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Praxis Special Education: Mild to Moderate study materials
Praxis Special Education: Mild to Moderate study resources

Praxis Special Education: Mild to Moderate practice questions

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Question 1Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student's individualized education program team is reviewing assessment data. Which condition is required for a student to be found eligible for special education under the category of specific learning disability?

  1. The student has received at least one year of documented response-to-intervention services
  2. The student has a documented attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis from a physician
  3. The student's academic achievement is below age or grade expectations and is not primarily the result of another disability or lack of instruction Correct answer.
  4. The student's full-scale IQ score falls at least two standard deviations below the mean

Explanation

Specific learning disability eligibility requires a pattern of underachievement relative to age or State-approved grade-level standards that is not primarily caused by another disability or by environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage, or limited English proficiency. Exclusionary factors must be ruled out before the category can be applied.

Question 2Understanding Students with Disabilities

A second grader with a mild intellectual disability is learning to count coins. Which instructional adaptation best reflects the principle of partial participation?

  1. The student performs only the steps of the task she can do while a peer completes the remaining steps Correct answer.
  2. The student is excused from the money unit and given an unrelated enrichment activity
  3. The student observes the lesson without materials until she volunteers to participate
  4. The student is moved to a lower grade level for mathematics instruction

Explanation

Partial participation means the student takes part in the same activity as peers, completing the components she can do while supports or peers handle the rest. This preserves access to the general curriculum and meaningful membership rather than exclusion.

Question 3Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which statement accurately describes the defining characteristic of autism spectrum disorder as used in special education eligibility?

  1. A primary diagnosis of intellectual disability accompanied by adaptive behavior deficits
  2. Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning with onset in the developmental period
  3. A pervasive pattern of inattention and impulsivity that appears before age twelve
  4. Persistent deficits in social communication and interaction across contexts, often with restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior Correct answer.

Explanation

Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, together with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. These features distinguish it from categories defined primarily by cognition or attention.

Question 4Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with an emotional disability frequently throws materials and shouts during independent work. The team wants to identify what the behavior communicates. Which approach is most consistent with a functional behavioral assessment?

  1. Comparing the student's grades in each content area across the grading period
  2. Administering a standardized behavior rating scale to compare the student with same-age peers
  3. Reviewing the student's attendance record for patterns of absenteeism
  4. Recording antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to determine the function the behavior serves Correct answer.

Explanation

A functional behavioral assessment gathers information about antecedents, the behavior, and consequences to identify the function, such as escape, attention, or access to tangibles. That function then guides the design of a behavior intervention plan.

Question 5Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which of the following best describes the concept of learned helplessness as it may appear in students with learning disabilities?

  1. The student demonstrates strong effort but processes information more slowly
  2. The student deliberately misbehaves to avoid difficult academic tasks
  3. The student attributes repeated failure to stable personal deficits and stops attempting tasks Correct answer.
  4. The student lacks the prerequisite skills needed to begin the task

Explanation

Learned helplessness occurs when repeated failure is attributed to internal, stable, and global causes, leading students to stop trying because they believe effort cannot change outcomes. Instruction that builds attribution to effort and strategy use can counter it.

Question 6Understanding Students with Disabilities

A kindergarten teacher notices a student who does not respond to his name, rarely makes eye contact, and repeats phrases from videos. Which next step is most appropriate under a child find framework?

  1. Document the observations and refer the student for a developmental screening or evaluation Correct answer.
  2. Wait until the end of first grade to see whether the behaviors resolve on their own
  3. Move the student to a self-contained classroom to reduce stimulation
  4. Diagnose the student with autism and begin intervention immediately

Explanation

Child find requires schools to identify, locate, and evaluate children who may need special education, so documented concerns should prompt a screening or referral rather than delay. Teachers do not diagnose, and placement decisions follow evaluation and team determination.

Question 7Understanding Students with Disabilities

According to widely used prevalence estimates, which statement best characterizes the population of students served under the category of specific learning disability?

