Present Level Assessments™ (PLAs) are assessment tools that are created to measure both speech and language skills, as well as give you the ability to complete classroom observations in an efficient and comprehensive manner. The language PLAs are leveled by grade band (Preschool, Kindergarten, 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12).

The PLAAFP should cover all areas of development where your child may need support. Some examples are: Academic skills—counting, pre-reading, pre-writing. Daily living or self-help skills—dressing, eating, using the bathroom.

Present Level of Performance Examples #1 Her visual memory and visual processing scores are above average, so she learns easily through pictures and images. She is ahead of her peers in science and social studies, as well as in writing and reading.

The information in the PLAAFP section of the IEP should be written in brief, clear, specific, and accurate statements with enough information to describe the student's current skill levels in objective, measurable terms. If scores are reported, they should either be self-explanatory or explained.

PLOPs should include strengths (what the student can do), areas of need (what the student should learn to do), and impact of disability (how the disability affects the child's access to the curriculum/environment).

When all is said and done, then, the IEP Team must talk about the impact of the child's disability on his or her ability to learn and do the kinds of things that typical, nondisabled children learn and do. This is the information that is then included in the IEP as the “present levels” statement.

The “present levels” statement is crafted by considering the areas of development in which a child with a disability may need support. These are roughly divided into the two areas of development: academic and functional. Neither of these terms—academic achievement, functional performance—is defined in IDEA.