Writing Present Levels of Performance That Make the Rest of the IEP Easier
If you’re a special education teacher who still feels shaky about writing Individualized Education Programs, you are not alone. Training often covers the rules of IDEA, the law, and the parts of an IEP. What it usually skips is what to do when you’re juggling meetings, progress reports, parent emails, and a deadline that is suddenly tomorrow.
That’s where a lot of teachers get stuck. because nobody walked them through the writing part in a way that actually felt doable.
That is why the Present Levels of Performance matter so much. This section tells the student’s current story using real data, highlighting clear strengths, and clarifying the needs that should drive the rest of the Individualized Education Program. When you write it well, goals, services, and supports all get easier to build.
When it’s vague or you’re unsure of what to put into the present level, everything after it gets harder. Let’s make it easier.
What a Present Level of Performance Should Actually Do
A strong Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP as it’s sometimes called), tells your team where the student is right now in specific areas: academic, social and behavioral, functional, speech, and other areas as needed. It explains how the impact of their disability affects the student’s progress in school, and it gives everyone enough detail to make smart decisions together. It is not a compliance paragraph you write before you skip to the goal section.
You want this section to help the parent, general education teacher, related service providers, and administrator all picture the same student. When it’s random facts about the kid, the Individualized Education Program gets cloudy. When it is specific with clear examples of what the student can and can’t do in the classroom, the rest of the document usually falls into place.
Show the student’s current skills, not a vague summary
You need Baseline Data. This is the current performance in the areas that matter most for this student, such as academics, behavior, communication, Social Skills, or independence. Baseline data simply means what they’re doing now with real numbers attached to their performance.
“Struggles with reading” is not enough. “Reads 42 correct words per minute on a second grade passage” gives you something you can actually use. When we have data like this, we all have the same picture in our head of what the student is currently doing. And, you can write a measurable goal from it. This might become an IEP goal like: “The student will read 70 correct words per minute on a second grade passage”
The same goes for behavior and functional skills. Instead of “has trouble with transitions,” the present level should describe what transitions actually look like for the student. Does the student need three adult prompts? Does the transition take five minutes? Does the student refuse, wander, or argue? The answers to these questions can help us understand what kind of accommodations will help and what the goal for the next year might be.
Connect the data to classroom impact
The present level should also explain the Impact of Disability on the student’s involvement and progress in the General Education Curriculum. That sounds formal, but the idea is simple: why does this student need an IEP? Students can have disabilities but not require IEPs. If they have an IEP it’s because their disability actually impacts their ability to perform at school. In the present level, describe how their disability shows up.
If a student has weak writing skills, what does that look like in class? Maybe written responses are incomplete, assignments take twice as long, and the student avoids independent work. If a student has attention needs, maybe they miss multi-step directions, need frequent redirection, and turn in partial work.
That connection matters because it keeps the IEP grounded in real school access. You are not writing a mini evaluation report. You are writing the current school picture that the team needs in order to act.
Later in the IEP, the Annual Goals should not be a surprise. The need for those goals should already be visible in the present level. If they have goals for math, the present level should describe their math difficulties. If they have goals for behavior, you should see in the present level how their behavior has been a barrier and why they need that goal.
What to Include in a Strong PLAAFP and What to Leave Out
A strong PLAAFP is balanced. It gives the student’s strengths, current data, classroom impact, and priority needs. It does not try to squeeze every detail from the student’s entire history into one bloated paragraph.
Ask yourself if you included:
- Strengths and what the student does well. This gives you solid ground to build off, keeps the IEP student-centered, and helps everyone remember this is a whole child, not just a disability.
- Their most important challenges. When I say “most important,” I mean the challenges that are most likely to keep them from participating in school and learning. All kids have challenges, and some have a lot! We can’t list every single one. What’s the biggest barriers? Go deep on those. Include specific data on what they can currently do related to that barrier or skill. Those become the goals!
- The support they need to access their education. What’s helping them right now? What support is working for them? These are their accommodations!
Start with Student Strengths, then move to needs
Start with what the student can do. This makes the Individualized Education Program more accurate, more respectful, and more useful. Strengths help you choose supports that actually fit the student. They also show families that you see the whole child, not only the areas of concern.
Then move to the most important educational needs. You do not need a long list of every concern anyone has ever raised. Focus on the needs that affect access, progress, and independence in school.
Use recent data from more than one source
Strong present levels draw on recent Objective Data from several places, not one old test score. You might pull from classroom work, progress monitoring, observations, general education teacher input, parent input, work samples, student input, evaluation results, and assessment data.