  1. It is a small category, and most students served in it have speech-language impairments
  2. It is one of the largest disability categories, and most students served in it have difficulties in reading Correct answer.
  3. It is a small category, and most students served in it have difficulties in mathematics
  4. It is one of the largest categories, and most students served in it have emotional disabilities

Explanation

Specific learning disability is consistently among the largest special education categories, and the majority of students identified have reading-related disabilities. Mathematics and written expression difficulties are also common but less prevalent.

Question 8Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with autism spectrum disorder is included in a general education science class. The team wants to reduce the likelihood of anxiety-driven outbursts during group labs. Which support is most directly aligned with the student's disability profile?

  1. Reducing the student's science grade weight so anxiety has less impact
  2. Assigning the student to complete all labs alone at a separate table
  3. Providing a visual schedule and previewing each lab's sequence and expectations in advance Correct answer.
  4. Removing the student from labs whenever the class is noisy

Explanation

Visual schedules and advance previewing address the need for predictability and reduce anxiety related to unpredictable transitions, which is a common support for students with autism. These supports maintain access to the inclusive setting.

Question 9Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which of the following is the best example of a Tier 2 support within a multi-tiered system of supports?

  1. Small-group instruction in phonics delivered three times weekly to students not responding to core instruction Correct answer.
  2. Intensive individualized reading intervention for a student with significant, persistent needs
  3. Schoolwide expectations taught and reinforced in all classrooms
  4. Universal screening of all first graders in the fall

Explanation

Tier 2 consists of targeted, small-group interventions for students who do not respond adequately to core instruction, often delivered with more frequency and structure. Universal screening and schoolwide expectations are Tier 1, and intensive individualized intervention is Tier 3.

Question 10Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a traumatic brain injury has difficulty planning, organizing materials, and shifting between activities. These difficulties are best described as deficits in which area?

  1. Receptive language
  2. Visual perception
  3. Fine motor coordination
  4. Executive functioning Correct answer.

Explanation

Executive functioning includes planning, organization, cognitive flexibility, and self-monitoring, all of which are commonly affected after traumatic brain injury. These skills are distinct from language, visual, and motor processing.

Question 11Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a specific learning disability in reading decodes accurately but struggles to understand what she reads. Which characteristic best explains this profile?

  1. Difficulty with phonemic awareness that prevents accurate decoding
  2. Adequate word-level skills with a comprehension deficit affecting integration and inference Correct answer.
  3. A visual processing problem that reverses letters
  4. A primary language difference rather than a disability

Explanation

Some students with learning disabilities decode words accurately but have difficulty with comprehension, including integrating ideas and making inferences. This profile indicates that instruction should target comprehension strategies rather than decoding alone.

Question 12Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which statement best reflects the social-emotional characteristics often observed in students with learning disabilities?

  1. They usually have higher self-esteem because of their academic challenges
  2. They typically show no differences in self-concept compared with peers
  3. They rarely experience peer relationship difficulties
  4. They may show lower self-concept and greater frustration after repeated academic failure Correct answer.

Explanation

Students with learning disabilities often experience lower academic self-concept, frustration, and task avoidance after repeated failure. These social-emotional consequences can affect motivation and peer relationships and should inform intervention.

Question 13Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with an intellectual disability is learning to prepare a simple meal. The teacher provides a picture recipe, models each step, and gradually reduces prompting as the student succeeds. Which approach is being used?

  1. Peer tutoring with no adult involvement
  2. Task analysis with systematic prompting and fading Correct answer.
  3. Standardized testing of meal preparation knowledge
  4. Discovery learning without teacher guidance

Explanation

Task analysis breaks a complex skill into teachable steps, and systematic prompting with fading builds independence as the student masters each step. This combination is well suited to functional skill instruction for students with intellectual disability.

Question 14Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which of the following best describes the eligibility category of other health impairment?

  1. A physical disability that requires the use of a wheelchair or other mobility device
  2. A communication disorder involving articulation or fluency
  3. Limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to a chronic or acute health problem that adversely affects educational performance Correct answer.
  4. A pattern of antisocial behavior that interferes with learning

Explanation

Other health impairment covers limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, resulting from chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, diabetes, or epilepsy that adversely affect educational performance.

Question 15Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student's reading fluency is well below grade level, and the team suspects a learning disability. The team decides to gather data on the student's response to increasingly intensive, research-based interventions before referring for evaluation. Which model is this?

