AED Present Levels — Assessment Templates

Source: "AED-PL Assessment Templates.docx" — Bancroft Special Education folder, SY22-23. Localized 2026-05-10.

When to use: Writing the Present Levels (PLAAFP) section of an AED (Analysis of Existing Data) report. These are Bancroft's house templates for describing assessment results — fill in <placeholders> with student-specific data.

Why these matter

PLAAFP writing is the IEP's foundation (see research/iep-writing-best-practices.md §1). Most case managers re-write the same assessment description from scratch every time. These templates are the Bancroft team's vetted phrasing for the most common assessments — STAR + DIBELS as of SY22-23.

The templates handle the "interpret what the score means functionally" requirement that PLAAFP demands. You still need to add <interpretation for specific student> at the end — but the templates do the heavy lifting on naming the assessment, what it measures, what the scoring scale means, and how to interpret the color/range.

STAR (Reading Assessment) Template

On <date>, <name> took the Star Reading Assessment in <English/Spanish>.
This is an adaptive computer-based test that assesses reading and scores
students using a scaled score of 0–1400. <name> received a score of
<number>, indicating that <she/he> is <see options below> based on the
<number> grade <beginning/end> of year benchmark of <number>.

The assessment also provides scores in three domains with various
sub-categories, each of which are scored from 0-100 points.

In the Literature domain, <name> scored <number> in 'key ideas and
details' and <number> in 'range of reading and level of text complexity'.

In the Informational Text domain, <name> scored <number> in 'key ideas
and details', <number> in 'craft and structure', <number> in 'integration
of knowledge and ideas', and <number> in 'range of reading and level of
text complexity'.

In the Language domain, <name> scored <number> in 'vocabulary acquisition
and use'.

<add interpretation for specific student>

Range options (pick one for the "indicating that she/he is" slot):

In need of 'urgent intervention'
In need of 'intervention'
'on watch'
'at or above the benchmark'

DIBELS Template

On <date>, <name> was assessed using the various components of the
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills (DIBELS). The DIBELS
assessments cover a range of literacy skills that are necessary for
accurate and fluent grade-level reading. <name> had a composite score
of <number>, placing <her/him> in the <'green/yellow/red'> range for
the <Beginning/Middle/End> of Year benchmark.

<name> was first assessed on the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF). Students
are given one minute to read as much of a grade-level reading passage
as possible. <name> was able to read with <%> accuracy, placing
<her/him> in the <'green/yellow/red'> range for the <Beginning/Middle/End>
of Year benchmark. <She/He> read <number> words per minute, placing
<her/him> in the <'green/yellow/red'> range for the <Beginning/Middle/End>
of Year benchmark.

<name> was next assessed on Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF). Students are
given one minute to read as many grade-level-appropriate decodable
nonsense words as possible. <She/He> was able to read <number> correct
letter sounds, placing <her/him> in the <'green/yellow/red'> range for
the <Beginning/Middle/End> of Year benchmark. <She/He> was able to read
<number> correct words, placing <her/him> in the <'green/yellow/red'>
range for the <Beginning/Middle/End> of Year benchmark.

<name> was finally assessed on Word Reading Fluency (WRF). Students are
given one minute to read as many of the grade-level-appropriate real
words on the list as possible. <name> was able to read <number> words
from the <X>th grade list. This score places <her/him> in the
<'green, yellow, red'> range for the <Beginning/Middle/End> of year
benchmark.

<add interpretation for specific student>

Color indications (paste as a footnote when reporting DIBELS):

Green: About 80% of students who score at or above the 40th percentile fall in this range or above.
Yellow: About 80% of students who score below the 40th percentile fall in this range or below.
Red: About 80% of students who score below the 20th percentile fall in this range.

How to use these templates well

1. Don't skip the `<interpretation for specific student>`

The template ends with a placeholder for what this means for this student. Per the IEP-writing best practices (see research/iep-writing-best-practices.md §1):

"Listing test scores without interpreting what they mean functionally is a top error. Don't say 'scored 1.2 GE on DIBELS' — say 'reads 14 WCPM on grade-1 decodable texts; targets at this point in 1st grade are 23-32 WCPM.'"

2. For Spanish-immersion students — specify language explicitly

If you're using mClass Lectura (Spanish DIBELS) or STAR SLA, modify the template to specify "in Spanish" / "en español." For dual-language students, REPORT BOTH if you have data in both. A 1st-grader who scores Yellow on English DIBELS but Green on mClass Lectura tells a very different story than one who scores Yellow on both.

3. The template is a scaffold, not a script

Adapt to your student. If a student couldn't complete WRF (refused, ran out of attention), say so — don't pretend the score is meaningful.

4. These are SY22-23 templates

Verify the assessments are still in use at Bancroft in current year. Add new assessments (i-Ready, MAP, etc.) as you encounter them — share back to Shannon for inclusion in the next year's templates.

What's NOT in this doc (gaps)

Math assessments — No template for i-Ready Math, MAP Math, etc. If you write a good one, share back.
Behavior data — No template for behavior frequency counts, FBA data, etc.
Speech-language assessments — Owned by SLP, not classroom case manager, but worth knowing the format
Composite/synthesis paragraphs — These templates are per-assessment. The actual PLAAFP synthesizes across assessments. See research/iep-writing-best-practices.md §1 for the synthesis guidance.

Connection to other docs

PLAAFP best practices (federal/national): research/iep-writing-best-practices.md §1
Re-eval flow (where AEDs sit in process): reeval-eligibility-flow.md
Bancroft IEP examples to model: Mekoce's Bancroft ES/2024-2025/IEP Writing Resources/Completed_Sample_IEP.pdf and his own IEP_Goals_Bank_Master.md

Source

Local OneDrive path:

Bancroft Elementary Staff Sharepoint Site - Documents/Special Education/AED-PL Assessment Templates.docx