GACE Special Education General Curriculum (P-12) (735) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Specific learning disability

An IDEA category for a disorder in basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, which may appear as imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or compute.

Emotional disturbance

An IDEA category defined by one or more of five characteristics-learning difficulty, relationship problems, inappropriate behavior, unhappiness or depression, physical symptoms-exhibited over a long period that adversely affects educational performance.

Other health impairment

An IDEA category for limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

Intellectual disability

Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior, manifested during the developmental period, which adversely affects a child's educational performance and requires specially designed instruction.

Autism

A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects educational performance and is often accompanied by repetitive behaviors and resistance to change.

Traumatic brain injury

An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force that results in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, and adversely affects educational performance; it excludes congenital or degenerative conditions.

Present levels of performance

The IEP statement describing a student's current academic achievement and functional performance, how the disability affects involvement in the general curriculum, and the baseline from which annual goals are written.

IEP team members

Required participants include the parent, a regular education teacher, a special education teacher, a district representative, someone able to interpret evaluation results, and at the parent's or district's discretion others with relevant knowledge.

Triennial reevaluation

A reevaluation to confirm continued eligibility must occur at least once every three years, unless the parent and the school district agree in writing that a reevaluation is unnecessary.

Independent educational evaluation

An evaluation by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the school district; when parents disagree with the district's evaluation, they may request one at public expense or the district must defend its evaluation.

Transition services

A coordinated set of activities built on measurable postsecondary goals in education, employment, and independent living that improves academic and functional achievement and moves a student from school to adult life, beginning by age 16.

Manifestation determination review

A meeting required within ten school days of a disciplinary change of placement that decides whether the misconduct was caused by, or directly related to, the student's disability or resulted from failure to implement the IEP.

Functional behavioral assessment

A systematic process using observation, interviews, and records to identify the antecedents, consequences, and function of a problem behavior, forming the basis for a behavior intervention plan.

Positive behavioral interventions and supports

A three-tier schoolwide framework of prevention: universal supports for all students, targeted small-group interventions for some, and intensive individualized supports for a few, guided by data and explicit expectations.

Least restrictive environment continuum

Placement options ordered from most to least inclusive: general education with supplementary aids, resource or pull-out services, separate classes, separate schools, and homebound or hospital settings; placement begins with the general education classroom.

45-day interim placement

A school may remove a student with a disability to an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 school days for weapons, illegal drugs, or serious bodily injury, regardless of whether the behavior was disability-related.

Explicit instruction

A structured sequence in which the teacher models and explains a skill, guides practice with feedback, and then releases students to independent practice, with review and cumulative practice built in.

Task analysis

Breaking a complex skill into smaller, sequentially ordered component steps so each can be taught, modeled, practiced, and reinforced, often followed by chaining steps forward or backward into a whole.

Concrete-to-abstract sequence

A mathematics teaching progression that moves from manipulative objects to pictorial representations to abstract symbols and algorithms, providing multiple representations of the same concept before symbolic work is required.

Universal Design for Learning

A planning framework providing multiple means of representation, multiple means of engagement, and multiple means of action and expression so that curricula are accessible to the widest range of learners from the start.

Self-regulated strategy development

An evidence-based writing approach in which students learn strategies plus self-regulation procedures such as goal setting, self-monitoring, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement through modeling and scaffolded practice.

Co-teaching models

Approaches to two educators sharing instruction: one teach one observe, one teach one assist, station teaching, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, and team teaching, each varying the division of roles and student grouping.

Standard score

A transformed score expressing how far a raw score falls from the mean in standard deviation units; most intelligence and achievement tests use a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.

Curriculum-based measurement

A set of brief, standardized, repeated probes in reading, math, or writing that measure fluency and are graphed over time to show rate of growth and responsiveness to instruction.

Formative assessment

Ongoing, low-stakes checks of student understanding during instruction, used to adjust teaching in the moment, in contrast to summative assessment that evaluates learning at the end of a unit.

Accommodations versus modifications

Accommodations change how material is presented or how a student responds without altering content expectations, whereas modifications change the content, level, or performance criteria the student is expected to meet.

Standard error of measurement

An index of the average amount of error in an individual's test score, used to build a confidence interval around the obtained score and to judge whether score differences are meaningful.

Free appropriate public education

The IDEA entitlement to special education and related services that are provided at public expense, meet state standards, include an appropriate education, and conform to the student's individualized education program.

FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 gives parents the right to inspect and amend education records, limits disclosure without consent, and requires schools to respond to record requests within 45 days.

Section 504

A 1973 federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on disability in programs receiving federal funds; it covers any student with a physical or mental impairment substantially limiting a major life activity.

Board of Education v. Rowley

The 1982 Supreme Court decision holding that a free appropriate public education requires personalized instruction with sufficient support to permit educational benefit, not the maximum possible benefit sought by the parents.

Due process hearing

A formal, impartial administrative proceeding where parents or the district present evidence and witnesses to resolve disputes about identification, evaluation, placement, or services; the losing party may appeal to court.