  1. Response to intervention Correct answer.
  2. Developmental delay model
  3. Clinical diagnostic model
  4. Discrepancy model

Explanation

Response to intervention uses data on how well a student responds to research-based instruction at increasing levels of intensity to inform referral and eligibility decisions. It is an alternative or supplement to discrepancy-based approaches.

Question 16Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder frequently loses materials, forgets homework, and has difficulty starting assignments. Which support best addresses these executive functioning needs?

  1. Reducing the student's recess time to complete unfinished work
  2. Allowing the student to skip assignments that require sustained attention
  3. Seating the student at the back of the room to reduce distractions
  4. Providing a daily checklist, a designated place for materials, and chunked assignment steps Correct answer.

Explanation

Checklists, organized materials, and chunked tasks provide external structure that compensates for executive functioning difficulties such as organization and task initiation. These proactive supports build independence over time.

Question 17Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which statement best captures the difference between a disability and a handicap in the context of special education?

  1. A handicap is a medical condition, while a disability is a legal category
  2. The two terms are interchangeable in all special education contexts
  3. A disability is an impairment or limitation in function, while a handicap refers to the environmental or social barriers that limit participation Correct answer.
  4. A disability only refers to physical impairments, while a handicap refers to learning problems

Explanation

A disability refers to an impairment or functional limitation, whereas a handicap describes the disadvantage that results when environmental or social barriers interact with that impairment. This distinction supports designing environments and supports that reduce barriers.

Question 18Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a learning disability in mathematics can compute accurately but struggles to solve word problems. Which instructional focus is most appropriate?

  1. Explicit instruction in problem representation, schema identification, and strategy selection Correct answer.
  2. Additional drill on basic fact fluency
  3. Practice with timed computation worksheets
  4. Reducing the number of word problems the student must complete

Explanation

When computation is intact but word-problem solving is weak, instruction should target the underlying processes: representing the problem, recognizing problem types, and selecting a solution strategy. More computation drill does not address the identified need.

Question 19Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which statement about the cognitive characteristics of students with intellectual disability is most accurate?

  1. They typically have strengths in abstract reasoning that exceed same-age peers
  2. They usually show no difficulty transferring learned skills to new settings
  3. They generally learn new skills without needing repetition or practice
  4. They often show difficulty with abstract reasoning and generalization of skills across settings Correct answer.

Explanation

Students with intellectual disability commonly show limitations in abstract reasoning, memory, and generalization, meaning skills learned in one setting may not transfer automatically. Instruction therefore emphasizes concrete examples, repetition, and supported practice across settings.

Question 20Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with an emotional disability has difficulty recognizing and managing anger. Which support is most consistent with a social-emotional learning approach?

  1. Teaching explicit strategies for identifying triggers, self-monitoring, and using calming routines Correct answer.
  2. Avoiding all discussion of emotions in the classroom
  3. Assigning a consequence each time the student reports feeling angry
  4. Removing the student from class whenever he raises his voice

Explanation

Social-emotional learning teaches students to recognize emotions, monitor their own states, and apply coping strategies, which builds self-regulation over time. Proactive instruction is preferable to purely reactive consequences.

Question 21Understanding Students with Disabilities

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

  1. To select the least restrictive environment for a student's services
  2. To decide whether a student's behavior that led to a disciplinary change of placement was caused by or substantially related to the student's disability or failure to implement the IEP Correct answer.
  3. To determine whether a student should be initially evaluated for special education
  4. To compare a student's achievement with that of same-age peers

Explanation

A manifestation determination review examines whether the conduct at issue was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the student's disability, or was the direct result of the school's failure to implement the IEP. It is triggered by certain disciplinary removals.

Question 22Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a learning disability has strong oral language skills but struggles to organize and produce written text. Which characteristic is most consistent with this profile?

  1. A hearing impairment affecting speech production
  2. A primary deficit in verbal comprehension
  3. Difficulty with phonological awareness that affects spelling only
  4. Difficulty with the writing process, including planning, drafting, and revising Correct answer.

Explanation

Students with writing disabilities may have intact oral language but difficulty with the writing process, including planning, organizing, drafting, and revising text. Instruction should target these composing processes explicitly.

