Praxis SpEd Foundational cheat sheet

IDEA's six core principles: zero reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation, free appropriate public education, least restrictive environment, procedural safeguards, and parent/student participation.

IDEA lists 13 disability categories; developmental delay is an optional state category for children aged 3 through 9.

Section 504 covers any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, including the record-of and regarded-as prongs; it provides accommodations but no IDEA-style federal special education funding.

Landmark rulings: Brown v. Board (1954); PARC and Mills (1972) established education access and due process; Rowley (1982) required some educational benefit; Endrew F. (2017) required progress appropriate in light of the child's circumstances.

Discipline: removal for more than 10 consecutive school days is a change of placement requiring a manifestation determination within 10 school days; a hearing officer may order an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 school days for weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury.

Due process: a complaint generally must be filed within 2 years of the alleged violation; a resolution meeting must occur within 15 days of filing and the resolution period lasts 30 days unless waived.

Child find requires states to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities, including those in private schools, children who are homeless, and wards of the state.

IDEA Part C serves infants and toddlers (birth through age 2) through IFSPs; Part B serves ages 3 through 21 through IEPs.

FERPA requires parental consent before disclosing education records, with exceptions such as directory information after opt-out notice and school officials with legitimate educational interests.

Under IDEA, specific learning disability is the most common category nationally, followed by speech or language impairment, other health impairment, and autism.

ADHD is not an IDEA category; when it adversely affects educational performance it is usually served under other health impairment.

Intellectual disability requires significantly subaverage intellectual functioning (about IQ 70 or below, two standard deviations under the mean) plus adaptive behavior deficits with onset in the developmental period.

Specific learning disability eligibility excludes students whose achievement problems are primarily due to lack of appropriate instruction or limited English proficiency; states may use RTI, a discrepancy model, or both.

Emotional disturbance requires one or more of five characteristics over a long period and to a marked degree; social maladjustment alone is excluded, while schizophrenia is included.

Autism spectrum disorder involves persistent deficits in social communication and interaction plus restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior; intellectual ability varies widely and does not determine eligibility.

Other health impairment covers limited strength, vitality, or alertness from chronic or acute conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, sickle cell anemia, or ADHD.

Risk factors for disability include prematurity and low birth weight, prenatal alcohol exposure (FASD), lead exposure, and genetic conditions such as trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).

Traumatic brain injury is an acquired injury to the brain caused by external physical force and does not include birth trauma or degenerative conditions.

Three-prong eligibility: the student meets a disability category, the disability adversely affects educational performance, and the student needs specially designed instruction.

Initial evaluation must be completed within 60 days of receiving parental consent (states may set a shorter timeline); reevaluation occurs at least every three years unless parents and district agree to waive it.

RTI tiers: Tier 1 universal core instruction for all students; Tier 2 targeted small-group intervention; Tier 3 intensive, individualized intervention with frequent progress monitoring.

Progress monitoring uses brief, repeated measures, often curriculum-based measurement, to quantify growth; decisions are based on trend lines compared with goal lines, not a single score.

Required IEP content: present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, measurable annual goals, special education and related services, program modifications and supports, an LRE explanation, and progress reporting.

Transition planning must begin by age 16 (earlier in some states) and include measurable postsecondary goals, transition assessments, transition services, and a course of study.

Assessment types: norm-referenced (comparison to peers), criterion-referenced (comparison to a standard), curriculum-based, portfolio, and direct observation; eligibility requires multiple measures.

Standard scores use a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15; the standard error of measurement and confidence intervals indicate how much an obtained score may vary.

Accommodations change access or response format without altering content standards; modifications change content or performance expectations; alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards are capped at 1% of tested students.

LRE continuum from least to most restrictive: general education with supports, resource room, separate class, separate school, home or hospital instruction.

Six co-teaching models: one teach/one observe, one teach/one assist, station teaching, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, and team teaching.

Explicit instruction sequence: clear objective, modeling, guided practice with corrective feedback, independent practice, and cumulative review.

Task analysis breaks a skill into teachable steps; chaining options are forward, backward, and total task presentation.

Prompt hierarchy from most to least intrusive: full physical, partial physical, model, verbal, gesture, natural cue; prompts are faded to prevent dependence.

Reinforcement schedules: continuous reinforcement for acquisition and intermittent fixed or variable ratio/interval schedules for maintenance; token economies pair tokens with backup reinforcers.

UDL's three principles: multiple means of engagement (why), representation (what), and action and expression (how).

FBA identifies antecedents, target behavior, and consequences to determine function (attention, escape, access to tangibles, sensory); the BIP teaches a functionally equivalent replacement skill.

Assistive technology ranges from low-tech (pencil grips, visual schedules) to high-tech (speech-generating devices); the SETT framework considers Student, Environment, Tasks, and Tools.

IEP team must include the parent, a general education teacher if the student is or may be in general education, a special education teacher, an LEA representative, someone to interpret evaluation results, the student when appropriate, and others with knowledge or expertise.

Age of majority transfers IDEA rights to the student at the state's adult age (18 in most states); the school must notify the student and parent at least one year before.

Postsecondary goals cover education or training, employment, and, where needed, independent living; they must be measurable and based on age-appropriate transition assessment.

Indicator 13 monitors the percentage of IEPs for students 16 and older that contain measurable postsecondary goals, transition assessments, services, courses of study, and coordinated activities.

The Summary of Performance is provided when a student exits with a diploma or exceeds the age of eligibility and summarizes achievement, functional performance, and recommendations.

Self-determination skills include choice making, goal setting, self-advocacy, self-awareness, and problem solving; they predict better post-school outcomes.

Interagency partners for transition include vocational rehabilitation, developmental disabilities agencies, workforce centers under WIOA, and postsecondary disability services.

Dispute resolution options include facilitated IEP meetings, mediation, resolution sessions, and due process hearings; mediation agreements are enforceable in court.

Paraeducators can deliver instruction under teacher direction, but the certified teacher retains responsibility for planning, progress monitoring, and grading.