Praxis SLP 5331 key terms

The professional code that sets out the principles and rules speech-language pathologists follow, covering duties to clients, colleagues, and the public, including honesty, informed consent, confidentiality, and avoiding harm.

The official description of which services, settings, populations, and activities a speech-language pathologist is trained and permitted to perform, and which activities fall outside the profession's boundaries.

Clinical decision making that integrates the best available research evidence, the clinician's own expertise, and the client's values, preferences, and circumstances when choosing assessment or treatment approaches.

Permission given by a client or guardian after being told in understandable language the purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, and alternatives of an evaluation or treatment, and the right to refuse.

A federal law that protects the privacy and security of personal health information and sets rules for how covered providers may use, disclose, and safeguard client records.

A federal law giving parents and eligible students the right to inspect, request amendment of, and control disclosure of education records, including school-based evaluation reports and individualized education program documents.

A written legal document developed by a team for a student who qualifies for special education, specifying present levels of performance, measurable annual goals, services, accommodations, and placement.

A written plan for infants and toddlers from birth to age three who need early intervention, describing family-identified outcomes, services, and service coordination, and reviewed more frequently than a school plan.

The requirement that students with disabilities be educated alongside peers without disabilities to the greatest extent appropriate, with removal only when supports in the general setting cannot meet their needs.

A multi-tiered prevention framework in which all students receive core instruction and struggling students get increasingly intensive, data-based interventions before referral for a special education evaluation.

The ability to understand and respond respectfully to clients' cultural, language, and social backgrounds, and to adapt assessment and treatment so that differences are not mistaken for disorders.

Working as a team with teachers, physicians, psychologists, and other professionals who share goals for a client, coordinating roles and communicating findings to improve outcomes.

An assessment given with fixed instructions and scoring procedures so that a client's performance can be compared with a large representative sample of same-age or same-grade peers.

A converted score showing how far a client's raw score falls from the test's average in standard deviation units, allowing comparison across different tests and age levels.

The percentage of people in the normative sample who scored at or below a given score, indicating a client's standing relative to peers rather than the percentage of items answered correctly.

An index of how much a single obtained score is likely to vary because of measurement error; smaller values mean the score is more trustworthy for decisions about an individual.

A range around an obtained score that probably contains the person's true score, calculated from the standard error of measurement and a chosen confidence level such as 95 percent.

The consistency of scores when the same test is given twice to the same people after a delay; high values indicate the measure produces stable results over time.

The degree to which a test truly measures the underlying ability it claims to measure, supported by evidence that scores relate to other measures and behaviors as theory predicts.

In screening or diagnosis, the proportion of people who truly have a condition and are correctly identified by the test; high sensitivity means few true cases are missed.

The proportion of people who do not have a condition and are correctly identified as unaffected by the test; high specificity means few false alarms but does not guarantee that a positive result is accurate.

An approach in which the examiner teaches or gives graduated prompts during testing and measures how much the learner improves, revealing learning potential rather than only current knowledge.

An assessment that compares a client's performance to a defined standard or list of skills rather than to other people, often used to identify specific goals and to document progress.

A basal is the starting level where a client passes a set number of the easiest items in a row; a ceiling is the stopping point after a set number of consecutive misses.

Evaluation practices designed to separate a true communication disorder from differences caused by language, culture, or experience, using appropriate norms, alternative measures, and interpreters when needed.

The average number of morphemes or words per utterance in a language sample, commonly used as a quick index of grammatical development in young children.

Repeated, brief measurement of a target skill over time to show whether an intervention is working and to guide decisions about continuing, adjusting, or changing treatment.

A treatment objective written to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, stating the target behavior, the conditions under which it occurs, and the criterion for success.

The measurement of a behavior before treatment begins, used as the comparison point for judging whether later changes are real and attributable to the intervention.

A prompting strategy that starts with the smallest cue likely to work and increases assistance only if the learner does not respond, encouraging independent performance.

Demonstrating a target behavior or communication form for the learner to imitate, often paired with prompts and reinforcement when a new skill is being taught.

Teaching a new behavior by reinforcing successive approximations of the target, starting with what the learner can already do and gradually requiring closer versions.

The gradual removal of prompts, cues, or support as a learner becomes more accurate and independent, so the skill is eventually performed without artificial help.

A consequence delivered after a behavior that increases the likelihood the behavior will occur again; it may be positive (adding something) or negative (removing something unpleasant).

The use of a learned skill in settings, with people, or with materials different from those used in therapy, or the extension of a response to similar but untrained examples.

The continued performance of a learned skill after direct teaching has ended, checked periodically to confirm the client still uses the target behavior over time.

Any method of communication other than oral speech, including gestures, pictures, signs, and speech-generating devices, used to supplement or replace natural speech.

Training and supporting parents or other caregivers to use communication strategies during everyday routines, building their capacity so intervention continues throughout the day.

The degree to which an intervention is delivered exactly as designed, including planned procedures, intensity, and materials; low fidelity weakens conclusions about whether a treatment works.