Standards-Based IEPs
Module 3: Present Levels of Academic
Achievement and Functional Performance
IEP Development Process
Desired
Outcomes/
Instructional
Results
General
Curriculum
Expectations
Developing PLAAFP
Statements
Area of
Instructional
Need
Implement &
Monitor Progress
PLAAFP
Statements
on IEP Form
Current
Skills and
Knowledge
Select Instructional
Services & Program
Supports
Write
Measurable
Goals
Process of Developing Standards-Based IEPs
Determine general
education
curriculum
expectations
•
•
•
NxGCSOs/Support for SB-IEPs (ELA, Math)
NxGECEs/Community Readiness
Unwrap the Standards
Identify current
skills, knowledge
and area(s) of
instructional need
•
•
•
•
What is the big picture?
Which are most important?
Which are critical needs?
Develop student data profile
Conduct data/gap
analysis and
develop impact
statement
•
•
•
•
•
Review student data profile
Review Grade-Level CSOs
Review Learning Progressions
Determine Gap
Where student is and where student needs to go
Step 2: Identify current skills, knowledge and
area (s) of instructional need
Develop student data profile which is an overview of student’s
functioning in all areas relevant to the IEP.
The profile should include general information regarding:
• Strengths
• Needs
• How the exceptionality affects involvement/progress in
the general education curriculum including Career and
Technical Education
• Assessment/Evaluation
• Status of prior IEP goals
• Teacher/Parent/Student input
• Transition needs (at least by age 16)
• Learning Style (UDL)
Standards Drive IEPs
 Provide instructional accountability and
access to general curriculum
 Support instruction in least restrictive
environment
 Link the IEP to the general curriculum
Standards Drive IEPs
 Essential for closing the
achievement gap
 Promote a single system of
education and consistency across
schools and the district
 Are best for kids – assume more,
not less
What Does it Mean to
Connect IEPs to Standards?

Refer to standards to determine expectations
at grade-level

Use the standards as a guide to determine
what is important for the student to learn or
be able to do

Conduct an analysis to determine the gap
between grade expectations and the student’s
current skills/knowledge
Accessing the General Education
Curriculum
• What is meant by the general education
curriculum?
 The full range of courses, activities, lessons, and
materials routinely used by the general
population
• What is meant by access?
 Participation in the knowledge and skills that
make up the general education curriculum
Developing Present Level Statements
General
Curriculum
Expectations
Areas of
Instructional
Need
Current
Skills and
Knowledge
PLAAFP
Statements
on IEP
Form
Collect Data Current Skills/Knowledge
Consider the Whole Child
•
•
•
•
•
Academic
Social emotional
Communication
Recreation/Leisure
Health, Physical,
Medical
• Technology
• For secondary
consider:
 Jobs/job training
 Post-secondary
education
 Community
participation
 Home/independent
living
Collect Data Current Skills/Knowledge
 Social/emotional
behavior
• Academic
 Tests
 Classroom reports
 Work samples
 Observation
 Curriculum based
assessments
 Office referral data
 Family input
 Attendance
 Statewide assessments
 Evaluation results
 Classroom observation
 Formative assessment
 IEP Progress Reports
Collect Data Current Skills/Knowledge
 Communication
 Health/Physical
 Reports
 Family reports
 Observation
 Comprehensive
evaluation
 Language evaluation
 Language skills (including
English Language
Learners ELLs with
exceptionalities)
 In-school nurse reports
 Physical education
 Self-report
Collect Data Current Skills/Knowledge
• Jobs & Job training
• Recreation/Leisure
 Vocational training
records
 Family reports
 Vocational/Transition
assessment results
 Self-report
 Student interview
 Physical education
 Extracurricular
participation
Collect Data Current Skills/Knowledge
 Post-secondary
Education
 Counselor and student
interviews
 Transition assessments
• Community Participation
 Family report
 Student self-report
 Transition assessments
Collect Data Current Skills/Knowledge
• Home/Independent
Living
 Family report
 Student self-report
 In-school observations
 Transition assessments
• Other reports (use of
assistive technology,
accommodations,
modifications)
 Family
 Teacher
 Student
Present Performance or Current
Skills/Knowledge
• What:

Can the student do in school; at home?

Accommodations have helped in the past?

Is the student’s performance level on state assessments
and in the classroom?
Activity 3.1
Present Level Statements:
More than One Step
General
Curriculum
Expectations
Areas of
Instructional
Need
Current
Skills and
Knowledge
PLAAFP
Statements
on IEP
Form
Selecting the Standard
Discuss intent of standards:

What are the knowledge and skills necessary for the
student to achieve to a level that is expected in the
standards?

