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ORELA Special Education (NT602) study materials
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ORELA Special Education (NT602) practice questions

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Question 1Special Education

Under IDEA, which element is required in every student's individualized education program (IEP) regardless of the student's disability category?

  1. A statement of the student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance Correct answer.
  2. A behavior intervention plan addressing every targeted behavior
  3. A one-to-one paraprofessional assigned to the student
  4. A transition plan beginning in elementary school

Explanation

IDEA requires each IEP to include present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, which serve as the foundation for measurable annual goals and services. Behavior plans are added only when behavior impedes learning, paraprofessional support is determined by individual need, and transition planning begins no later than age 16.

Question 2Special Education

A student with a specific learning disability in reading receives specially designed instruction in a resource room. Which statement best describes the legal relationship between this setting and the least restrictive environment (LRE) requirement?

  1. The resource room violates LRE unless the student is educated there 100 percent of the time
  2. The resource room satisfies LRE only when the student's parents request it in writing
  3. The resource room is permissible only if the IEP team documents that the student cannot succeed in the general classroom with supplementary aids and services Correct answer.
  4. The resource room is automatically permissible because any student with an IEP may be placed there

Explanation

LRE presumes education in the general classroom with supplementary aids and services unless the IEP team determines that a more restrictive setting is needed for appropriate progress. The team must justify the removal rather than assume a separate setting is acceptable.

Question 3Special Education

A student's IEP team is drafting measurable annual goals. Which goal statement meets IDEA's requirement for measurability?

  1. By the end of the year, the student will make progress toward grade-level literacy benchmarks
  2. By the end of the year, the student will understand main idea and supporting details
  3. By the end of the year, the student will improve reading comprehension skills
  4. By the end of the year, the student will read grade-level narrative passages and answer inferential questions with 80 percent accuracy across three consecutive probes Correct answer.

Explanation

A measurable goal specifies a target behavior, the conditions under which it occurs, and a criterion for acceptable performance. The option naming inferential questions, 80 percent accuracy, and three consecutive probes contains all three elements, whereas the others rely on vague verbs such as improve or understand.

Question 4Special Education

Which practice is most consistent with the principle of universal design for learning (UDL) in a co-taught general education classroom?

  1. Waiting until a student fails a unit before adding accommodations
  2. Providing multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement within the core lesson Correct answer.
  3. Assigning students with IEPs to a separate small-group table for the entire unit
  4. Delivering content through a single lecture format to keep expectations consistent

Explanation

UDL builds flexibility into the curriculum from the start by offering multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement so varied learners can access content. It is proactive and universal rather than reactive or separated.

Question 5Special Education

A student with a mild intellectual disability is learning to count coins. The teacher begins with identifying pennies and nickels, then introduces dimes only after the student reaches a mastery criterion. Which instructional principle does this illustrate?

  1. Peer tutoring without structured materials
  2. Systematic sequencing from easier to more difficult discriminations Correct answer.
  3. Task analysis with forward chaining across all coins simultaneously
  4. Incidental teaching during unstructured free play

Explanation

Introducing highly distinctive coins first and adding more difficult discriminations after mastery reflects systematic sequencing of easier before harder tasks. This reduces error and supports cumulative skill acquisition.

Question 6Special Education

Under the IDEA disciplinary provisions, what is the maximum number of school days a student with a disability may be removed to an interim alternative educational setting for a weapons or drug offense without a due process hearing?

  1. 15 school days
  2. 90 school days
  3. 45 school days Correct answer.
  4. 10 school days

Explanation

IDEA authorizes school personnel to place a student in an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 school days for weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury without a hearing. The 10-day figure refers to short-term removals that do not constitute a change of placement.

Question 7Special Education

A functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is being conducted for a student who repeatedly leaves the classroom. Which step should occur first in a technically sound FBA?

  1. Requesting a change of placement to a self-contained setting
  2. Selecting a punishment consequence to reduce the behavior
  3. Defining the target behavior in observable and measurable terms Correct answer.
  4. Writing the behavior intervention plan before collecting data

Explanation

An FBA begins by operationally defining the target behavior so that data collection and hypothesis development are reliable. Only after gathering data does the team design a behavior intervention plan matched to the function of the behavior.

