Praxis SpEd Foundational flashcards

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

Free Appropriate Public Education

IDEA guarantee that eligible students with disabilities receive special education and related services at public expense, meeting state standards and conforming to the student's IEP, at no cost to parents.

Least Restrictive Environment

IDEA principle requiring students with disabilities be educated with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate, removed to separate settings only when education in regular classes cannot be achieved satisfactorily with supports.

Zero Reject

IDEA principle that no child may be excluded from public education because of a disability; states must identify, locate, and serve all eligible children, including those in private schools or institutions.

Endrew F. v. Douglas County

2017 Supreme Court ruling holding that an IEP must be reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child's circumstances, rejecting the merely de minimis standard.

Manifestation determination

Review within 10 school days of a disciplinary change of placement deciding whether the misconduct was caused by or substantially related to the student's disability or failure of IEP implementation.

Stay-put provision

IDEA rule that during a due process dispute a student remains in the current educational placement unless the parties agree otherwise or a hearing officer orders a change.

FERPA

Federal law protecting privacy of student education records; parents may inspect records, request amendments, and consent to most disclosures, with limited exceptions such as school officials with legitimate interest.

Specific learning disability

IDEA category for a disorder in basic psychological processes affecting understanding or using language, manifesting in reading, writing, math, or spelling; excludes disabilities primarily caused by other factors.

Other health impairment

IDEA category covering limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health conditions such as asthma, ADHD, diabetes, or epilepsy that adversely affect educational performance.

Intellectual disability

Characterized by significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning (about two standard deviations below the mean, IQ near 70 or below) with concurrent deficits in adaptive behavior appearing during the developmental period.

Emotional disturbance

IDEA category with one or more of five characteristics over a long period and to a marked degree: inability to learn, relationship problems, inappropriate behavior, unhappiness or depression, physical symptoms or fears.

Autism spectrum disorder

Developmental disability affecting social communication and interaction with restricted, repetitive behavior patterns; IDEA eligibility requires adverse educational impact, and it is not defined by intellectual level.

Dyslexia

Neurobiological, language-based learning disability characterized by poor phonological processing and word decoding, unexpected in relation to other abilities, commonly served under the specific learning disability category.

Response to Intervention

Multi-tier prevention model using universal screening and research-based instruction with increasing intensity, monitoring student progress to decide whether a student may need special education evaluation.

Progress monitoring

Frequent, brief assessment of a student's academic or behavioral performance against goals, often using curriculum-based measurement, to judge whether an intervention is working and adjust instruction.

Present levels of performance

IEP component describing the student's current academic achievement and functional performance, including baseline data that annual goals and services must be tied to.

Reevaluation

IDEA requirement to review eligibility at least every three years unless parents and school agree otherwise, using multiple sources of data and not necessarily repeating every test.

Three-prong eligibility determination

Required finding that a student (1) meets criteria for one or more disability categories, (2) shows an adverse educational effect, and (3) needs specially designed instruction to benefit.

Alternate assessment

Test used for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who cannot participate in the general state assessment even with accommodations; tied to alternate achievement standards and limited by participation criteria.

Standard error of measurement

Index of how much a test score would likely vary across repeated administrations for the same student; used with confidence intervals to interpret whether score differences are meaningful.

Universal Design for Learning

Framework for planning instruction with multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression so diverse learners, including students with disabilities, can access the curriculum.

Explicit instruction

Structured teaching sequence of modeling, guided practice with feedback, and independent practice, breaking content into small steps with clear objectives and frequent checks.

Task analysis

Breaking a complex skill into its component steps in sequence, then teaching each step and linking them to build independence, often with chaining.

Least-to-most prompting

Prompting hierarchy starting with the least intrusive cue and increasing support only as needed, maximizing student independence and fading assistance over time.

Token economy

Behavioral system in which students earn tokens for target behaviors and exchange them for backup reinforcers, with rules and schedules defined in advance.

Station teaching

Co-teaching arrangement where the class is divided into groups rotating among stations, one taught by each teacher, allowing small-group instruction and often review or practice.

Accommodation

Change in how a student accesses or demonstrates learning (timing, format, setting, presentation) without altering grade-level content standards or expected proficiency.

Indicator 13

State performance indicator measuring the percentage of IEPs for students aged 16 and older with measurable postsecondary goals, transition assessments, services, and courses of study.

Summary of Performance

Document provided when a student exits with a diploma or exceeds age of eligibility, summarizing academic achievement and functional performance plus recommendations for meeting postsecondary goals.

Age of majority

When a student reaches the state's legal adult age, rights under IDEA transfer to the student unless determined incapacitated, requiring the school to notify the student and parents beforehand.

Person-centered planning

Planning approach that organizes supports around the student's own preferences, strengths, and goals, involving family and friends, used especially to shape transition outcomes.

Postsecondary goals

IEP transition statements describing what the student intends to do after high school in education or training, employment, and independent living, based on age-appropriate transition assessment.