Understanding what's in your child’s IEP

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• Present level

  Present level of educational performance: this is the jargony term for how your child is doing in school. You might hear acronyms for this, like PLOP, PLP, or PLAAFP, which is short for “Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance.”

  This part of the IEP outlines your child’s strengths, challenges, and how their scores compare to their peers. This section may also mention your child’s behaviors or interests, like the subjects they enjoy and how they get along with other kids.

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• Annual goals

  This section describes what progress the IEP team is hoping to accomplish. It lists each annual goal and breaks down shorter-term objectives to reach along the way.

  (There’s a section later in this tool on how you can help the school set these annual goals.)

• Services

  The third main part of an IEP is the “Services” section. This part details how the IEP will help your child meet the annual goals. It lists any services your child will get and for how long, such as 30 minutes of speech therapy twice a week.

  There are many kinds of services that can go into an IEP, from mental health counseling to physical therapy to training in things like social skills or time management.

  Remember the “I” in IEP is for "Individualized," which means the IEP can include whatever services your child needs to make progress in school.

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• Accommodations

  Accommodations are changes in how your child does things at school. This section of the IEP is often called “Supplementary Aids and Services.”

  It could include things like more time on tests and a seat at the front of the classroom to help your child pay attention. It could also include assistive technology like text-to-speech software or audiobooks.

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