Question 8Special Education

A student with a disability has an IEP. Which statement accurately reflects the requirement for parent participation in the IEP process?

  1. Parents may attend only if the general education teacher invites them
  2. Parents must be given notice early enough to ensure they can attend, and the meeting may proceed without them only under specified conditions Correct answer.
  3. Parents must sign the IEP for it to take legal effect
  4. Parents receive the finalized IEP after the meeting and have no role in developing it

Explanation

IDEA requires schools to notify parents early enough to ensure they can attend and to make reasonable efforts to secure their participation. The meeting may proceed without parents only when the school documents multiple attempts to arrange participation.

Question 9Special Education

A third-grade student reads words accurately but struggles to understand what the text means. Which assessment focus best identifies the student's specific area of need?

  1. Reading comprehension measures that require retelling and answering inferential questions Correct answer.
  2. Phonemic awareness blending tasks
  3. Word-level decoding accuracy on a nonsense-word list
  4. Oral reading fluency rate alone

Explanation

The student's accurate word reading with weak meaning construction points to a comprehension-specific difficulty. Measures that require retelling and inferential responses directly assess understanding rather than decoding.

Question 10Special Education

An English learner is being evaluated for special education eligibility. Which practice best reflects appropriate assessment for this student?

  1. Assessing in the language most likely to yield accurate information and using multiple measures to distinguish language difference from disability Correct answer.
  2. Assuming that any academic difficulty is a language acquisition issue and delaying evaluation indefinitely
  3. Using only teacher observation because formal tests are invalid for English learners
  4. Relying on a single English-language standardized test to simplify the decision

Explanation

IDEA requires assessment in the language and form most likely to yield accurate information and prohibits relying on a single measure. Multiple data sources help the team distinguish limited English proficiency from a disability.

Question 11Special Education

Which accommodation is most appropriate for a student with dysgraphia who understands grade-level content but produces illegible, laborious handwriting?

  1. Assigning the student to a separate classroom for language arts
  2. Excusing the student from all written assignments
  3. Reducing the content standards the student is expected to master
  4. Allowing the student to use a word processor or speech-to-text for written assignments Correct answer.

Explanation

An accommodation changes how a student accesses or demonstrates learning without altering content expectations. Word processing or speech-to-text addresses the handwriting barrier while preserving grade-level content.

Question 12Special Education

A student with autism spectrum disorder has difficulty transitioning between activities. Which support is most consistent with evidence-based practice for this need?

  1. Providing advance notice and visual cues such as a posted schedule or countdown before transitions Correct answer.
  2. Increasing the number of unstructured transitions each day
  3. Delaying all transitions until the student initiates them independently
  4. Removing all visual schedules to reduce distraction

Explanation

Visual schedules, warnings, and predictable routines are well-supported practices that reduce transition-related anxiety and behavior for students with autism. Predictability and advance notice help the student anticipate change.

Question 13Special Education

A student with a significant intellectual disability is learning to prepare a simple snack. The teacher performs all steps except the last, then gradually shifts steps to the student as skills are acquired. This strategy is best described as:

  1. Time delay with a single prompt
  2. Discrete trial training of unrelated facts
  3. Errorless discrimination without task analysis
  4. Backward chaining Correct answer.

Explanation

Backward chaining teaches the final step first while the instructor completes earlier steps, then transfers steps backward as the learner masters them. This builds on the naturally reinforcing completion of the task.

Question 14Special Education

Which statement about the role of a general education teacher on an IEP team is accurate?

  1. The general education teacher has no responsibility for implementing the IEP
  2. The general education teacher serves only as a note-taker at meetings
  3. The general education teacher helps develop goals and identify accommodations and supports needed in the general curriculum Correct answer.
  4. The general education teacher must be excused from every meeting to save time

Explanation

When a student is or may be participating in general education, the general education teacher contributes to developing goals, accommodations, and supports and is responsible for implementing relevant IEP provisions.