What are the prerequisite skills?
Selecting the Standard

Determine which standards are most important for each
student (based on progress in the general education
curriculum)

Compare standard(s) with student’s areas of need and the
impact of the disability/giftedness

Use data to determine the areas in which the student will
need additional supports
Think about…Essential Knowledge
and Skills
 Leverage-standards in one subject that support
student’s success in other subjects
 Endurance-standards that help students across the
years rather than respond to the testing of a single
grade level
 Readiness-essential for the next grade/standards
that help students prepare for the next level of
learning
Impact Considerations
Which standards:
 Can be met with accommodations in the general
classroom?
 Require specialized instruction?
Impact Considerations
Which standards are most essential to:

Accelerate the ability to progress in the general
curriculum?

Result in educational benefit?
Identifying Instructional Need
1. Consider the target grade level standards
 Identify critical knowledge and skills within the
standards
 Use a data analysis process to conduct a drill
down
ELA.6.R.C1.5
determine a central idea of an informational text
and how it is conveyed through particular details;
provide a summary of the text distinct from
personal opinions or judgments.
Data Analysis, continued
2. Of these skills, where does the student
demonstrate proficiency? (These could
become descriptors in the Present Level
Statements)
 Formal assessment
 Informal assessment
Data Analysis, continued
3. Can the standard(s) be achieved with an
accommodation?
 For example, can the student:

Demonstrate the central idea of a text if
given orally rather than being asked to read
the items independently?

Summarize the text when it is read orally?
Data Analysis, continued
4. Given these responses:
 What skills need to be taught explicitly to
demonstrate proficiency on the targeted
standards?
 Which skills/knowledge can be acquired in the
general classroom with an
accommodation/assistive technology?
Data Analysis, continued
Consider other functional skill areas that may not be
directly connected to the academic standards, and
determine which areas need specialized instruction
through the IEP.
Let’s review…
 Just as a review, we have already talked
about:
 Identifying critical standards
 Collecting/analyzing data relative to the
student’s current academic performance
 Collecting/analyzing data relative to the
student’s functional performance
 Identifying instructional need
 Present Level Statements
Activity 3.2
Practice Data Analysis
Assignment:
1. Review the selected objective for English Language
Arts
2. Make notes of critical expectations
3. Document the student’s current skills and knowledge
specific to the objective
4. Conduct an analysis of data using the process we have
just been talking about and document results
Impact Statement
Answers the question of how the child's
exceptionality affects (impacts) his/her involvement
and progress in the general education curriculum.
• Discuss learner characteristics and examine how
the characteristics affect student learning.
• Do not use student’s exceptionality to explain
how the disability/giftedness affects involvement/
progress in the general curriculum.
33
Learner Characteristics
Consider the learner characteristics typical of
the student’s exceptionality and through
observation how these characteristics may affect
progress in learning the content state standard.
Activity 3.3
Learner Characteristics
Activity
Activ
Examples of Learner
Characteristics
• Easily distracted
• Difficulty processing information in specific ways
• Difficulty organizing materials/time
• Difficulty completing written tasks
• Difficulty with problem-solving
What is a Gap Analysis?
A gap analysis is used to measure the difference
between the student's current levels of
performance and grade-level content standard
expectations.
Karen’s Impact Statement
Karen’s deficit in reading fluency causes her to have
difficulties in summarizing and identifying the main idea of
a text. This adversely affects her in classes when she has
to read lengthy text materials, summarize them, and
provide central idea of a text.
What areas are affected due to the exceptionality?
How does the student’s exceptionality impact the
student’s involvement in the general education
curriculum?
What academic areas are impacted due to the
exceptionality?
38
Sample Impact Statements
Eli’s tendency to reverse numbers will impact his
ability to accurately write numbers and will also
impact computation/problem solving in
mathematics.
Samantha’s difficulties with reasoning skills affect
her ability to draw inferences from literary and
informational passages and impact all other
academic areas.
Sample Impact Statements
Ann’s disability in the areas of auditory processing
an auditory memory cause her to have difficulty
processing problems and remembering
information presented orally. This impacts her
ability to follow multi-step directions, to
comprehend and recall complex concepts. This
also impacts her academic success with oral
presentations in all instructional settings, reading,
written language, and math, and to a lesser
degree, science and social studies.
Sample Impact Statements
Jane’s exceptional intellectual ability and
achievement as shown in Part V Assessment
Data indicates that she may be underchallenged in the grade-level content
instruction normally provided in the general
education classroom. This impacts her
educational progress in that she may need
grade-level curriculum enriched to include
more depth and complexity.
Unacceptable Impact Statements
What is missing?
• Lisa has difficulty organizing her materials and
beginning assignments because she has an
attention deficit disorder.
• Ethan’s learning disability impacts his phonemic
awareness.
Activity 3.4 Karen Shaw
Develop Present
Levels of Academic
Achievement and
Functional
Performance
•
•
•
•
Collect Data
Identify Strengths
Identify Needs
Develop Impact Statement
•
Choose content
standard and
objective(s)
•
What standard(s) and objective(s) best address the
gap?
What standard(s) and objective(s) are critical for
accelerating student learning?
Write measurable
goals and
objectives
•
•
•
•
•
•
Develop 4-Point Goal
In what length of time (Timeframe)
Under what context (Conditions)
The student (Who) - Will do what (Behavior)
Through what assessment (Evaluation) - To what
degree/level (Criterion)
Accommodations/Modifications/Specially Designed
Instruction
Step 4:Develop Present Levels of Academic
Achievement and Functional Performance
The present level provides a summary of baseline information that indicates the
student’s academic achievement on specific standards or skills. The present level
must be data-based.
Components of Present Levels:
• Grade-level expectations
• Strengths
• Needs
• How the student’s exceptionality affects involvement/progress in the general
education curriculum (for preschool children, how the disability affects the
child’s participation in age- appropriate activities).
• Impact Statement
DO NOT use the student’s eligibility to explain how the exceptionality affects
involvement/progress in the general education curriculum!
Remember: the present levels of academic achievement and functional
performance set the stage for developing IEP goals!
Present Levels of Academic
Achievement and Functional
Performance (PLAAFP)
(1) “. . .a statement of the child’s present levels of
academic and functional performance,
including—
(i) how the child’s disability affects the child’s
involvement and progress in the general
education curriculum (i.e., the same curriculum
as for nondisabled children);…..”
§300.320(a)(1)
Present Level & the IEP:
A Two-Step Process

