PLAAFP (present levels of academic achievement and functional performance)
Last updated
The PLAAFP is the IEP section that describes how a student is currently doing in school and how the disability affects progress in the general curriculum.
Topic: The IEP document
In plain terms
Present levels are the foundation of the IEP. A strong PLAAFP uses current data, such as test scores, curriculum-based measures, observations and work samples, to describe what the student can do, what is hard, and why. It should include strengths, the family's concerns and, for older students, their own goals. For preschool children, it describes how the disability affects participation in appropriate activities.
How it shows up in an IEP
Every annual goal should trace back to a need named in the present levels, and the baseline in each goal usually comes from here. If a goal targets a skill the PLAAFP never mentions, or the PLAAFP has no numbers, the team cannot tell whether the goal is the right size.
Example
Instead of "struggles with writing," a PLAAFP reads: "On three grade-level prompts, the student wrote an average of 2 complete sentences in 10 minutes; peers averaged 7. Ideas are strong when dictated."
The rule
Federal reference: 34 CFR §300.320(a)(1).
Related terms
- BaselineA baseline is a student's measured performance on a skill before instruction toward a new goal begins, used as the goal's starting point.
- Measurable annual goalA measurable annual goal is an IEP goal written so that two different people could observe the student and agree on whether it was met.
- Evaluation (special education)A special education evaluation is the set of assessments a school uses to decide whether a child has a disability and what services the child needs.
- IEP (Individualized Education Program)An IEP is the written plan, developed by a team that includes the parents, describing the special education and services an eligible student will receive.
- Functional goalA functional goal targets the everyday skills a student needs at school, at home and in the community, outside academic subjects.
On IEP Atlas
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