Question 15Special Education

A high school student with a learning disability is preparing for postsecondary education. Which transition service best reflects a coordinated, results-oriented approach?

  1. A general statement that the student will attend college
  2. Assigning transition activities solely to the school counselor
  3. A plan specifying coursework, self-advocacy instruction, and linkages to disability services with measurable goals Correct answer.
  4. Waiting until the senior year to begin transition planning

Explanation

IDEA requires transition services to be based on age-appropriate assessments and to include coordinated activities that lead to measurable postsecondary goals. Specific coursework, self-advocacy training, and connections to college disability services are concrete and results-oriented.

Question 16Special Education

A student's behavior is impeding learning, and the IEP team is meeting to address it. Which requirement applies to the IEP in this situation?

  1. The team must consider the use of positive behavioral interventions and supports and, if appropriate, a behavior intervention plan Correct answer.
  2. The team must immediately change the student's eligibility category
  3. The team must obtain a court order before addressing the behavior
  4. The team must remove the student from all general education classes

Explanation

When behavior impedes learning, IDEA requires the IEP team to consider positive behavioral interventions and supports and other strategies to address the behavior. A behavior intervention plan may be developed based on functional assessment.

Question 17Special Education

A teacher uses a token economy in which students earn points for on-task behavior and exchange them for preferred activities. Which principle most directly explains why this system is likely to increase on-task behavior?

  1. Positive reinforcement with a conditioned reinforcer Correct answer.
  2. Punishment contingency
  3. Negative reinforcement through removal of a stimulus
  4. Extinction of competing behaviors

Explanation

Tokens function as conditioned reinforcers that are paired with backup reinforcers, and earning them following on-task behavior is positive reinforcement. The contingent addition of a stimulus increases the behavior it follows.

Question 18Special Education

A student with a physical disability uses a wheelchair and needs access to a science lab with raised tables. Which legal concept most directly supports this requirement?

  1. Prior written notice
  2. Procedural due process
  3. Free appropriate public education delivered in the least restrictive environment Correct answer.
  4. Child find obligations

Explanation

FAPE in the LRE requires that a student's program be accessible and appropriately delivered alongside peers to the maximum extent appropriate. Physical access to the lab is part of providing that appropriate education.

Question 19Special Education

Which statement about a Section 504 plan compared with an IEP is accurate?

  1. A Section 504 plan replaces the need for evaluation
  2. A Section 504 plan applies only to students with specific learning disabilities
  3. A Section 504 plan requires measurable annual goals and specially designed instruction
  4. A Section 504 plan provides accommodations and services to ensure equal access for students with disabilities who do not require specially designed instruction Correct answer.

Explanation

Section 504 is a broader antidiscrimination statute that ensures equal access through accommodations and services. An IEP under IDEA is required when a student needs specially designed instruction and related services.

Question 20Special Education

A student with an emotional disability has made progress but continues to need support. Which practice best reflects the principle of using data to make instructional decisions?

  1. Keeping the IEP unchanged for the full year regardless of data
  2. Relying on a single end-of-year test score
  3. Changing services only when the school year ends
  4. Reviewing progress-monitoring data at regular intervals and adjusting goals and services accordingly Correct answer.

Explanation

Progress monitoring provides ongoing data that teams use to determine whether instruction and services are effective and to revise the IEP when needed. Regular review supports timely adjustments.

Question 21Special Education

Which of the following best describes the purpose of a manifestation determination review (MDR)?

  1. To set the student's annual IEP goals
  2. To determine whether the conduct in question was caused by or substantially related to the student's disability or was a direct result of the school's failure to implement the IEP Correct answer.
  3. To decide the student's disability eligibility category
  4. To determine whether the student should be expelled permanently

Explanation

An MDR examines whether the behavior subject to discipline was caused by or substantially related to the student's disability or resulted from the school's failure to implement the IEP. The outcome affects whether the standard disciplinary removal may proceed.

Question 22Special Education

A teacher wants to promote self-determination for a middle school student with a disability. Which practice most directly supports this goal?