Question 23Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which characteristic is most commonly associated with speech or language impairment in the school setting?

  1. A primary deficit in adaptive behavior
  2. A pattern of repetitive and restricted interests
  3. Difficulty with articulation, fluency, or voice that adversely affects educational performance Correct answer.
  4. Significantly subaverage intellectual functioning

Explanation

Speech or language impairment includes articulation, fluency, voice, or language difficulties that adversely affect educational performance. The other options describe characteristics of intellectual disability or autism rather than speech-language impairment.

Question 24Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a learning disability is easily distracted by background noise and loses her place while reading. Which characteristic is most likely involved?

  1. A primary emotional disability
  2. Attention and working memory difficulties that interfere with processing Correct answer.
  3. A significant hearing loss
  4. A lack of motivation only

Explanation

Many students with learning disabilities show attention and working memory difficulties that affect their ability to filter distractions and hold information while reading. These processing issues are distinct from emotional disability or hearing loss.

Question 25Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which of the following best describes the role of a student's cultural and linguistic background when considering special education eligibility?

  1. A student's home language should be ignored when interpreting assessment results
  2. Linguistic differences automatically qualify a student for special education
  3. Cultural background is irrelevant to eligibility decisions
  4. Differences must be ruled out as the primary cause of the student's difficulties before eligibility is determined Correct answer.

Explanation

IDEA requires that a student not be found eligible if the determining factor is limited English proficiency, cultural factors, or environmental or economic disadvantage. Assessment must therefore be conducted in a manner that distinguishes disability from difference.

Question 26Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a mild intellectual disability is being taught to use a public library card. The teacher begins by modeling the steps, then guides the student through them, and gradually withdraws help as the student performs independently. Which instructional approach does this best illustrate?

  1. Incidental teaching in a natural setting
  2. Discrete trial training in a massed format
  3. Precision teaching with daily fluency timings
  4. Scaffolded instruction with graduated prompting Correct answer.

Explanation

Graduated prompting with modeling and fading of support is the defining feature of scaffolding, which is a core evidence-based practice for students with intellectual disability. The teacher supplies high support first and systematically removes it as competence grows, transferring responsibility to the learner.

Question 27Understanding Students with Disabilities

Which statement best describes the defining feature of a specific learning disability under the most widely used definitions in special education?

  1. A general delay across all developmental domains that is first identified before the student enters kindergarten
  2. A pattern of below-average adaptive behavior combined with deficits in conceptual and social skills
  3. A primary sensory or motor impairment that directly reduces a student's access to grade-level curriculum
  4. A disorder in basic psychological processes that may manifest in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematics Correct answer.

Explanation

Specific learning disability is defined by a disorder in one or more basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, which may appear as difficulty in listening, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or mathematics. A key element is that the difficulty is specific rather than a broad developmental delay and is not primarily caused by other disabilities or environmental factors.

Question 28Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a speech sound disorder substitutes sounds in conversational speech but can produce the target sounds correctly when imitating the teacher. Which factor is most important for the team to consider when deciding whether the student is eligible for special education services?

  1. Whether the student's parents used two languages in the home during early childhood
  2. Whether the student's score on an articulation test falls at least two standard deviations below the mean
  3. Whether the student can pass a hearing screening administered on the day of the evaluation
  4. Whether the error pattern interferes with the student's educational performance or ability to communicate needs Correct answer.

Explanation

Eligibility for speech or language impairment hinges on whether the communication difference adversely affects educational performance, not merely on the presence of an error or a particular test score. A student who is stimulable in imitation may still qualify if the errors limit intelligibility, social interaction, or classroom participation.

Question 29Understanding Students with Disabilities

A middle school student with autism spectrum disorder performs well on structured academic tasks but repeatedly misreads peers' intentions during group work and responds in ways peers find odd. Which area of need should the IEP address most directly?

  1. Phonological awareness and decoding fluency
  2. Fine motor coordination for handwriting
  3. Social communication and perspective taking Correct answer.
  4. Auditory processing of multistep directions

Explanation

Difficulty inferring others' intentions and interpreting social cues reflects the social communication and theory-of-mind challenges characteristic of autism spectrum disorder. Instruction in perspective taking, social problem solving, and peer interaction is the most direct match to this need.