All of these are important. But what’s probably the most important data is when you find an area of weakness you suspect should be an IEP goal, you will also need to sit down with the student and run a few short assessments yourself.
That last part matters. You want data on the exact skill the student is struggling with, measured the same way you will later measure the goal. That gives you clean Baseline Data and saves time later because you are not guessing when you draft goals.
If you need a stronger system before you write, this guide on gathering IEP input and data walks you through what to collect and how. It also points to parent, teacher, and student questionnaires that help you stop chasing vague replies like “he’s doing okay” or “she struggles sometimes.” If you want a ready-made option, these IEP Input Survey Questionnaires take the heavy lifting off your plate.
Leave out filler, labels, and copied text
Broad statements, pasted evaluation language, and text copied from last year’s IEP do not help you write this year’s plan. A disability label without explaining the impact of disability in the classroom is not enough. Neither is an old score on last year’s test with no updated context.
This section should focus on the student’s current performance.
This quick comparison helps:
| Include this | Not that |
| Current Baseline Data on Academic Achievement and Functional Performance | Old scores with no explanation of why they’re relevant |
| Specific Student Strengths | Generic praise |
| Clear school impact | Disability labels alone |
| Priority educational needs tied to access | A giant list of every concern |
| Recent team input from families, other teachers, and the student | Copied text from prior IEPs |
The rule is simple: if a detail does not help the team choose goals, supports, or services, it probably does not belong here.
How a Strong PLAAFP Makes the Rest of the IEP Easier
When your present level is solid, the rest of the Individualized Education Program gets easier. You spend less time staring at a blank goal page because the educational need is already defined. You also stop throwing in random accommodations that haven’t proven helpful or writing goals based on assumptions.
Turn baseline data into measurable IEP goals
Annual Goals should grow directly out of current performance, with Baseline Data explicitly connecting to what you’re targeting.
Remember that you should included specific data about the areas of weakness. For example, “the student solves one-step equations with 40% accuracy.” This leads directly to the goal that the IEP should target for the next year. If the present level identifies skill gaps like work avoidance during assessments, the goal should target the skill that will reduce that barrier.
For a detailed walk-through, this guide to writing measurable IEP goals keeps the connection between baseline data and goal writing clear, and it also points to an IEP Binder that will save you hours when it’s time to organize goals, services, and progress data.
Match accommodations to the student’s actual barriers
Accommodations and Modifications should answer a real problem shown in the data. Accommodations adjust how the student accesses the General Education Curriculum, while Modifications alter what the student is expected to learn or demonstrate.
Only students with the most significant disabilities will need modifications, while nearly every student with an IEP will need multiple accommodations. If the student misses directions, visual supports or repeated directions may fit. If processing speed is the barrier, extended time may fit. If attention drops during long tasks, chunking and movement breaks may fit.
You can find more support in this post on appropriate accommodations for IEPs, which includes extra ideas plus a helpful free list of common accommodations and the best way to keep organized in a class full of IEPs, the Accommodation Matrix Fillable PDF.
The best advice for writing IEPs without stressing is to start with good input from other people! People who actually see everyday what the student needs besides you, because you do not have to do this by yourself! Get specific and actionable input from families, other teachers, and the student themselves as the first step!
Then, when you sit down to write the IEP, it’s just putting the pieces together, not starting from scratch! And these input questionnaires are the best way to make pulling together what you need from the IEP so much easier!
A Simple Writing Process You Can Use Without Overthinking It
You do not need a fancy writing voice. You need a repeatable process. For busy case managers, a clear order keeps you from spiraling when the deadline is tomorrow.
Use this order: strengths, impact, needs, data
After gathering meaningful input from families, teachers, and the student, when it’s time to draft the Present Level of Performance:
Start with the student’s strengths, including what motivates them and what helps them access learning.
Explain the impact of disability on classroom access and progress in the General Education Curriculum, and be specific about what that looks like during the school day.
Note the top priority educational needs that drive goals, accommodations, and special education services.
Add current data that shows how the student is performing right now. This clear baseline is essential for progress reporting and for writing goals that make sense.
If you want a fuller model with examples, this post on how to write a present level of performance walks you through the process and includes IEP input forms and inventories that make the writing much faster.
Once you have it all there, don’t over complicate it. Check your wording so everyone on the team can understand it.
Use plain language. Keep sentences short. Write in a respectful, student-centered tone. Families should all be able to read your PLAAFP without needing a special education translator.
When you do use special education terms, make sure the meaning is clear in context. This plain English IEP glossary is a helpful backup when you want quick definitions without the jargon.
A simple test: could a parent read your paragraph and explain it back to someone else? If yes, you are probably on the right track.