  1. Having the student lead part of the IEP meeting and set personal goals with adult support Correct answer.
  2. Limiting the student's choices to reduce anxiety
  3. Making all decisions for the student to avoid errors
  4. Excluding the student from discussions about accommodations

Explanation

Self-determination is fostered when students practice choice-making, goal setting, and self-advocacy with appropriate support. Participating in and leading portions of the IEP meeting builds these skills.

Question 23Special Education

A student receives instruction in a co-taught classroom where the general educator and special educator plan and deliver lessons together. Which feature distinguishes this model from a consultation model?

  1. The general educator delivers all instruction while the special educator observes
  2. Both teachers share responsibility for planning and delivering instruction to the whole class Correct answer.
  3. The special educator works only with students who have IEPs in a separate room
  4. The special educator provides only written recommendations to the general educator

Explanation

In co-teaching, both educators jointly plan and deliver instruction and share accountability for all students in the classroom. Consultation, by contrast, involves indirect support through recommendations to the general educator.

Question 24Special Education

Which statement best describes the legal standard established in Board of Education v. Rowley regarding FAPE?

  1. Schools must guarantee that every student performs at grade level
  2. Schools must provide whatever services parents request
  3. Schools must provide personalized instruction with sufficient support services to permit the child to benefit educationally, with appropriate access to the general curriculum Correct answer.
  4. Schools must provide the maximum possible educational benefit available to any student

Explanation

Rowley held that FAPE requires personalized instruction and sufficient support services so the child can benefit, along with access to the general curriculum. It rejected a maximum-benefit standard and does not require grade-level performance for every student.

Question 25Special Education

A student with a traumatic brain injury returns to school after hospitalization. Which practice best supports the student's reintegration?

  1. Immediately restoring the full pre-injury schedule without adjustments
  2. Delaying any evaluation until the following school year
  3. Using a gradual re-entry plan with ongoing assessment of cognitive and behavioral needs and IEP review as recovery changes Correct answer.
  4. Placing the student in a homebound program indefinitely

Explanation

Traumatic brain injury often produces changing needs during recovery, so a gradual re-entry plan with ongoing assessment and IEP review is appropriate. Needs may improve or shift over time, requiring flexible services.

Question 26Special Education

A student's IEP team is determining placement. IDEA requires that the placement decision be made by a group of knowledgeable persons and be based primarily on which consideration?

  1. The cost of providing related services in the neighborhood school
  2. The student's ability to learn in the general education classroom with supplementary aids and services Correct answer.
  3. The availability of space in the district's special education classrooms
  4. The parents' preference for a separate setting

Explanation

IDEA presumes placement in the least restrictive environment, so the team must first consider whether the student can succeed in the general education classroom with appropriate supplementary aids and services. Convenience, cost, and staffing shortages cannot drive the placement decision.

Question 27Special Education

A special education teacher is writing present levels of academic achievement and functional performance for a student's IEP. Which entry best meets the requirement?

  1. The student reads 52 correct words per minute on grade-level passages, below the 90-word benchmark. Correct answer.
  2. The student has a learning disability and needs special help in reading.
  3. The student is a nice child who tries hard and enjoys science class.
  4. The student's parents report that homework takes too long each night.

Explanation

Present levels must be objective and specific enough to anchor measurable goals, typically citing data such as rate, accuracy, and comparison to benchmark. Statements of effort, labels, or general concerns do not describe performance precisely enough to guide instruction.

Question 28Special Education

Which related service is designed specifically to help a student with a physical disability access and participate in the general education curriculum?

  1. Transportation services
  2. Assistive technology services Correct answer.
  3. Audiology services
  4. School health services

Explanation

Assistive technology services support a student's selection, acquisition, and use of devices that increase functional capability in the classroom. They are directly tied to curriculum access for students with physical, sensory, or communication disabilities.

Question 29Special Education

A teacher collects a student's work samples across several weeks and compares them to grade-level standards to document progress. This practice is best described as which type of assessment?

