IEP Present Levels of Performance in Massachusetts: What the PLAAFP Must Include Under the New 2024 Form

The Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance section — known as PLAAFP or "present levels" — is the foundation of the entire IEP. Every goal, every service, every accommodation is supposed to flow directly from what is documented in present levels. If the present levels are vague, incomplete, or inaccurate, everything that follows is built on a shaky base.

Massachusetts's new 2024–2025 DESE IEP form reorganized how present levels are structured — and understanding that structure is essential for parents who want to verify that their child's IEP reflects reality.

What the New 2024 Massachusetts IEP Form Changed About Present Levels

The old Massachusetts IEP format (used from 2001 through 2024) organized present levels by disability area and kept academic and functional performance loosely separated. The new form, rolled out statewide for the 2024–2025 school year under DESE's IEP Improvement Project, reorganizes present levels into four distinct performance domains:

1. Academic — reading, writing, math, academic content areas
2. Behavior/Social/Emotional — behavioral functioning, emotional regulation, social skills, mental health
3. Communication — receptive and expressive language, AAC, pragmatics
4. Additional Areas — which may include activities of daily living, vocational skills, executive function, motor skills, sensory processing

The new form also opens with a Student and Team Vision section and a Student Profile before the present levels. The Student Profile captures the student's strengths, interests, cultural and linguistic background, and how disability affects participation and progress in the general curriculum. This section is not decorative — it is intended to ground everything that follows in the student's full profile, not just deficits.

What a Compliant Present Levels Statement Looks Like

For each of the four domains, the present levels section should include:

Current performance level with data A description of where the student is performing right now, drawn from the most recent evaluation data, progress monitoring data, or curriculum-based assessments. Not impressions — data.

Example (adequate): "In reading fluency, Marcus reads connected text at 72 words per minute with 89% accuracy on third-grade passages, as measured by DIBELS ORF probes administered in October 2025. National benchmark for third-grade at the beginning of the year is 97 words per minute."

Example (inadequate): "Marcus has difficulty with reading."

Impact on access to the general curriculum How does the performance level in this domain affect the student's ability to access, participate in, and make progress in the general education curriculum? This connection is legally required — it is also the bridge between present levels and services.

Parent input The new 2024 Massachusetts IEP form specifically designates a section for parent input on present levels. This is your formal opportunity to describe what you observe at home, what you believe is not captured in school data, and what areas you believe are being underestimated. You can submit written parent input before the meeting and request that it be incorporated into the present levels documentation.

For students age 14+: transition-related performance data The new form integrates transition planning throughout the IEP rather than relegating it to a separate form. Present levels for older students should include vocational interests, adaptive behavior data, results of any transition assessments, and a description of the student's current level of independence in post-secondary readiness skills.

How to Evaluate Whether Your Child's Present Levels Are Adequate

When you receive the proposed IEP before the Team meeting, read the present levels section against these questions:

Is there specific data? Does each domain section include actual assessment scores, observation counts, work sample data, or other documented evidence? Or is it a paragraph of general impressions? "Isabella struggles with writing" is not present levels data.

Is the data current? Present levels should reflect the most recent evaluation cycle or recent progress monitoring data — not assessments from two or three years ago that were never updated.

Does it reflect the full profile? Does the present levels statement capture strengths as well as needs? The new DESE form explicitly requires a strengths-based framing. A present levels section that describes only deficits without any strengths is incomplete under the new format.

Do the present levels match the goals? Each annual goal should be traceable back to a specific performance gap identified in the present levels. If the IEP includes a reading fluency goal but the present levels section contains no reading fluency data, that goal has no foundation.

Is parent input reflected? If you submitted written parent input before the meeting, it should appear in or alongside the present levels documentation. If it was ignored or minimized, note this at the meeting and request it be formally documented.

What to Do When Present Levels Are Inadequate

If you review the proposed IEP and find that the present levels section is vague, outdated, or missing entire domains, you have several options:

At the Team meeting: State specifically what information you believe is missing and request that it be added before you sign the IEP. "I don't see any data on [student's] social-emotional functioning in the Behavior/Social/Emotional domain. The evaluation found significant anxiety. What data is the Team using to document baseline functioning in that area?"

In writing after the meeting: Include your concerns in the Letter of Understanding you send to the Team Chair within 24 hours of the meeting. Specify which domains have inadequate present levels data and request that the Team provide documentation.

Partial rejection: If you accept the IEP but dispute the adequacy of the present levels documentation, document your position in your written response. "I am accepting the IEP but note that the present levels in the Communication domain do not reflect the speech-language evaluation findings from September 2025. I am requesting a reconvene to revise this section."

IEE request: If the inadequate present levels stem from an incomplete or narrow district evaluation, request an Independent Educational Evaluation at public expense under 603 CMR 28.04(5). An independent evaluator who assesses your child comprehensively provides a competing set of present levels data that the Team must consider.

The Parent Input Section of the New 2024 IEP Form

One of the most significant structural changes in the new Massachusetts IEP form is the explicit designation of a Parent Input section. This section is intended to capture the parent's perspective on the student's profile, strengths, and areas of need — before the IEP goals are developed.

Do not skip this section. Before every IEP meeting, prepare a written Parent Input statement covering:

• What you observe your child can do well (strengths, interests, motivation)
• What you observe your child struggling with at home that may not be visible at school
• What you believe is most important for the IEP to address in the coming year
• Any concerns about current services not working as intended
• Any observations about the student's social, emotional, or behavioral functioning at home

Submit this statement in writing before the meeting and ask the Team Chair to confirm it will be incorporated into the Student Profile or Parent Input section of the IEP. If it is not reflected in the document, note that at the meeting and request a revision.

The Massachusetts IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a Parent Input template for the new 2024 DESE IEP form, a present levels review checklist with domain-by-domain prompts, and a guide to identifying when weak present levels are producing weak goals — so you can address the foundation, not just the symptoms.

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