Question 30Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with an emotional disability has been receiving special education services for two years. The team is reviewing progress and notes that the student now attends all classes, completes work, and has not had a disciplinary referral in six months. Which consideration is most important when the team reviews continued eligibility?

  1. Whether the student can be exited immediately so that the record shows successful remediation
  2. Whether the student still needs specially designed instruction to maintain gains, since eligibility is based on current need rather than history Correct answer.
  3. Whether the student's parents agree to waive a reevaluation before any change in services
  4. Whether the student's original evaluation scores remain unchanged, since eligibility is fixed at the initial determination

Explanation

Eligibility is a current-need determination, and a student may remain eligible if continued specially designed instruction is required to sustain progress. Teams must weigh whether gains depend on the supports in place before reducing or exiting services.

Question 31Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a traumatic brain injury has intact memory for facts but becomes disorganized and loses track of multistep assignments. Which characteristic of brain injury does this pattern most clearly illustrate?

  1. A primary deficit in phonological processing
  2. A sensory impairment affecting visual acuity
  3. Impairment in executive functions such as planning and organization Correct answer.
  4. A generalized loss of declarative memory

Explanation

Executive function skills, including planning, sequencing, and self-monitoring, are frequently affected after traumatic brain injury even when factual recall is preserved. The described pattern of losing track of multistep work while remembering content points to executive dysfunction.

Question 32Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with a mild intellectual disability is learning to shop for groceries. The teacher arranges for practice in the actual store the student will use, with the real shelves, prices, and checkout routine. Which principle of instruction does this best reflect?

  1. Delaying community instruction until classroom mastery is complete
  2. Relying on peer tutoring to replace direct instruction
  3. Teaching in the natural environment to promote generalization Correct answer.
  4. Using massed practice to build fluency before community exposure

Explanation

Instruction in the setting where the skill will actually be used supports generalization by keeping relevant cues, materials, and contingencies present during learning. Community-based instruction is a well-established practice for students with intellectual disability because skills learned in isolation often fail to transfer.

Question 33Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student who is an English learner is referred for special education evaluation because of weak reading comprehension. The team notes that the student's oral language in the home language is age appropriate and that reading difficulties appear in both languages. Which conclusion is best supported?

  1. The pattern is consistent with a disability because the difficulty is present across languages and cannot be explained by limited proficiency alone Correct answer.
  2. The pattern proves the student has an intellectual disability rather than a learning disability
  3. The pattern shows that the student needs more time to acquire English before any concern can be considered
  4. The pattern indicates a language difference, so evaluation should be discontinued and the student placed in an English-only reading program

Explanation

When a difficulty appears in both the home language and English while oral language is typical, limited English proficiency is a less plausible explanation and a disability becomes more likely. Teams must still gather comprehensive data, but the cross-linguistic pattern supports rather than rules out a disability.

Question 34Understanding Students with Disabilities

A student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is included in a general education classroom. The team wants to reduce off-task behavior during independent work. Which approach is most consistent with a behavioral framework for supporting this student?

  1. Providing frequent, brief checks with specific feedback and breaking the assignment into short segments with clear goals Correct answer.
  2. Removing the student from independent work until attention improves on its own
  3. Assigning a longer, uninterrupted work block to build sustained attention
  4. Waiting until the end of the week to review the student's behavior patterns with the class

Explanation

Frequent specific feedback, chunked tasks, and clear short-term goals are antecedent and consequence supports that match the attention profile of students with ADHD. They reduce the length of demand and increase the rate of reinforcement for on-task behavior.

Question 35Curriculum and Instruction

A special education teacher is designing instruction for a student with a mild disability who struggles to retain new vocabulary. Which approach best reflects the principle of explicit, systematic instruction?

  1. Assign independent dictionary work and assess retention at the end of the unit
  2. Introduce many words at once so the student sees the full unit quickly
  3. Teach a small set of words with modeling, guided practice, and cumulative review Correct answer.
  4. Provide a rich print environment and let the student absorb words incidentally

Explanation

Explicit, systematic instruction sequences learning in small, carefully ordered steps with teacher modeling, guided practice, and cumulative review of previously taught items. Incidental exposure and massed presentation assume the student can self-organize learning, which is the very difficulty the student has.

