OAE APK AYA cheat sheet

Piaget's stages in order: sensorimotor (0–2, object permanence), preoperational (2–7, egocentrism, symbolic play), concrete operational (7–11, conservation, reversibility, classification), formal operational (11+, abstract and hypothetical reasoning).

Erikson's psychosocial crises by school age: trust vs. mistrust (infancy), autonomy vs. shame (1–3), initiative vs. guilt (3–6), industry vs. inferiority (6–12), identity vs. role confusion (adolescence).

Vygotsky: the zone of proximal development is the gap between independent performance and performance with adult or peer scaffolding; private speech becomes inner speech.

Kohlberg's moral levels: preconventional (punishment/obedience, instrumental exchange), conventional (good boy/girl, law and order), postconventional (social contract, universal ethical principles).

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model nests microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem; the microsystem is the immediate setting of home, classroom, and peers.

Classical conditioning pairs a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus (Pavlov); operant conditioning shapes behavior through reinforcement and punishment (Skinner); social learning adds modeling and vicarious reinforcement (Bandura).

Maslow's hierarchy from base upward: physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, self-actualization; lower needs generally dominate until met.

Information processing: working memory is limited in capacity and duration; chunking, rehearsal, elaboration, and automatization reduce load and support transfer to long-term memory.

Language development milestones: cooing and babbling in infancy, first words near 12 months, two-word combinations near 18–24 months, and morphosyntactic growth through the preschool years.

Reliability concerns consistency of scores across occasions and raters; validity concerns whether scores support the intended interpretation; a test can be reliable without being valid, but not valid without being reliable.

Standard error of measurement (SEM) = SD × √(1 − reliability); a 68% confidence band is roughly ±1 SEM around the observed score.

Norm-referenced scores (percentile rank, stanine, z-score, T-score, stanine) compare a student to a norm group; criterion-referenced scores compare performance to a defined standard or objective.

Standard scores: z-score mean 0, SD 1; T-score mean 50, SD 10; IQ/standard score mean 100, SD 15; stanines 1–9 with mean 5.

Formative assessment informs ongoing instruction and is low-stakes; summative assessment certifies achievement at the end of a unit or year.

Bloom's revised taxonomy orders objectives: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create; assessment items should align to the level stated in the objective.

A table of specifications (test blueprint) maps items to content areas and cognitive levels to support content validity.

Item analysis indices: difficulty p = proportion answering correctly; discrimination D compares high- and low-scoring groups; distractor analysis shows which wrong options attracted students.

Accommodations change how a student accesses assessment (extended time, read-aloud) without altering what is measured; modifications change the content or standards assessed.

Direct instruction sequence: review, state objective, present new material in small steps, guided practice, independent practice, and periodic review with high response rates.

Cooperative learning structures (e.g., jigsaw, think-pair-share) require individual accountability and positive interdependence to be effective.

Differentiation adjusts content, process, or product based on readiness, interest, and learning profile; it does not mean lowering standards.

Bloom-aligned questioning and wait time (about 3–5 seconds) increase student response length and participation.

Behavior management: positive reinforcement increases behavior; extinction removes reinforcement; time-out removes access to reinforcement; punishment suppresses but does not teach a replacement behavior.

Classroom arrangement and routines (transitions, procedures, posted schedules) reduce off-task behavior more effectively than reactive discipline.

Universal Design for Learning recommends multiple means of representation, engagement, and action/expression.

Feedback is most effective when specific, timely, and focused on the task and process rather than on personal praise.

English learners benefit from comprehensible input, visuals, sentence frames, and explicit academic language instruction alongside content.

Informed consent, confidentiality, and the student's best interest govern counseling and consultation relationships in school settings.

Mandated reporting: suspected child abuse or neglect must be reported to the designated authority; internal notification does not satisfy the legal duty.

FERPA protects education records and gives parents/eligible students the right to inspect, amend, and control disclosure; directory information may be released unless the parent opts out.

IDEA guarantees a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE), with procedural safeguards, individualized education programs (IEPs), and related services.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and provides accommodations; it does not require an IEP.

Multitiered systems of support (MTSS/RTI) tier 1 is universal, tier 2 is targeted small-group, tier 3 is intensive individualized intervention with progress monitoring.

A school counselor's role includes academic advising, career and college planning, personal/social support, and consultation with teachers and families; it is not administrative scheduling or disciplinary authority.

Ethical decision-making models: identify the problem, consult codes and colleagues, consider stakeholders and cultural context, choose and document an action, then evaluate the outcome.

Confidentiality limits apply when there is risk of harm to self or others, suspected abuse, or a court order; disclose only the minimum necessary information.

Case-study procedure: identify the presenting problem, gather data from multiple sources (records, observations, work samples, teacher reports), interpret against developmental and assessment norms, then select and justify an intervention.

When a student scores well below grade level on a screening measure, the next step is targeted tier 2 intervention with frequent progress monitoring, not immediate special education referral.

Match the intervention to the assessed deficit: decoding weakness calls for systematic phonics instruction; comprehension weakness calls for strategy instruction and text structure support.

Progress monitoring uses brief, repeatable measures (e.g., curriculum-based measurement) graphed over time; aim lines and trend lines determine whether to continue, adjust, or refer.

Assessment data should drive instructional decisions: pre-assessment determines grouping and pacing; formative checks adjust instruction; summative results evaluate mastery.

Behavior case data: antecedent–behavior–consequence (ABC) recording identifies function (attention, escape, access, sensory), and the intervention must target that function.

IEP teams must consider whether the student's difficulties are due to lack of appropriate instruction or limited English proficiency before determining a specific learning disability.

When explaining scores to parents, use accessible language, describe what the student can do, and connect results to concrete instructional next steps.