervention ends. The home visits stop. The familiar therapists you have built relationships with over months or years are no longer part of your child's team. The cozy, family-centered program that met your child where they were is replaced by a school system with different rules, different people, and a completely different document guiding your child's services.

Most families are blindsided by this transition. Not because it is hidden — it is actually governed by federal law with specific timelines — but because nobody sits you down and walks you through it from the beginning.

This article does exactly that.

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The Big Picture: What Actually Changes

At age 3, your child moves from Part C of IDEA (Early Intervention) to Part B of IDEA (school-age special education). This is a fundamental shift, not just a name change.

	Early Intervention (Before 3)	School System (After 3)
Document	IFSP	IEP
Focus	Family-centered	Education-centered
Location	Home, daycare, community	School, classroom
Review	Every 6 months	Annually
Run by	State EI program	Local school district
Eligibility	Delay or diagnosis	Disability category + educational impact

That last row is the one that catches families off guard: your child may have qualified for EI but not automatically qualify for a school IEP.

EI eligibility is broad — any developmental delay or diagnosed condition. School-age eligibility is stricter — your child must meet criteria for one of 13 specific disability categories AND the disability must adversely affect their educational performance. The school district conducts its own evaluation and makes its own eligibility determination.

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The Timeline — What Must Happen and When

Federal law sets specific deadlines. Know them and track them on your calendar.

90 Days Before Your Child's 3rd Birthday

The transition process must officially begin. Your EI service coordinator should schedule a transition conference with you, the EI team, and representatives from your local school district.

Action step: Do not wait for your coordinator to bring this up. Ask for the transition conference well before the 90-day mark. If you have never heard of a transition conference, ask your coordinator about it today.

At the Transition Conference

This meeting is not the IEP meeting — it is a planning meeting. At this conference:

• The EI team shares your child's current status and needs with the school district
• You sign consent for EI records to be sent to the school district
• You discuss what the school evaluation process will look like

What the transition conference does NOT do: It does not automatically start the school evaluation clock. You still need to take the next step.

Immediately After the Conference

Submit a written evaluation request to your local school district's special education director. This is the step most families miss.

The transition conference does not substitute for a written request. Until you submit a written request, the school's 60-day evaluation clock has not started.

Keep a copy of your request. Send it by email so you have a timestamp.

Within 60 Days of Your Written Request

The school district must complete the evaluation and hold an eligibility meeting. This is the hard deadline — write it on every calendar you own.

If the school misses this deadline, contact your state's Parent Training and Information Center immediately.

By Your Child's 3rd Birthday

If your child is found eligible, an IEP must be in place and services must begin on their third birthday — or the first school day after. Even if the birthday falls on a weekend or during summer, the school district is still responsible.

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Requesting the School Evaluation: What to Say

Write a simple email or letter to the special education director of your local school district. Keep it brief:

"I am writing to formally request a full and individual evaluation for my child, [Name], date of birth [DOB], in all areas of suspected disability. My child has been receiving Early Intervention services and will turn 3 on [date]. I am requesting a school evaluation to determine eligibility for special education and related services under Part B of IDEA."

Send it by email. Keep a copy. Note the date you sent it.

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What the School Evaluation Looks Like

The school conducts its own evaluation — they cannot rely solely on the EI evaluation, though they may consider it.

For a child transitioning from EI, the evaluation typically covers:

• Cognitive and intellectual functioning
• Speech and language
• Motor skills — fine and gross
• Social and emotional development
• Adaptive behavior — self-care, communication of needs
• Pre-academic skills

You have the right to receive all evaluation reports before the eligibility meeting. Request them in advance — do not walk into that meeting seeing the results for the first time.

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The Eligibility Meeting: What They Are Deciding

After the evaluation, the school holds an eligibility meeting to determine whether your child qualifies for an IEP. To qualify, your child must:

1. Meet criteria for one of 13 disability categories under IDEA
2. Need special education and related services because of the disability

The most common categories for preschool-age children transitioning from EI are:

• Developmental Delay — available for ages 3–9 in most states; does not require a specific diagnosis
• Autism
• Speech or Language Impairment
• Intellectual Disability

If your child is found not eligible: Ask for the written explanation. Request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if you disagree — this may be at the school's expense. Ask whether a 504 Plan might be appropriate. You can request re-evaluation at any time.

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Your Child's First IEP: What to Watch For

If your child is found eligible, the IEP meeting follows the eligibility meeting (sometimes held the same day). Here are the red flags to watch for in a preschool IEP:

Red flags:

• Goals are vague and not measurable ("will improve communication")
• Services are significantly fewer than what your child received in EI
• The Present Levels section does not match what you observe at home
• You are pressured to sign at the meeting before reviewing the document
• Nobody can explain why specific services were or were not included
• Placement is more restrictive than EI without written justification

Your rights:

• You do not have to sign the IEP at the meeting
• You can take it home and review it
• You can request changes to any part of the document
• You can bring anyone with you to the meeting — an advocate, a family member, your child's EI therapist

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What If There Is a Gap?

Sometimes, despite everyone's best efforts, EI ends before the school IEP is in place. This is more common than it should be.

To prevent a gap:

• Start the transition process before the 90-day mark
• Submit your written evaluation request immediately after the transition conference
• Track the 60-day deadline
• Follow up with the school district every two weeks

If a gap occurs:

• Document everything in writing
• Contact the special education director
• Ask whether compensatory services will be provided to make up for missed services
• Contact your state's Parent Training and Information Center

The gap period is hard. Services your child has been receiving suddenly stop. But you have rights, and gaps in services are something schools can be held accountable for.

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Your Transition Checklist

90+ days before 3rd birthday:

• Ask EI coordinator to schedule transition conference
• Gather all IFSP documents and EI evaluation reports

At the transition conference:

• Sign consent for EI records to be shared with school district
• Get the name and contact of the school's special education coordinator

After the conference:

• Submit written evaluation request to school district (email, keep copy)
• Note the 60-day deadline on your calendar

Before the IEP meeting:

• Request all evaluation reports in advance
• Write down your concerns, priorities, and questions
• Bring a support person

At the IEP meeting:

• Do not sign under pressure — take it home first
• Ask for a copy of the IEP before leaving

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One More Thing

The transition from EI to school is stressful. You are saying goodbye to a team you trust and walking into a new system with different rules.

But you are not starting from scratch. You know your child. You have months or years of experience advocating for them. You know what they need and what does not work.

Bring all of that into the school system with you. You are an equal member of your child's IEP team — not a guest, not an observer, not someone who just receives information. A full, legal, decision-making member of the team.

Use that.

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More resources on Special Clarity:

• Complete Transition Planning Guide
• Early Intervention: Birth to Age 3
• IEP Red Flag Checker — find problems before you sign
• Meeting Script Generator — know exactly what to say
• Special Education Glossary