Question 36Curriculum and Instruction

Which practice is the clearest example of providing a testing accommodation rather than a testing modification?

  1. Reducing the number of answer choices on a multiple-choice test
  2. Changing the test to cover below-grade-level content standards
  3. Excusing the student from the writing portion of the assessment
  4. Allowing extended time to complete the same grade-level test Correct answer.

Explanation

Accommodations change how a student accesses a test without altering what is measured, so extended time on the same grade-level test qualifies. Modifications change the content, level, or expectations of the assessment itself.

Question 37Curriculum and Instruction

A teacher wants to monitor a student's progress in reading fluency across the school year using brief, repeated measures. Which assessment approach is most appropriate?

  1. A teacher-made final exam at the end of each semester
  2. Curriculum-based measurement administered weekly Correct answer.
  3. A single standardized achievement test in the fall
  4. An annual comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation

Explanation

Curriculum-based measurement uses short, equivalent probes given frequently to show growth over time and to inform instructional adjustments. One-time or end-of-term tests cannot reveal the trajectory needed for progress monitoring.

Question 38Curriculum and Instruction

In a co-taught classroom, one general educator and one special educator plan together, and both deliver instruction to the whole class while circulating to support all students. Which co-teaching model is this?

  1. Team teaching Correct answer.
  2. Station teaching
  3. One teach, one observe
  4. Parallel teaching

Explanation

Team teaching, sometimes called interactive teaching, has both educators share responsibility for planning and delivering instruction to the entire group. The other models divide the class or assign distinct roles.

Question 39Curriculum and Instruction

According to the principle of universal design for learning, which step should a teacher take first when planning a new unit?

  1. Plan multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression from the start Correct answer.
  2. Design the unit and add accommodations only for students with IEPs
  3. Identify the single method that works for most students in the class
  4. Wait to see which students fail and then add supports

Explanation

UDL proactively builds in multiple means of representation, engagement, and action and expression so a wide range of learners can access content without retrofitting. Retrofitting supports after failure is the traditional reactive model UDL is meant to replace.

Question 40Curriculum and Instruction

A student with a specific learning disability in written expression can generate strong ideas orally but produces disorganized, incomplete essays. Which instructional support best targets the writing process itself?

  1. Providing a graphic organizer that structures planning before drafting Correct answer.
  2. Allowing the student to dictate every written assignment
  3. Reducing the required essay length for all assignments
  4. Giving a lower grade weight to the writing portion of the course

Explanation

A graphic organizer scaffolds the planning stage, helping the student translate oral ideas into an organized written structure while still practicing composition. The other options reduce or bypass the writing demand rather than teaching the process.

Question 41Curriculum and Instruction

Which statement accurately describes the role of a student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) in instructional planning?

  1. It documents the student's current performance and serves as the baseline for writing measurable annual goals Correct answer.
  2. It lists the accommodations the student will use during state testing only
  3. It records the student's disciplinary history and attendance patterns
  4. It replaces the need for ongoing progress monitoring once written

Explanation

The PLAAFP describes the student's current strengths and needs and provides the baseline from which measurable annual goals and services are developed. It is the foundation of the IEP, not a substitute for monitoring or a test-only document.

Question 42Curriculum and Instruction

A teacher arranges a classroom so that a student with attention difficulties sits near the teacher, away from high-traffic areas, with materials organized in labeled bins. This is best described as which type of support?

  1. A related service under the IEP
  2. A behavioral intervention plan
  3. An environmental and organizational accommodation Correct answer.
  4. An instructional modification to the curriculum

Explanation

Seating arrangement and material organization are environmental accommodations that change the setting to support attention without altering content. They are not related services, behavior plans, or curriculum modifications.

Question 43Curriculum and Instruction

A teacher uses a token system in which a student earns points for completing assigned work and exchanges them for preferred activities. Which principle does this primarily illustrate?

