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Study Guide

Field 060: Dual Middle Childhood Special Education (4–9)
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Domain I–Students with Disabilities

Competency 0001
Understand characteristics of students with disabilities.

1. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Section 300.8 (c) (9), for a student to be eligible for special education services under the category of Other Health Impaired (OHI), which of the following areas must be "determined to adversely affect a student's educational performance"?

  1. preferred mode of spoken and written communication
  2. limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to a chronic or acute condition
  3. cognitive ability as measured by a standardized assessment
  4. inability to maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers or adults
Answer
Correct Response: B. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of types and characteristics of various disabilities. Under the criteria established in IDEA, Section 300.8 (c) (9), a student can be determined eligible for special education services under the category of OHI when their disability is the result of a chronic or acute health condition (e.g., diabetes, sickle cell disease, asthma, heart condition) causing "limited strength, vitality, or alertness and adversely affects the student's educational performance". The educational team must conclude that the student's health or medical condition adversely affects their education for the student to receive special education services and related services.

2. According to Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development, students between ages 7 and 11 typically develop and expand cognitive skills in which of the following domains?

  1. Sensorimotor
  2. Pre-Operational
  3. Concrete Operational
  4. Formal Operational
Answer
Correct Response: C. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of characteristics of typical and atypical human growth and development in various domains. The Concrete Operational Stage of cognitive development typically begins around 7 years old until around 11 years old. In this stage students typically begin to think more logically and apply logical rules. Piaget states that students in the Concrete Operational Stage have a grasp of inductive reasoning, as well as developing and expanding core skills related to conservation, reversibility, transitivity, and seriation. For example, a student at this stage of development is beginning to understand the concept of transitive inference, such as: a robin is a bird, all birds lay eggs, therefore, a robin lays eggs.

Competency 0002
Understand factors that affect development, learning, and daily living in students with disabilities.

3. The parents/guardians of a student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) discuss with the special education teacher that the student has difficulty focusing when completing homework and is easily frustrated and impulsive. The parents/guardians ask the teacher for web-based community resources for support with handling impulsivity and frustration with their child. Which of the following web-based resources would be most helpful and accessible to parents/guardians to gather information about adolescence with ADHD?

  1. Ohio Minds Matter
  2. Ohio Special Education Advocacy
  3. Ohio Parent Mentor Project
  4. State Board of Education-Special Education
Answer
Correct Response: A. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of the role communities play in students' development.  Ohio Minds Matter is a community-focused, web-based behavior health resource that offers support for parents/guardians, educators, and health professionals of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Ohio Minds Matter offers screening and assessment support, possible treatment options, information about current medications that treat symptoms of ADHD, and tips on pursuing symptom management with health care providers. Ohio Minds Matter contains an ADHD resource center that includes research findings on ADHD, video guides for families, and local resources for parents/guardians of children through adolescence with ADHD. It also provides detailed information on possible prescription medication side effects.

4. An Individualized Education Program (IEP) team has scheduled a student's annual review meeting for a mutually agreed-upon time. The parents/guardians have shared that they are unable to attend due to needing childcare for a newborn. Which of the following actions would be the next best step for the IEP team to take in this situation?

  1. proceeding with the IEP meeting as scheduled, documenting attempts to invite the parents/guardians to attend
  2. requesting the parents/guardians participate at a time that is convenient for them via conference or video calls
  3. asking the parents/guardians to submit written information for the student's IEP prior to the scheduled meeting
  4. allowing the special education teacher to conduct a home visit so that the parents/guardians can sign the IEP                
Answer
Correct Response: B. This item requires the examinee to apply knowledge of the role of families in students' development and learning. Parents/guardians are an integral part of the IEP team. The Ohio Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities (2022) states that the parents/guardians of a student with a disability may be provided with alternative means of meeting participation, such as video conferences and conference calls. When a parent/guardian has expressed their inability to attend an in-person meeting, the IEP team is required to offer alternative means of participation to ensure the parents/guardians access to and participation in their student's IEP meeting.

Domain II–Assessment and Program Planning

Competency 0003
Understand procedures for selecting, adapting, modifying, designing, and using various types of formal and informal assessments.

5. A special education teacher stops teaching a math lesson at a midpoint to ask the students to respond to targeted questions on an index card. After reviewing students' responses, the teacher returns to the lesson and reviews one or two key points previously addressed in the lesson. Which of the following assessment methods is the teacher using in this scenario?

  1. formal assessment
  2. summative assessment
  3. alternative assessment
  4. formative assessment
Answer
Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of how to collect, organize, interpret, and evaluate assessment data to inform and improve instruction and interventions. The teacher's use of this activity is a quick, formative assessment tool to measure students' understanding during instruction. This type of formative assessment helps to inform instruction by identifying student misconceptions and confusions early, before they can be reinforced during the independent practice stage of the lesson.

6. A special education student scored -1 standard deviation below the mean on a standardized normed-referenced assessment. Which of the following scores most accurately represents the student's standard score?

  1. 115
  2. 85
  3. 100
  4. 70
Answer
Correct Response: B. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of basic assessment terminology and the characteristics of formal assessments. Normed-referenced assessments have standard scores which are based on an average range of 100. The standard deviation is ±15 points. When a student scores -1 standard deviation below the mean, they scored -15 from 100, which is 85. A normed-referenced test compares an individual student's scores to the scores of same age and grade level peers.

Competency 0004
Understand strategies and procedures for developing, implementing, and monitoring individualized programs.

7. A student with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) attends a general education class with in-class support from a special education teacher. Which of the following strategies would be the most effective way for the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team to integrate student goals for practicing social skills into the general academic curriculum for this student?

