How to write a PLAAFP, step by step

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

To write a PLAAFP, gather existing records, choose the areas the IEP will address, collect three fresh probes in each goal's unit, then write strengths, current data, impact and needs for each area. Add parent and student input and check that every need leads to a goal, service or accommodation. Plan about two to three hours per student.

A present levels statement is easier to write when you collect first and write second. Most weak PLAAFPs come from writing the night before the meeting with only last year's IEP open. The steps below put the data in front of you before the first sentence.

The example student, Nadia, is fictional. Her numbers show the format and are not benchmarks. For what the section must contain and why, see the pillar guide on present levels of performance.

What you need before you start

The most recent evaluation report, and any reevaluation summary.
Last year's IEP and the progress reports since it started.
Current grades, state or district test results, and screening scores.
Two or three recent work samples per area.
A few minutes of input from each general education teacher and provider.
Parent concerns, gathered by phone, form or meeting.
The student's own view, for any student old enough to give it.

Start three weeks before the meeting. That leaves time for fresh probes and a parent call without a rush.

The steps and the time each takes

Step	What you do	Time per student
1. Gather records	Pull the evaluation, last IEP, progress reports, grades and tests	30 to 45 minutes
2. Choose the areas	List the areas where the student needs a goal or support	10 minutes
3. Collect fresh probes	Three short probes per area, in the goal's unit	10 minutes per probe, over 1 to 2 weeks
4. Write strengths	Observable skills and what helps	5 to 10 minutes
5. Write current data	Score, task, conditions, date	10 minutes per area
6. Write the impact	The class task the gap affects	5 to 10 minutes per area
7. Write the needs	Skills to teach and supports to provide	5 minutes per area
8. Add input and check	Parent and student input, alignment check	20 to 30 minutes

For a student with two or three areas, that adds up to about two to three hours across two weeks. A student with needs in five or six areas takes longer. The times are planning estimates, not rules.

Step-by-step

Step 1: Gather the records

Read the evaluation summary and last year's goals side by side. Note which goals were met, which were not, and what the progress reports said in the last two quarters. Mark any standard scores you will need to explain.

For Nadia, a fourth grader with a specific learning disability in reading, the records show this: her reevaluation in spring of grade 3 found average decoding and below-average reading comprehension. Her grade 3 comprehension goal was not met. Her last progress report says "making some progress," with no number.

Step 2: Choose the areas

List every area where the student needs a goal, a service or an accommodation. Do not list areas only because last year's IEP had them. If an old area no longer needs support, say so in one sentence and drop it.

Nadia's list: reading comprehension (goal and service) and written responses to reading (supported through her comprehension goal and accommodations). Her decoding goal from grade 2 is met; it comes off.

Step 3: Collect fresh probes in the goal's unit

Decide how the goal will be measured, then probe that way three times on different days. Use the same kind of material each time. The guide on how to collect baseline data covers the method in detail.

Nadia read three unpracticed grade 4 informational passages over eight days. After each, she answered 8 questions: 4 literal and 4 inferential. Her scores were 4 of 8, 3 of 8 and 5 of 8. You record each one on an accuracy data sheet so the year's graph starts here. As a check, she also took a timed oral reading probe: 112 words correct per minute at 97% accuracy.

Step 4: Write strengths

Write what the student can do, as things you have seen. Include what helps.

"Nadia reads grade 4 text aloud accurately and at a steady pace. She answers literal questions well. When a passage is read aloud to her, she answers 7 of 8 questions correctly. She works hard and keeps going on long tasks when she has a checklist."

Each sentence there can guide instruction. The student strengths guide has 20 more examples written this way.

Step 5: Write the current data

Give the score, the task, the conditions and the date. Then split the score if the split matters.

"On three unpracticed grade 4 informational passages in October, Nadia answered a median of 4 of 8 questions correctly (50%). Across the three passages, she answered 10 of 12 literal questions correctly and 2 of 12 inferential questions correctly. She read the same passages aloud at 112 words correct per minute with 97% accuracy."

The split is the useful part. It shows the problem is inference, not decoding or fluency.

Step 6: Write the impact

The law asks present levels to say how the disability affects the student's involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.^[1] Name a real class task, what goes wrong, and the cost. Keep it about this student.

"In grade 4 science and social studies, most written questions ask why or how. Nadia answers these with a single word or a sentence copied from the text, so she earns partial credit on content she knows when discussed aloud."

