This is a section that isn’t in all IEPs. Many states/districts, however, have a box in the present levels to put in test results. Typically, this is the results of the formal assessments the student took at their three year review or their initial evaluation. You will often see a lot of standard scores, percentiles, and gobbly gook here. Sometimes districts will also include transition assessments done by case managers, class grades, and state test results here as well. 

Because IEPs are written on all areas of student need, present levels sections include information on the student’s physical, socioemotional, development, and communication baseline as well as on their academics. There is a lot of variation in how districts label the various parts of this section but in every single one you should learn about a student’s skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and their overall development. In most districts that means communication, motor skills, and socioemotional skills– but some districts jumble those together and so omit any areas where the student does not have a need. In California, that would have gotten you in trouble on a state audit but in New Hampshire it is pretty standard not to see anything about motor skills in an IEP– so there is some variation state by state.

Arizona, which combines this section with the student strengths, has a nice clean lay out for this section. Click read more to see how Arizona divided up this section in the sub-sections I talked about of communication, academics, and so on. 

Now, take a look at this section of the IEP from the Fresno district in California. They too have a section for communication and motor skills, but academic and functional skills are one sub-section that also includes socioemotional stuff. 

The IEP from Oregon has only two sub-boxes– one for academic performance and one for developmental and functional development. In NH (not shown), there are three boxes– one for academic performance, one for functional, and one for developmental– and no one really has a clue how to figure out what goes in the functional versus developmental boxes! 

You can see that the amount of content in the boxes varies a lot as does their labels but somehow, every single IEP from every single district is trying to provide a holistic picture of the student’s skills.

The filled out examples on the left are helpful to look at to get a sense of how long this section can be– because when I say this is the meatiest section of the IEP, I mean it is the longest!

If it is in the IEP, and it is often not (some districts put it in a separate document instead because it is long and kinda boring), it will mostly be with the present levels.

In San Diego, we never ever put this in the IEPs, just in assessment reports. In NH, this information is in every IEP. So your IEPs might have standard scores and gobbly gook– or might not. If it doesn’t, you can always request the assessment report which has the scores in context. If you just don’t like the gobbly gook, get the assessment report. They are MUCH easier to understand!

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act broadly says that in writing a new IEP, the team needs to consider the results of the “most recent evaluations” of a student. Some states have interpreted this as needing a section on the IEP that outlines this information.

What IDEA says in 34 C.F.R. § 300.324(a)(1)