Should You Use AI to Write Present Levels of Performance?
Be careful here. AI generates text by predicting language patterns, which means it often fills in gaps with generalities, and students with disabilities deserve individualization, not generalities. AI might make vague interpretations of Standardized Testing results or Behavioral Data that look plausible but don’t actually describe your student. Present levels are supposed to be individualized. Generic writing is the exact problem you are trying to avoid.
There is also a real privacy concern. To get useful output, you would need to provide a large amount of student-specific data and context. That can cross lines quickly. A safe rule: never put anything into an AI tool that you would not want subpoenaed in court. These are businesses, and you do not control what happens to your data once you paste it in. Their goal is to make money, not keep you protected.
Where AI can help is at the final editing stage. For example, tightening the wording of a paragraphs where you’ve taken any identifying information out or simplifying a long sentence. I love it for “change the wording of this paragraph to make it easier for families to understand.” It should not be building the student’s present level for you.
The good news is that you do not need it! A solid set of teacher, parent, and student input forms, including functional areas like daily living skills and behavior, will do far more for the quality of your writing than any IEP generator.
Final Thoughts on Writing Quality Present Levels
Writing IEPs can feel hard because many teachers were never taught the day-to-day writing side of Special Education Services in the first place. But a strong Present Level of Performance does not need to sound impressive. It needs to be clear, specific, and useful.
When you describe where the student is right now in Academic Achievement and Functional Performance, explain the impact of disability on their access to the General Education Curriculum, and name the most important educational needs driving the plan. This make the rest of the Individualized Education Program easier. Your annual goals make more sense, your accommodations fit better, and your team communication gets smoother. That one section takes a lot of pressure off everything that comes after it.
You can do this. And the more you practice this structure, the faster it gets. And, we’re here to help!
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Frequently Asked Questions about Writing Present Levels of Performance
What should a strong Present Level of Performance include?
A strong PLAAFP includes the student’s strengths, current baseline data on academic achievement and functional performance, how the impact of disability affects classroom access and progress in the general education curriculum, and the priority educational needs the team should address. Use specific, recent objective data from multiple sources. This could include observations, work samples, team input, and your own quick assessments. This balanced section helps the whole team picture the same student and build the rest of the individualized education program from a clear foundation.
How specific does the baseline data need to be?
Vague phrases like “struggles with reading” won’t cut it. Use precise metrics like “reads 42 correct words per minute.” Quantify behaviors too: “needs three adult prompts for transitions that take five minutes.” This specificity lets parents picture it, general education teachers plan from it, and you draft measurable goals directly from it.
What should I leave out of the PLAAFP?
Skip broad statements, copied evaluation language, old assessment data without context, disability labels without classroom impact, and long lists of every concern ever raised. Past goals and generic praise don’t belong here either. Focus only on the details that help the team choose current goals, supports, and Special Education Services.
How does a strong PLAAFP make writing goals and accommodations easier?
The baseline data and needs in the present level feed directly into measurable goals. If a student reads at 40% accuracy, you target that skill and make a goal for them to read with 90% accuracy. The impact of disability section describes how the student struggles in class, and that turns into the accommodations they need to overcome the barriers. For example, if their disability impacts their processing speed, they may need visual supports following directions. With a clear picture, you avoid random supports and spend far less time guessing.
Can I use AI to write Present Levels of Performance?
Use AI only at the final editing stage and take out ANY info that could identify the student. Never use AI to draft the actual PLAAFP. AI produces generic output and requires sharing sensitive student data, which raises real privacy risks. It generates text by predicting language patterns, which means it fills gaps with generalities rather than the specific, individualized detail a strong PLAAFP needs. A safe rule: never paste anything into an AI tool that you wouldn’t want subpoenaed in court. Solid input forms, quick assessments, and real team data will always give you more accurate, individualized writing than any paragraph generator.
Key Takeaways
- A strong Present Level of Performance (PLAAFP) uses specific baseline data, student strengths, classroom impact, and priority educational needs to give the whole team a clear picture of where the student is right now. When done well, it makes every other section of the Individualized Education Program easier to write.
- Use recent data from multiple sources like classroom work, observations, and team input. Avoid vague summaries, old scores, labels without impact, or text copied from prior IEPs.
- Follow a simple structure: start with strengths, explain the impact of disability on school access, add current data, and end with needs that drive goals and supports.
- Write in plain, respectful language so that families, general education teachers, and the full team can understand and use what you’ve written.
- Use AI only at the final editing stage and leave out anything that could identify the student. Using AI to draft a present level will inevitably lead to generic and oversimplified results.
