The PLAAFP Is the Blueprint of Every Strong IEP

By October, most of us as special educators have found our rhythm. The beginning-of-the-year chaos has calmed (at least a little!), routines are in place, and that’s when IEP season really starts to pick up.

This month on Special Education for Beginners, we’re digging into how to make sure your IEPs are more than just compliant documents. They should be clear, meaningful, and connected — with every part of the plan tracing back to the Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP).

In today’s episode, I’m sharing why the Present Levels are the blueprint of the IEP, what four essential components must be included, and how to use them to guide your goals, services, and supports.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why the PLAAFP is the foundation for the rest of the IEP
• The four must-have components: strengths, needs, current performance, and impact
• Practical tips for writing strong Present Levels (nothing blank, no “no concerns,” everything dated, strengths woven throughout)
• Where to gather your data: observations, parent input, teacher input, student voice, informal and formal testing, and district assessments
• How collaboration makes the PLAAFP stronger and more accurate

Resource Mentioned in This Episode:

If you struggle to write the strengths and needs sections of your IEPs, I have a solution!

 I’ve created a resource that gives you example strength and need statements for every area of the PLAAFP. This tool will help you craft precise, parent-friendly Present Levels that guide the rest of your IEP.

👉 Writing IEPs in Special Education: Example Strength and Need Statements (PLAAFPs)

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Chapters

• 0:00 October Theme: Strong IEPs
• 1:38 Meet Jennifer & The Mission
• 2:36 Decoding PLAF: The Blueprint
• 4:12 What Present Levels Must Include
• 6:51 Four Components: Strengths to Impact
• 9:21 Data Sources That Matter
• 12:10 Parent-Friendly, Clear Explanations
• 14:23 Example Statements Resource