Part I
 Description of what the student can do; strengths,
based on general curriculum expectations

Part II
 Conversation to identify the gaps in skills/knowledge
associated with the exceptionality
Present Levels of Academic Achievement
and Functional Performance
Present levels must be:
•
Measurable—use terms that are observable,
specific, and based on evidence
•
Understandable—use clear language that can
be understood by all members of the IEP Team
Activity 3.5
Objective vs. Subjective Statements
Subjective Statements
Richie talks too much.
Stephanie did not turn in her homework
assignments.
Tom has difficulty writing a summary.
Objective Statements
Richie interrupts the teacher during
classroom discussions with verbal outbursts
Stephanie did not turn in her homework
assignments 17 out of 20 times this grading
period resulting in a grade of “Incomplete”
in Math I.
On 50% of his assignments related to
summarizing a passage, Tom will list the
main idea instead of providing a summary.
Components of Present Levels of
Academic Achievement and Functional
Performance
1. Strengths
2. Needs
3. Impact statement
PLAAFP: Component 1
Strengths must be specific to the knowledge/skills
that are needed to learn grade level standards.
Strengths may include:
• Skills related to the state standard(s)
• Student’s response to learning strategies
• Successful Core, Targeted and Intensive Instruction
interventions or accommodations
PLAAFP: Component 2
Needs should focus on the skill sets the student
requires to access and make progress in general
education curriculum.
The student’s needs will inform the IEP Team which
measurable annual goals to develop.
PLAAFP: Component 3
Impact Statement: Answers the question of how the
child's exceptionality affects (impacts) his/her
involvement and progress in the general education
curriculum.
• Discuss learner characteristics and examine how
the characteristics affect student learning.
• Do not use student’s exceptionality to explain
how the exceptionality affects involvement/
progress in the general curriculum.
54
Putting it All Together, continued…
On the IEP:
 The Present Level Statements must include:
 Academic and functional performance:
strengths, needs and data sources
 Affect of the exceptionality in the general
education curriculum - The Impact Statement
for preschool children, the affect on
participation in age appropriate activities
Putting it All Together, continued…
 Strengths:
Student’s response to:
 Learning strategies
 Accommodations
 Interventions
 Standards instruction
Ask…What have we learned about this student’s
academic skills and knowledge?
Putting it All Together, continued…
 Needs:
Focus on needs that affect progress in the general education
curriculum

progress in learning grade-level standards
Ask…What prerequisite skills/knowledge does
the student need to close the gap between
his/her Present Level and the grade-level
content standards?
Academic Performance Example
• Use up-to-date descriptive data:
Cory reads 24 wpm, while the benchmark for 2nd
graders in the regular curriculum is 60-80 wpm. Cory
can say 5 out of 10 short and long vowel sounds. He
cannot read multi-syllabic words.
Functional Performance
 Student’s:



