IEP Glossary · Present Levels

Present Levels of Performance: The IEP Section That Matters Most

The present levels of academic achievement and functional performance section, sometimes called PLAAFP or PLOP, is the foundation of every IEP. The goals, services, and placement decisions that follow are all supposed to grow directly from this section. If it doesn’t accurately describe your child, nothing else in the IEP will either. Most parents skim past it. This guide explains why you shouldn’t.

Meghan Moore, BCBA, M.A. Special Education

Founder, Mama Moore Advocacy · Updated April 14, 2026

What Present Levels Must Cover

Under IDEA, the present levels section must describe how the child’s disability affects their involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. That is a legal requirement, not a suggestion. In practice, this means the section must address every area where the disability has an impact.

Academic achievement: Reading, writing, and math, with specific data points, not just grade-level benchmarks. "Reading at a second-grade level" is not sufficient. A standardized score, progress monitoring data, or fluency rate is.
Communication: Speech, language, and pragmatics, including expressive and receptive language if relevant to the disability.
Social-emotional and behavioral: Peer interactions, emotional regulation, behavioral patterns, and how these affect the child’s participation in school.
Adaptive behavior: Daily living skills relevant to the disability, particularly for students with more significant support needs.
Functional performance: How the disability affects the child’s ability to function in the school environment across settings and activities.

What Weak Present Levels Look Like

Most IEP advocates spend a significant portion of their review time on present levels, because vague or inaccurate present levels corrupt everything that follows. Watch for these red flags:

"Johnny reads below grade level", no baseline score, no assessment tool cited, no way to measure progress
"Maria has difficulty with peer interactions", no description of what that means, how often it occurs, or what triggers it
Copy-paste language from the prior year with updated dates and no new data
Performance data that contradicts what teachers describe verbally at the meeting
No mention of areas where the disability affects function, social, behavioral, communication, because those areas were never evaluated

Why Present Levels Drive Everything

Under IDEA, goals must be directly tied to the present levels. If a deficit isn’t described in present levels, there can be no goal for it. If there’s no goal, there’s no service. Present levels are where the IEP either starts correctly or derails before it begins.

This is the most important structural feature of the IEP. When present levels are weak, goals end up vague or mismatched. When present levels are incomplete, whole areas of need, behavioral, communication, social, simply disappear from the IEP. When present levels use outdated data, services may be calibrated to who your child was a year ago rather than who they are today.

How to Review the Present Levels Section

Before any IEP meeting, go through the present levels section and ask these questions:

✓Does it include data from a standardized assessment, not just teacher report?
✓Does it describe every area where the disability affects the child?
✓Is there a clear baseline that progress can be measured against?
✓Does it match what you observe at home?
✓Does it reflect input from outside providers (therapists, psychologists, pediatricians)?
✓Are there areas described better or worse than they actually are?

Using Present Levels to Advocate

Present levels give you leverage at the IEP table, if you know how to use them.

Before the meeting, compare the present levels to your own observations and to any private evaluations you have. Note where the school’s description diverges from what you see and what outside providers have documented. Those gaps are where your advocacy begins.

At the meeting, ask how each present-level statement connects to each goal. The IEP team should be able to draw a direct line from a description of a deficit in present levels to a goal addressing that deficit to a service delivering instruction toward that goal. If they can’t, that is worth challenging.

If you disagree with what the present levels say, or don’t say, say so in the meeting and follow up in writing. You can request that outside evaluation data be incorporated, that specific language be revised, or that a re-evaluation be conducted if you believe the current data is outdated or inaccurate.

Get Help Reading Your Child’s IEP

Meghan reviews IEPs for families who want to understand what they’re looking at before the meeting. Present levels are always the first stop.

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What should be in the present levels section of an IEP?

The present levels section must describe how the child’s disability affects their involvement and progress in the general education curriculum. For preschool children, it describes how the disability affects participation in appropriate activities. It should include current performance data in every area affected by the disability, academic achievement, communication, social-emotional functioning, behavioral functioning, and adaptive or daily living skills. Each area should include baseline data that allows the team to measure progress.

Can I add my own input to the present levels section?

Yes. Parent input is a required part of the IEP process, and parents can request that their concerns and observations be included in the document. Many IEP documents have a designated parent input section. If you believe the school’s present levels don’t reflect what you see at home or what outside providers report, you can request that discrepancy be documented.

What should I do if the present levels section doesn’t match my child?

You can object at the IEP meeting and request that the language be revised. You can attach a written statement of disagreement. You can request that a re-evaluation be conducted if you believe the school’s data is outdated or inaccurate. You can also request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if you disagree with the school’s assessment results.