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hey there, and welcome back to Special Education for Beginners. We are starting a brand new month, which means we are starting a brand new theme. And can I just tell you, I absolutely love October. Besides it being my birthday month, I love everything that comes with it. The colors, the weather, the clothes, the decorations, the football, the scents, the soups. October just has this really cozy feel for me. But also, October is typically the month where we finally, as special educators, start to settle in. Some of the behaviors have subsided. Hopefully, some of the craziness that comes with a new school year has calmed down. Routines are set, procedures are in place, and the real work has begun. And for many of us in special education, this is also when IEP season starts ramping up. Meetings are being scheduled, and suddenly the importance of writing strong connected IEPs is front and center. That's why this month I want to focus on making sure your IEPs aren't just compliant on paper, but are clear, meaningful, and easy to understand. I want to help you have documents that actually make sense and make sure that every part of your IEP connects back to the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, the PLF. Way back in episode 168, I walked you step by step how to write a strong PLF statement, what information belongs there, and what mistakes to avoid. If you haven't listened to that episode 168, I highly recommend going back to it. Today we're going to build on that and talk about how to use those present levels, how to treat the plaf like your blueprint, and let it guide the rest of your IEP. Let's get to it. Hey, special educator. Are you overwhelmed by the absurd amount of paperwork on your to-do list? Do you wish you had the skills to build a rock solid team with your staff? Do you find yourself scouring the internet for how to meet the needs of each student on your caseload? Well, hey there, I'm Jennifer Hoffer, an award-winning veteran special education teacher and current instructional coach who has walked in your shoes through each of these challenges. And yes, I have the metaphorical blisters to prove it. I have cried your tears and felt your pain, and now I'm here to support you in the way I wish someone would have been there to support me. Listen in each week as my guests and I dish out practical wisdom to help you handle all the classroom curveballs that are thrown at you and learn how to laugh in spite of the chaos to celebrate those small yet significant victories that only a special educator can understand. So, are you ready? Wipe your tears and put on your superhero cape because together we are going to learn how to survive and thrive in the ever-crazy, completely overwhelming laugh so you don't cry profession of being a special education teacher. So in special education, we seem to love acronyms, and today's topic doesn't just have one, it has several. Present levels of performance are called many things throughout each state and even in different districts within a state. I've heard PLOP, present levels of performance, PLEP, present levels of educational performance, PLAP, present levels of academic performance, and most recently PLAF, present levels of academic and functional performance. So for today's purposes, I'm just going to call them present levels. Regardless of what your school calls it, it is the same thing. It is the starting point or the hub of the information in the IEP. Think of the present levels as the blueprint for your IEP. If you are building a house, you don't just start hammering some boards together and hope it works out. You start with a detailed plan. The budget, the measurements, the layout, the materials. The blueprint tells you what's possible, where the walls go, how strong the foundation needs to be, and what is required to make the house stand tall. It also keeps everyone on the same page. The architect, the contractor, the electricians, the plumbers, they all work from the same design. The present levels function the exact same way. They are the detailed plan for the student. And when present levels are clearly written and thorough, they become the guide that ensures goals, services, and supports naturally follow the plan. And when it all comes together, and my nerdiness might come out here, but I think it's so fun to see where those invisible strings connect from piece to piece in the IEP. So what exactly needs to be included in this blueprint? What are the key pieces that make present level strong enough to support the rest of the IEP? Within the body of your present level section, you will address health, motor, social and emotional, academics, communication, and functional living, and sometimes transition if the student is old enough. Within each of those areas, you will need to report on the strengths, needs, current performance, and how the disability the student has impacts their progress. So let's break those down into the four components. Strengths. This is always where you start. Every child has strengths, and highlighting them not only builds trust with families, but it also helps you as a teacher design supports that work. For example, if a student is strong with visuals or loves hands-on activities, those strengths should guide your instructional choices and your accommodations. Second is needs. These are the gaps, the areas of concern that must be addressed. Needs are what lead directly to goals. If the need isn't documented in the present levels, you shouldn't have a goal for it later in the IEP. Not every need is going to have a goal, but you never want to have a goal where a need isn't documented. The third is current performance. This is your baseline data. Where is the student right now? Without current performance, goals end up very vague, immeasurable, or unrealistic. This is where you include recent assessments, progress monitoring data, classroom work samples, or observations. And remember, numbers alone don't mean much. Explain the data in plain language so parents, gen ed teachers, and paraprofessionals can all understand what it means for the student. And the fourth component is the impact. You need to describe the impact of the disability on the student's education. This ties everything together. For example, because of Johnny's difficulty with decoding, he struggles to access grade-level reading material independently. This impacts his ability to participate fully in general education reading assignments without additional support. That impact statement becomes the bridge to why specific goals, services, and accommodations are necessary. So you might be asking, okay, but where does all of this information come from? Well, it comes from multiple sources. First would be classroom observations. This is what you see in your day-to-day instruction. It is the patterns you notice over time, how the student transitions between activities, how long can they stay engaged, what supports help them focus, or how do they interact with their peers. Classroom observations also let you capture those little moments that standardized tests can't, like how a student uses a strategy, whether they needed prompting or how their behavior changes in different