Gathering Information for the PLAAFP

Another Cairo pic...this is the courtyard entrance to the Hanging Church mentioned in a prior email. It is the most famous Coptic Christain Church in Cairo.

Gathering information and writing the Present Levels of Academic and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) can be a daunting task. Basically, there are four things to consider and address in the narrative:

1. Determine the student's current academic strengths and needs
2. Determine the student's current functional strengths and needs
3. Determine how the student's academic and functional needs are discrepant from expected levels of academic and functional skills
4. Determine what amount of growth can be expected within one year's time that will significantly close this gap.

Some of the common errors in this section include:

1. Writing vague descriptions of academic and/or functional needs
2. Writing statements that are not related to a student's disability
3. Writing statements based solely on a standardized battery of tests
4. Writing PLAAFP statements that are not individualized
5. Using a student's disability as the PLAAFP statement

One final challenge... this section needs to pass the "stranger test". Can a parent or teacher read this section and understand what it means?