  1. Norm-referenced assessment
  2. Summative standardized testing
  3. Aptitude testing
  4. Curriculum-based measurement Correct answer.

Explanation

Curriculum-based measurement uses repeated, brief probes of the student's own performance over time to gauge growth against expected benchmarks. It is sensitive to short-term change and is used to adjust instruction, unlike one-time norm-referenced or aptitude tests.

Question 30Special Education

A student with a disability is being considered for retention in the same grade for a second year. Which statement best reflects the legal requirement before this decision is finalized?

  1. Retention is prohibited for any student with an IEP.
  2. Retention is allowed only if the student's parents sign a waiver of special education services.
  3. The IEP team must review the decision and consider whether the student's services and goals need revision. Correct answer.
  4. The principal may decide alone because retention is a general education matter.

Explanation

Retention is a change in placement for a student with a disability, so the IEP team must be involved and must examine whether the current program is appropriate before deciding. It is not automatically barred, but it cannot be handled as a routine administrative decision.

Question 31Special Education

A student with a specific learning disability in written expression is struggling with organizing multi-paragraph essays. Which instructional approach is most directly supported by research on strategy instruction?

  1. Assigning longer essays to build stamina
  2. Reducing the essay requirement to a single paragraph
  3. Having the student copy exemplar essays
  4. Providing a mnemonic planning strategy with modeled and guided practice Correct answer.

Explanation

Self-regulated strategy development and similar approaches teach students explicit planning and drafting steps through modeling, guided practice, and gradual release. Mnemonic structures help students internalize the writing process and generalize it to new prompts.

Question 32Special Education

A student with a mild intellectual disability is learning to count money to make purchases. Which sequencing approach best promotes independence?

  1. Having a paraprofessional complete the transactions for the student
  2. Teaching all coin values and addition facts before any purchasing activity
  3. Using a task analysis with forward chaining and least-to-most prompting Correct answer.
  4. Waiting until the student is in high school to introduce money skills

Explanation

Breaking the skill into teachable steps and using systematic prompting with fading supports skill acquisition while preserving student independence. Forward chaining and least-to-most prompting are established methods for teaching functional routines.

Question 33Special Education

A student who is deaf and uses sign language interpreters in class is preparing for a cooperative group project. Which practice best ensures meaningful participation?

  1. Relying on peers to summarize discussions after class
  2. Removing the student from group work during discussion phases
  3. Assigning the student a written-only role to avoid communication demands
  4. Pre-teaching key vocabulary and ensuring the interpreter has materials in advance Correct answer.

Explanation

Access requires that the interpreter receive content and vocabulary ahead of time and that the student have the background knowledge needed to follow fast-paced discussion. These supports preserve the student's full membership in the group rather than sidelining the student.

Question 34Special Education

A student's IEP includes a goal to increase on-task behavior during independent work. Which method provides the most defensible measure of progress toward that goal?

  1. Momentary time sampling of on-task behavior during scheduled intervals Correct answer.
  2. Anecdotal notes recorded whenever the teacher notices off-task behavior
  3. A parent rating scale completed each grading period
  4. The number of assignments turned in at the end of the semester

Explanation

Direct observation using a systematic sampling method yields objective, repeatable data that can be graphed and compared to the goal. Anecdotal notes and end-of-term products are too subjective or too delayed to guide instruction.

Question 35Special Education

A general education teacher reports that a student with a disability is not completing homework despite adequate skills. Which step should the IEP team take first?

  1. Refer the student for a more restrictive placement
  2. Reduce the student's grades until homework improves
  3. Add a homework accommodation to the IEP without further inquiry
  4. Gather data on the conditions under which homework is completed and identify the function of the behavior Correct answer.

Explanation

Before selecting an intervention, the team should examine antecedent and consequence conditions to understand why homework is not being completed. Data-based hypothesis building leads to a targeted support rather than a guess.

Question 36Special Education

A student with a disability who uses a communication device is enrolled in a general education class. Which responsibility belongs to the general education teacher?

