Special Education Tests
Legal and Procedural Framework
Know IDEA, FAPE, least restrictive environment (LRE), individualized education programs (IEPs), procedural safeguards, and evaluation timelines. Understand Section 504 and ADA distinctions.
Instructional Practice
Use evidence-based interventions, progress monitoring, explicit instruction, accommodations, and modifications. Distinguish accommodations (access without changing content) from modifications (changed content or expectations).
Collaboration and Behavior
Collaborate with families, general educators, and related-service providers. Know functional behavior assessment (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP).
Traps
Questions may test legal timelines, eligibility versus diagnosis, and the difference between accommodation and modification. Avoid assuming that LRE always means the general education classroom full time; it means the most appropriate setting.
Worked example
A student with a reading disability receives extended time on tests. That is an accommodation because content and expectations are unchanged. Reducing the number of test items would be a modification.
Rule of thumb
Ask whether the student’s access changes or the expectation changes-access is accommodation; expectation is modification.