IEP Process

Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance

The Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) must include how the child’s disability affects their involvement and progress in the general education curriculum; or for preschool children, as appropriate, how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities. Statements regarding the present levels of “academic achievement and functional performance” are essential in determining goals, accommodations, and services, and provides the foundation upon which the IEP team builds the remainder of the IEP. Present levels statements should create a baseline for designing educational programming and assessing progress.

The Present Levels of Performance component of the IEP summarizes the student’s current performance and provides the foundation upon which all other decisions in the student’s IEP will be made. This might include information such as standardized assessments, learning rate, social issues, vocational interests, independent living skills, and other interests, strengths, and weaknesses. The present levels information identifies and prioritizes the specific needs of a student and establishes a baseline from which to develop meaningful and measurable goals. Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance must include:

• Data: individualized and diagnostic baseline data
  Baseline data provides the starting point for each measurable annual goal, so there must be one baseline data point for every measurable annual goal on the student’s IEP. Baseline data in the present levels are derived from locally developed or adopted assessments that align with the general education curriculum. Examples of baseline data may include percent of correct responses, words read correctly, number of times behavior occurs, and mean length of utterances. Other issues important in collecting baseline data is the understanding that the measurement tool used to measure progress will be the same tool used in collecting the baseline data for that goal. Baseline data must be:
  
  
  • specific – to the skill/behavior that is being measured; the skill/behavior is described in relationship to expectations within the general education setting (norms/standards/expectations included);
  
  
  • objective – so that others will be able to measure it and get the same results;
  
  
  • measurable – the skill must be something that can be observed, counted, or somehow measured; and
  
  
  • able to be collected frequently – when progress reports are issued to parents, the progress the student has made toward the goal will be reported using the same measurement method that was used in collecting the baseline data.


• Strengths of the student: academic and functional strengths of the student
  Data regarding the student’s strengths may include any area related to academic and functional skills of the student. This information may include a description of how the strengths of the student are relevant in addressing identified concerns.


• Needs of the student: academic and functional needs resulting from the disability
  Data regarding needs must include descriptions of academic needs and functional needs resulting from the student’s disability. Descriptions of student academic needs may include level of performance in regard to district standards and benchmarks in the general education curriculum. Description of student needs may also include levels of performance that will be required to achieve the postsecondary goals. Functional needs included in this section refer to needs related to the student’s behavior and independent functioning (adaptive, fine motor, gross motor, hearing, mobility vision).


• Impact: effects of the disability on the student’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum
  In addition to describing the student’s current performance (academic and functional areas), present levels must describe how the disability affects the student’s involvement and progress in the general curriculum. The present levels statement must also include more specific information that clearly describes how the student’s disability prevents them from accessing or progressing in the general education curriculum. Completion of the impact statement should make it clear to the IEP team what the child’s needs are and which ones are of highest priority to be addressed. Behavioral and/or adaptive issues are included in the impact statement, if appropriate.

Assessments

Assessments are tools used to measure progress toward annual goals and curriculum standards, and may be formative or summative in nature. The same assessment methods used to determine baseline data must also be used to report progress toward measurable annual goals developed using baseline data. Examples of assessments may include:

• Curriculum based measurement: measuring student progress through direct assessment of specific, isolated academic skills
• Curriculum based assessment: measuring student progress through assessment of performance on local curriculum standards
• Documented teacher/therapist observation
• Criterion referenced tests
• Standardized tests
• Work samples
• Student self-assessments

Assessment findings included in the Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance must include current detailed baseline data used to develop measurable annual goals.

• Baseline data is student-specific information related to current academic and functional performance which provides the starting point for each measurable annual goal.
• The method used for gathering and recording baseline data must be used for measuring progress toward a goal.

Note: Comments such as “See Report” in the Assessment findings do not provide meaningful information that is helpful to parents or teachers in understanding student performance. Therefore, “See Report” or other similar references to information that is not included in the IEP should not be used as a Finding for any assessment.

At least one assessment must be selected and included on the student’s IEP for each goal in the IEP. Assessment data used in an IEP must be current, and the user should not include assessment data that is more than 364 days old.

When an assessment is selected the user enters:

• Area of Assessment
• Assessment date
• Method or Name of Assessment
• Findings

To add additional assessments within the Present Levels of Performance section of the IEP Process, click “Add”. A dropdown will appear allowing the user to add assessments. Select an assessment and click "Add Assessment(s)." A section will appear for the user to enter an additional assessment.

Academic and Functional Strengths and Needs

The user will describe the student’s academic and functional strengths and needs by providing a narrative for the following prompts:

• What are the student’s academic and functional strengths?


• What are the student’s academic and functional needs?


• How does the student’s disability affect his/her involvement and progress in general curriculum? - Describe how the student’s disability affects his/her involvement and progress in the general curriculum or, for preschool children, involvement in appropriate activities. Test scores alone are insufficient; test scores may only be used to supplement baseline data collection.


• Parent/Student input on PLAAFP - Summary of parent and student input received concerning student’s strengths, weaknesses, interests, and goals in relation to their educational needs. This may include input obtained prior to the meeting or input obtained during the IEP meeting. If a case manager is unable to obtain input from a parent, this field must contain details of all contact attempts made to obtain input.

Transition

For children ages 13 and older (or younger if appropriate), the Present Levels of Performance (PLAAFP) component must also describe the student’s transition strengths and needs in the areas of education/training, employment and independent living skills, if appropriate for the student. The IEP must include the student’s present level of performance in relationship to the level of performance that will be required to achieve the postsecondary goals. In addressing transition needs, the IEP team must consider the following:

• In areas of concern, what is the student’s present level of performance in regard to district standards and benchmarks in the general education curriculum?


• In areas of concern, what is the child's present level of performance in relationship to level of performance that will be required to achieve the postsecondary goals?


• Are there functional areas of concern related to the disability not reflected in the general education curriculum (e.g., self-care skills, social skills, organizational, etc.)?


• How do the skills of the student impact the student in the instructional environment?


• How does the student interact in the instructional environment?


• What strengths of the child are relevant to address the identified concerns?

Preschool Students

For preschool students, the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance describe how the disability affects the child's participation in appropriate activities. The term “appropriate activities” includes activities that children of preschool age engage in as part of a preschool program or in informal activities. Examples of appropriate activities include social activities, pre-reading and math activities, sharing-time, independent play, listening skills, and birth to 6 curricular measures. The federal regulation 34 CFR § 300.323(b) indicates that preschool programs for children with disabilities should have an educational component that promotes school readiness and incorporates pre-literacy, language, and numeracy skills.

To continue to the next section in the IEP Process: IEP Goals and Objectives, click Next below.