  1. Determining whether the device should be discontinued
  2. Providing opportunities for the student to use the device during instruction and responding to communication attempts Correct answer.
  3. Conducting the speech-language evaluation
  4. Programming the device and selecting vocabulary targets

Explanation

General educators are responsible for creating frequent, meaningful opportunities for device use and for honoring the student's communicative attempts within ongoing instruction. Device programming and evaluation remain with the speech-language pathologist and team.

Question 37Special Education

A student with a disability is being evaluated for the first time. Which requirement applies to the timeline for completing the initial evaluation?

  1. The evaluation must be completed within 10 school days of referral.
  2. The evaluation must be completed before the parents are informed of the referral.
  3. The evaluation must be completed within 60 days of receiving parental consent, unless state law sets a different timeframe. Correct answer.
  4. The evaluation may be delayed indefinitely if the school lacks qualified staff.

Explanation

IDEA sets a 60-day timeline from receipt of parental consent for initial evaluation, while allowing states to establish their own timeframe. Staffing shortages do not suspend the obligation.

Question 38Special Education

A student's IEP team is considering extended school year services. Which criterion best supports the need for ESY?

  1. The student shows significant regression after breaks and requires excessive time to recoup lost skills. Correct answer.
  2. The student's disability category is autism spectrum disorder.
  3. The student's family requests summer programming for child care.
  4. The student's grades are below grade level during the school year.

Explanation

ESY eligibility is determined individually, often through evidence of regression and limited recoupment, or through other factors showing that a break would undermine progress on critical goals. Eligibility is not automatic for any disability category.

Question 39Special Education

A teacher is designing instruction for a student with a significant disability who is working on a grade-level science standard about weather patterns. Which approach best reflects grade-level content with appropriate modifications?

  1. Assigning the same data analysis task with no supports
  2. Excusing the student from science to practice handwriting
  3. Teaching only the alphabet during science time
  4. Having the student sort pictures of sunny and rainy weather while peers analyze data Correct answer.

Explanation

Students with significant disabilities should work toward the same content standards with modifications to the depth and mode of participation. Sorting weather pictures connects to the same concept while matching the student's current level.

Question 40Special Education

A student with a disability is frequently absent and the school suspects the absences are related to the disability. Which approach best reflects the team's responsibility?

  1. Remove the student from special education for lack of participation
  2. Convene the team to review whether the disability affects attendance and consider needed supports Correct answer.
  3. Treat the absences as a truancy matter for the juvenile court only
  4. Ignore the absences because the student has an IEP

Explanation

When attendance problems may be linked to a disability, the team should review the student's program and consider behavioral or related-service supports. Proceeding straight to legal action without examining the disability connection risks an inappropriate response.

Question 41Special Education

A student with a learning disability in mathematics is solving word problems. Which scaffold most directly supports the student's ability to identify the operations needed?

  1. Having the student memorize multiplication tables
  2. Increasing the number of problems assigned each night
  3. Providing a structured schema or keyword-to-operation chart with worked examples Correct answer.
  4. Removing word problems from the student's assignments

Explanation

Schema-based instruction teaches students to recognize problem types and map them to operations using structured representations. Worked examples and charts reduce cognitive load while building transferable understanding.

Question 42Special Education

A student with a disability is moving to a new school district. Which statement best describes the receiving district's obligation?

  1. The new district may refuse to implement the IEP until a full reevaluation is completed.
  2. The new district must adopt the previous IEP without any review.
  3. The new district must provide comparable services until it adopts the existing IEP or develops a new one. Correct answer.
  4. The new district may delay services for one semester to review records.

Explanation

IDEA requires the receiving district to provide services comparable to those in the prior IEP until it either adopts the previous IEP or develops and implements a new one. Reevaluation, if needed, is coordinated with that timeline.

Question 43Special Education

A student with a disability turns 18 and has not been adjudicated incompetent. Which statement about rights transfer is accurate?

  1. Rights transfer only if the student requests it in writing.
  2. All rights transfer to the student, and the school may stop notifying the parents.
  3. Rights remain with the parents until graduation.
  4. The student assumes educational rights, but the school must continue to notify both the student and the parents. Correct answer.