  1. Punishment by removal of a privilege
  2. Positive reinforcement through a contingency Correct answer.
  3. Extinction of an unwanted behavior
  4. Intrinsic motivation development

Explanation

A token economy is a contingency-based positive reinforcement system in which earned tokens are exchanged for backup reinforcers. It strengthens behavior by adding a desirable consequence rather than removing or punishing.

Question 44Curriculum and Instruction

When planning a lesson, a special education teacher sequences skills so that each new objective builds on previously mastered ones and reviews earlier content within each lesson. This design is best described as:

  1. Cumulative and sequential instruction Correct answer.
  2. Differentiated content acceleration
  3. Inquiry-based discovery learning
  4. Project-based learning

Explanation

Cumulative and sequential instruction orders skills hierarchically and continually integrates prior learning, which reduces forgetting and supports students with learning difficulties. The other approaches describe different instructional frameworks, not this structured progression.

Question 45Curriculum and Instruction

A student with a mild intellectual disability masters a cooking task more quickly when the teacher demonstrates each step, the student performs it, and the teacher prompts and fades support. This approach is best known as:

  1. Errorless learning through stimulus fading
  2. Self-monitoring through checklists
  3. Behavioral momentum through high-probability requests
  4. Cognitive apprenticeship through modeling and guided practice Correct answer.

Explanation

Modeling followed by guided practice with graduated prompting and fading reflects cognitive apprenticeship, where expert performance is demonstrated and scaffolded until the learner performs independently. The other terms describe distinct behavioral procedures.

Question 46Curriculum and Instruction

A teacher wants to check whether students can apply a newly taught comprehension strategy during independent reading. Which assessment method provides the most direct evidence?

  1. Observing students using the strategy while reading and reviewing their written responses Correct answer.
  2. Asking students to raise hands if they understood the lesson
  3. Giving a spelling test on vocabulary from the passage
  4. Recording attendance and participation during the lesson

Explanation

Direct observation of strategy use during reading plus review of written responses yields concrete evidence of application. Hand-raising and participation measures reflect engagement or self-report, not actual strategy use.

Question 47Curriculum and Instruction

Which of the following best describes the purpose of a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) when planning instruction for a student with challenging behavior?

  1. To compare the student's behavior with that of typically developing peers
  2. To document the number of office referrals the student has received
  3. To determine whether the student should be removed from the general education setting
  4. To identify the antecedents and consequences that maintain the behavior so an intervention can target its function Correct answer.

Explanation

An FBA identifies the environmental variables and function maintaining a behavior so that a behavior intervention plan can address the cause rather than only the symptom. It is not primarily a placement or record-keeping tool.

Question 48Curriculum and Instruction

A teacher provides a student with a partially completed outline before a lecture and asks the student to fill in key ideas as the lesson proceeds. This support is best described as:

  1. A behavior contract for on-task behavior
  2. A graphic organizer used as a scaffold for note-taking Correct answer.
  3. A curriculum modification that lowers standards
  4. A summative assessment of lecture content

Explanation

A partially completed outline is a graphic organizer scaffold that reduces the transcription load so the student can attend to and record key concepts. It supports access without lowering the content standard.

Question 49Curriculum and Instruction

Which practice best supports the generalization of a newly learned social skill across settings?

  1. Practicing the skill once during a single scripted role-play
  2. Assessing the skill only through a written quiz
  3. Teaching the skill across multiple settings and reinforcing it with different adults and peers Correct answer.
  4. Teaching the skill only in the resource room until mastery is reached

Explanation

Generalization is promoted by training across settings, people, and examples and by reinforcing the skill in natural contexts. Single-setting or single-trial instruction often produces responding that does not transfer.

Question 50Curriculum and Instruction

A teacher is choosing a phonics intervention for a student who can decode single syllables but struggles with multisyllabic words. Which approach most directly targets this need?

  1. Providing more time for independent silent reading
  2. Increasing the number of sight words practiced each week
  3. Reviewing letter-sound correspondences for single consonants
  4. Teaching syllable types and applying a syllable-division strategy to longer words Correct answer.

Explanation

Instruction in syllable types and division strategies directly addresses the student's difficulty with multisyllabic decoding. The other options target different skills or provide practice without teaching the needed strategy.