social/emotional (behavioral) performance
communication skills
performance in areas of recreation/leisure, selfmanagement, independent living, etc.
Ask…“ What have we learned about this student’s ability to
function independently and appropriately with peers
and adults?”
Functional Performance Example
 Use up-to-date descriptive data:
In a classroom observation, Cory sat quietly in his seat for 10
minutes. At the 10-minute mark, he began to look around the
room, followed by twirling his pencil and playing with his
paper. When placed with a partner to complete his work, he
was able to remain on task and complete the assignment…
Performance in the General Education
Curriculum
 How does the disability affect performance?
 Consider how it affects progress in learning the
grade-level content standards – the Impact
Statement.
Caution
 Do not use the student’s exceptionality to explain how the
disability/advanced learning affects involvement/progress in
the general education curriculum when developing the
Impact Statement.
 What not to write:
Marley’s learning disability affects his progress in the
general curriculum.
 What to write:
Marley’s weakness in applying strategies, such as making
inferences and complex predictions, affect his progress in
comprehending sixth-grade literary materials.
Activity 3.6 Karen Shaw
Activity 3.7
Can you improve this Present Level
statement?
Rosie has trouble controlling her behavior.
She gets easily upset when interacting with
peers and does not take direction from
authority. Once off task it is really hard to
reengage her.
One way…
Rosie enjoys socializing with peers, and will play
cooperatively with them some of the time. Her
teacher reports that more often, Rosie is off task
and interacts inappropriately with her peers.
Observations of Rosie indicated that when
interacting with peers, Rosie became upset
(cried, threw material, left the group) 55% of the
time within the first five minutes of a group
activity. Once off task, it took up to 20 minutes
for her to reengage in the activity.
Activity 3.7 (Continued)
Putting it all together
 Rosie has improved in mathematics since
last year. She can add and subtract and
do some multiplication. She has difficulties
solving word problems. Rosie currently
has a grade of 71% in math.
One way…
Curriculum Based Assessments indicate Rosie can add and subtract
within 100 to solve one-step words problems, involving “adding to”,
“taking from”, etc. She has memorized the multiplication facts for 0 –
5 and 10. She is able to use a multiplication table for facts she does
not have memorized. Classroom assessments demonstrate that Rosie
can apply the correct operation when presented with the terms or
symbols for “multiply”, and “divide”. Rosie cannot describe a context
in which a total number of objects can be expressed as a
multiplication problem, such 35 = 5 groups of 7 objects. She is not
able to interpret a multiplication equation as a comparison when
given word problem, such as: “A pack of pencils costs 9 times as much
as a single pencil, which costs 5 cents. How much is a pack?” Rosie’s
disability impacts her ability to use multiplication equations to solve
real world problems.
Review of Present Level Statements
1. Are they related to the vision (desired outcome) for this
student?
2. Do they reflect what the student knows in relation to the
general curriculum or standards expectations?
3. Are they stated in measurable terms?
4. Do they include strengths, needs, and exceptionality
affect on access to the general curriculum?
5. Are they self-explanatory?
Review of Steps to Develop
PLAAFP
1. Review NxGCSOs for student’s grade level
2. Review various data sources to determine the
student’s strengths and needs
3. Determine what the priorities are for the
student in relation to the grade-level standards
4. After the strengths and priority needs have
been identified, now write the Present Levels
statement for each relevant area
PLAAFP Reading Example-Grade 4
Strengths
Sally can identify 1-2 details from text read. She can identify the main
idea when reading content area passages. She can verbally explain
events in chronological order. She can compare and contrast events
from text using a Venn diagram.
Needs
However, Sally is unable to write a complete summary and will often
add her opinion. She has difficulty identifying author’s evidence or
purpose in text read, she only states why she likes the text. In addition,
Sally can not determine the cause or effect of a situation.
Impact Statement
Sally’s inability to understand key components of reading literature
affects her progress in the 4th grade general education curriculum.
PLAAFP Phrase Examples
Vague Verb Phrases
Specific Verb Phrases
Received a math score of 90
Can count to 25
Knows his letters
Can verbally identify 23/26 letters
Can add
Using a calculator, solves double-digit
addition problems
Expressive language is at 27
Communicates wants and needs in 23 word sentences
Can read
Can locate 2 -3 details in a reading
selection
Knows fractions
Can reduce equivalent fractions
Can measure
Can accurately use various types of
measurement tools such as rulers,
weights, and volume (liters)
Present Levels: Instructional and
Grade Levels
It is critical that the PLAAFP and annual
goals include both the instructional AND
grade levels. Why?
1. Instructional level alone does not meet the criteria
of the general education curriculum.
2. Grade level alone does not meet the criteria of an
IEP based on identified skill deficits.
Present Levels: Instructional and
Grade Level
• The two levels together (instructional and grade)
allow the student to make progress in the
general education curriculum, while also
addressing skill deficits (needs).
Present Levels: The End Result
Instructional Level and Grade Level
The information then translates into content for
goals and specially designed instruction in order
for the student to work toward mastery in the
general education curriculum.
74
Present Level
Remember…
The Present Levels of Academic Achievement
and Functional Performance set the stage
for developing IEP goals!
Activity 3.9
Let’s Review
PLAAFP Reminders