Explanation

At the age of majority, IDEA rights transfer to the student, but the district must still provide required notices to both the student and the parents. This dual notification continues unless a court determines otherwise.

Question 44Special Education

A student with a disability is suspended for 12 school days for a series of separate infractions that are not a pattern. Which statement best describes the required response?

  1. The student's IEP must be terminated.
  2. The student must be expelled immediately.
  3. The removals constitute a change of placement requiring a manifestation determination.
  4. The removals are short-term, so no manifestation determination is required at this point. Correct answer.

Explanation

Removals totaling more than 10 school days in a year are a change of placement only if they constitute a pattern; isolated short-term removals do not automatically trigger a manifestation determination. The team should still track the removals and consider services.

Question 45Special Education

A student's IEP team is developing measurable annual goals. Which goal statement best meets the standard for measurability?

  1. The student will try harder during reading instruction.
  2. The student will enjoy reading more than in the past.
  3. By the end of the year, the student will answer inferential questions from grade-level text with 80% accuracy across three consecutive probes. Correct answer.
  4. The student will improve reading comprehension skills.

Explanation

A measurable goal specifies the target skill, the conditions, the criterion, and the timeframe so progress can be evaluated objectively. Vague improvement or affective statements cannot be measured reliably.

Question 46Special Education

A teacher is implementing a peer tutoring program for students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom. Which design feature is most important for maximizing benefit for the students with disabilities?

  1. Training tutors to deliver structured, explicit procedures with feedback and monitoring Correct answer.
  2. Using tutoring only for students without disabilities
  3. Allowing tutors to choose activities without guidance
  4. Pairing students randomly each session

Explanation

Peer tutoring is effective when tutors are trained in explicit procedures, provided with materials, and monitored for fidelity. Structure and feedback ensure the intervention targets the intended skills.

Question 47Special Education

A student with a disability is being considered for assistive technology. Which process best reflects an appropriate consideration?

  1. Providing the same device to all students with the same disability label
  2. Conducting a feature-matching assessment of the student's tasks, environments, and abilities Correct answer.
  3. Purchasing a device before assessing the student's needs
  4. Waiting for the student to request a specific brand of device

Explanation

Assistive technology consideration should match device features to the student's specific tasks, environments, and abilities. Feature matching avoids both over- and under-provision of supports.

Question 48Special Education

A student with a disability is exhibiting escalating behavior. The teacher wants to reduce the behavior while teaching a replacement skill. Which approach best reflects positive behavioral interventions and supports?

  1. Identifying the function of the behavior and teaching an appropriate alternative that serves the same function Correct answer.
  2. Ignoring all behavior regardless of severity
  3. Applying the same consequence to every student in the class
  4. Removing the student from the room each time the behavior occurs

Explanation

PBIS and function-based intervention replace problem behavior with an appropriate behavior that achieves the same outcome. This approach is proactive and teaches skills rather than relying solely on exclusion.

Question 49Special Education

A student with a disability is preparing for transition to employment. Which practice best reflects the requirement for transition planning?

  1. Developing measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate transition assessments starting by age 16 Correct answer.
  2. Limiting transition planning to a single meeting with the school counselor
  3. Selecting a job for the student based on local labor market needs alone
  4. Beginning transition planning in the final semester of high school

Explanation

IDEA requires transition planning with measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate assessments, beginning no later than age 16. The plan should reflect the student's strengths, preferences, and interests.

Question 50Special Education

A special education teacher is analyzing repeated reading fluency data that show a student's scores have plateaued for six weeks. Which action best reflects data-based decision making?

  1. Continuing the same intervention for another semester to confirm the plateau
  2. Discontinuing all reading instruction for the student
  3. Changing the student's disability category
  4. Reviewing the intervention's fidelity and adjusting the instructional approach based on the trend Correct answer.

Explanation

A flat trend over several weeks signals that the current intervention is not working, so the team should check implementation fidelity and modify instruction. Data-based decision rules call for a change rather than continued inaction.