settings. The next is teacher input. General education teachers often see things we don't in the special education setting. Their input provides a wider lens, how the student functions in a whole class environment, whether they keep up with the pace of the instruction, how much support they need during independent work, and how they interact socially with peers. Collaboration with Gen Ed teachers ensures that your present levels reflect the student's abilities across settings, not just in the resource room. Next is parent input. Families give us a lot of insight into what the student can do at home outside the school setting. Parents might notice independence with chores, struggles with homework, or progress in daily routines that we don't see. They also provide context about health, sleep, behavior, or emotional needs that may impact performance in the classroom. Parents' voice is critical because it helps us see the child as a whole person and not just a set of scores or behaviors at school. The next one is student input. Even young children can give valuable insights into their likes and dislikes, their favorite things to do in school, and the things they think are hard for them. It is a very important piece of the present levels of performance. The next one is informal testing. This is data you get from keeping running records on behavior, anecdotal notes you've taken, worksheets they've completed, or curriculum-based measures. And then formal testing. This can include standardized achievement tests, usually given during initial evaluations or reevaluations. These are things like the Woodcock Johnson, the Wyatt, or other normed referenced assessments. Typically, the results from these standardized tests are considered valid for about three years, which is why re-evaluations are required on that cycle. But remember, while the data can technically be good for that length of time, you always want to make sure that you are using the most current information possible. A test score from three years ago may still be legally valid, but it doesn't necessarily reflect where the student is functioning right now. So that's why it's important to combine formal testing with other types of data. And then the last one would be district or state assessments. This can be benchmark or progress assessments required by your school district, such as DIBLES data, iReady, iStation, Fast Ridge, CPN, CBMs, or anything your district uses to assess students. When you combine all of these sources, you get a full picture of the child. Or to stay on theme, you get the blueprint of the student. And here's a little bonus for you. Sometimes, even when you've gathered all the data, it can still feel overwhelming to translate that into clear strengths and needs statements. I know so many teachers who get stuck staring at the screen, trying to word things the right way without being too vague or too negative. If that's you, I have created an example strength and needs statements for PLAFs resource. It is filled with sample statements for every area of the PLF so you can improve your IEP writing process, you can save time and still make sure your present levels are precise and personalized. These examples are designed to guide you as you write strong statements that support effective planning and lead to better outcomes for your students. I will leave the link in the show notes so that you can check out those example strengths and needs statements. And then I have some extra tips for you when you're writing your present levels. These are just tips that I have learned over the years and they are the ones that I teach the teachers I coach. The first one is nothing should ever be left blank. Always put something in that box. If it's not an area of need, you can write that the student is performing at a level typical of a same-aged peer. Leaving it blank makes it look like you forgot or didn't gather that data. A complete present level section builds trust and shows that you've considered every area of the student's development. The second one is no section should ever say no concerns. In my opinion, this is just as bad as leaving a section blank. The phrase no concerns doesn't tell anyone anything. Instead of saying no concerns, write a short strengths-based statement like Benny demonstrates age-appropriate motor skills and participates fully in physical education and recess. That still communicates that there is no need for a goal, but it paints a positive, accurate picture of the student. The third one is everything should be dated so that readers know it's up to date. Data from three years ago might technically still be valid, but it might not help you understand where the student is today. By dating your assessments, observations, or progress monitoring, you show that the information reflects current functioning. This is especially helpful if an administrator, a new teacher, or a parent is reviewing the IEP. They can immediately see that the information is fresh and reliable. The fourth one is strengths should be woven into every section. Even when you are documenting needs, balance it out with something that the student can do. For example, if you are writing about written expression, you might say, Maria is able to write complete sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation. And then in the needs section, you can say Maria struggles with paragraph organization. Parents appreciate when their child isn't defined only by deficits, and it helps team members remember that every child brings both strengths and challenges to the table. The fifth one is to be specific and not vague. Instead of saying Johnny struggles in math, write on the fall benchmark of 2025, Johnny solved single-digit addition problems with 90% accuracy, but solved subtraction problems with only 40% accuracy. Being specific makes it easier to write measurable goals later and it shows exactly what skills need support. And then the last one is use parent-friendly language. Remember, this document isn't just for educators. Avoid jargon and translate test scores into plain English. Instead of Maria scored at the ninth percentile in phonemic awareness, you could write Maria is able to identify some beginning sounds in words, but she has difficulty breaking words apart into individual sounds compared to most other first graders. The biggest takeaway I want you to get from today is that your present levels are not just another section of the IEP. They are the blueprint of the IEP. They set the foundation, they provide the details, and they guide every single decision you will make in the rest of the document. If you ever find yourself adding a goal, a service, or an accommodation that you can't trace directly back to something in the present levels, that is your red flag that you're doing it wrong. Next week we will talk about the very first connection, how to take the needs you've identified in the present levels and turn them into strong, measurable goals. This is where the blueprint really starts to become the structure of the IEP and where alignment matters most. Thanks for sticking with me today. Don't forget to check out the example strengths and needs statements for your PLFs. It's a link in the show notes, and I'll see you next week.