The impact statement examples show more ways to tie the gap to the classroom.

Step 7: Write the needs

Turn the gap into skills to teach and supports to provide. Each need should point forward to something later in the IEP.

"Nadia needs to make inferences from informational text and support them with a detail from the text. She needs questions read aloud on tests that measure science or social studies content."

The first need becomes a goal. The second becomes an accommodation.

Step 8: Add parent and student input, then check

The team must consider the parents' concerns and the student's strengths when it develops the IEP.^[2] Call the parent before the meeting and ask what they see at home and what worries them. Ask the student what is easy, what is hard and what helps. Record their words, not your summary of them.

Nadia's mother says Nadia reads graphic novels at home but calls herself "bad at reading." Nadia says, "I can read all the words but then I don't know what they meant." Both go into the statement. Then run the alignment check: every need leads somewhere, and every goal has a baseline here.

Worked example: Nadia's finished statement

Here is the full reading comprehension section, assembled from the steps above.

Strengths: Nadia reads grade 4 text aloud accurately and at a steady pace. She answers literal questions well, and when a passage is read aloud to her she answers 7 of 8 questions correctly. She keeps working through long tasks when she has a checklist.

Current performance: On three unpracticed grade 4 informational passages in October, Nadia answered a median of 4 of 8 questions correctly (50%). She answered 10 of 12 literal questions and 2 of 12 inferential questions correctly. On the same passages she read 112 words correct per minute with 97% accuracy.

Impact: Most written questions in grade 4 science and social studies ask why or how. Nadia answers them with one word or a copied sentence, so she earns partial credit on content she can explain aloud.

Parent and student input: Her mother reports that Nadia reads graphic novels at home and calls herself "bad at reading." Nadia says she can read the words but loses what they meant.

Needs: Nadia needs to make inferences from informational text and support each one with a text detail. She needs test questions read aloud when the test measures science or social studies content.

The goal that follows: "Given an unpracticed grade 4 informational passage and 4 inferential questions, Nadia will answer 3 of 4 correctly with a supporting detail from the text on 4 consecutive biweekly probes." Its baseline is 2 of 12, or about 1 of 4 per passage, taken straight from the statement. The library's inference template has more wording options.

The whole section is about 180 words. It took the steps above about two and a half hours across two weeks, most of it probing and gathering.

Common mistakes

Weak: "Nadia is reading below grade level." Better: "Nadia answered a median of 4 of 8 questions correctly on three grade 4 passages; inference is the gap, not decoding."

Weak: "Nadia's standard score on the comprehension subtest was 81." Better: "Nadia's comprehension score is below the average range for her age. In class, that shows up as one-word answers to why and how questions."

Weak: "Nadia's disability impacts her ability to access the general curriculum." Better: "Nadia cannot yet answer written why and how questions in science and social studies, so she loses credit on content she knows."

Weak: "Nadia needs to improve comprehension." Better: "Nadia needs to make inferences from informational text and support each with a detail."

Weak: Last year's numbers copied forward with a new date. Better: Three new probes taken in the two weeks before the meeting.

Weak: A percent correct in present levels and a rubric score in the goal. Better: The same unit in both, so the first progress report can compare them.

The weak vs strong rewrites show these failures across more areas.

Templates and tools

The PLAAFP template gives sentence starters for each of the four parts.
PLAAFP examples for reading has 16 annotated statements if your student's area is reading.
The data sheets are free to print; use the one that matches the goal's measure from the first probe.
Paste the draft goal into the goal checker to catch a missing condition or criterion.
For general examples across subjects, see these present levels examples.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to write a PLAAFP?

Plan about two to three hours for a student with two or three areas, spread over two weeks. Most of that time goes to gathering records and taking probes. The writing itself takes 20 to 30 minutes per area once the data is in front of you.

What if I have no recent data for an area?

Take three short probes before the meeting, during regular instruction. For most academic skills, three 5 to 10 minute probes on different days are enough. If that is truly impossible, the team can agree to collect the data in the first weeks and amend the IEP.

Should I write the PLAAFP before or after the goals?

Write it first. The goals should grow out of the needs and baselines in the present levels. Writing goals first and then filling in present levels to match tends to produce goals the data does not support.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

34 CFR §300.320: Definition of individualized education program, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
34 CFR §300.324: Development, review, and revision of IEP, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.