  1. adding individual counseling services and goals into the student's IEP
  2. establishing clear expectations and reinforcement for classroom behavior
  3. assigning the student a one-on-one aide to model appropriate behavior
  4. including the IEP accommodation of peer-to-peer supports in small-group activities 
Answer
Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of strategies for integrating social skills with academic curricula. Research has shown that using structured peer-to-peer supports is an effective strategy for supporting students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the general education setting. Peers can serve as role models to students with ASD in supporting their development of academic and social skills.

8. Which of the following elements must be included in a student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP)?

  1. a rationale statement describing how the IEP will support the student's academic progress in activities that occur outside of the school day 
  2. an outline of specific instructional activities that will address the student's IEP goals
  3. a comprehensive list of district-approved materials the special education teacher will use when delivering instruction
  4. a plan for the delivery of instructional supports, including accommodations and services detailing when, where, and how often services will be provided
Answer
Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of procedures for developing IEPs. Supports and services are needed for the student to benefit from an IEP. Services and accommodations/modifications must be documented to address all the student's IEP goals, access to the general education setting, and curriculum and time/schedule for related service providers. Frequency, duration, and setting are included in this documentation. This identifies the number of days and times per day/week/month and the location of the services/supports the student is to receive.

Domain III–Learning Environments and Instructional Practices

Competency 0005
Understand strategies and procedures for planning, managing, and modifying the learning environment for students with disabilities.

9. A student who uses a walker for mobility is seated near the teacher's desk for easy access and storage of their walker. The special education teacher has noticed that the student must navigate through rows of desks and students to access small group discussion tables in the back of the classroom and would like to rearrange the student's seating to facilitate their access to all areas of the classroom. Which of the following questions should the special education teacher consider first when considering this classroom arrangement?

  1. Where can the student be seated to increase their participation during whole group instruction?
  2. Where can the student be seated to facilitate their engagement with peers during classroom activities?
  3. Where can the student be seated to promote their completion of independent classwork?
  4. Where can the student be seated to ensure their safe movement throughout all areas of the classroom?
Answer
Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of strategies for planning and managing the learning environment for students with disabilities. Student safety and access to the learning environment is the primary consideration for all students. Students with mobility needs should be safe from tripping and falling hazards when navigating the classroom while still having access to all areas of the educational setting.

10. Which of the following strategies would a special education teacher use to de-escalate behavior before it reaches the "Shuts Down/Behavior Increase" phase?

Phases of a Student in Crisis

The diagram depicts the phases of a student in crisis. Two diagonal lines with arrows form a triangular shape. The diagonal on the left points up and the diagonal on the right points down. Five phases appear in ascending order inside the left diagonal. The phases are listed as follows from bottom to top: 1 Calming Phase, 2 Negative Reaction Toward Stimulus, 3 Shuts Down/Behavior Increase, 4 Negative Engagement, and 5 Loss of Control. Two phases appear in descending order inside the right diagonal. The phases are listed as follows from top to bottom: De-escalation 3, which appears on the same level as the third phase on the left, and Recovery 1, which appears on the same level as the first phase on the left

  1. removing the student from the class to ensure safety of classmates
  2. providing reasonable choices in a calm, quiet tone of voice to redirect the student
  3. announcing to the class that they should ignore the student's behaviors 
  4. asking the student to relocate to another group to work on a different task      
Answer
Correct Response: B. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of strategies for providing positive behavioral supports for students with disabilities. The teacher should be aware of the escalation stages of behavior and accompanying observable behaviors to enact crisis prevention strategies to support the student. Quietly redirecting the student by providing reasonable choices gives the student a feeling of control and can prevent further escalation of the situation. The teacher should use a calming tone and succinct wording to avoid confusion. This strategy allows the teacher to later pursue individual talks with the student to deconstruct the problem and work towards appropriate intervention supports to avoid future incidents.

Competency 0006
Understand effective instructional practices for promoting students' success in the general curriculum.

11. A special education teacher uses a game-based digital application to reinforce the computational fluency of a student with a learning disability in mathematics. Game-based applications that include which of the following elements would be most effective to reinforce the student's mathematical computation skills?

  1. repeated examples of any given type of problem
  2. activities that include engaging musical accompaniment
  3. a scoreboard comparing the student's score to their classmates' scores  
  4. immediate visual and auditory feedback for the student's correct responses
Answer
Correct Response: D. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of research-supported methods for providing mathematics instruction to all students with disabilities. Research has shown that using game-based applications can be an effective instructional strategy to use with students who have a specific learning disability in mathematics because they provide students with repeated opportunities to practice facts, receive immediate feedback, and present opportunities for the student to experience success. Immediate feedback helps ensure that students are learning facts correctly.

12. A special education teacher conducts a task analysis to teach a daily living skill to a student with a moderate intellectual disability. The teacher is using an errorless teaching technique in which the teacher prompts the student to make a correct response and immediately provides full support and verbal praise to reinforce the student's understanding of the correct response. Prompting is systematically and slowly faded as the student demonstrates the skill in future activities. A primary benefit for the use of this technique is it:

  1. enables the student to achieve the skill in the shortest amount of time.
  2. ensures the student will generalize the performance of the skill in multiple settings.
  3. promotes the student's participation and engagement in the task or activity.
  4. reduces the amount of frustration the student experiences learning a new skill.
Answer
Correct Response: D. Errorless teaching strategy provides immediate positive reinforcement to correct responses to facilitate understanding and learning. It is an evidence-based instructional strategy based on the idea that students learn through modeling and prompting of correct responses. This decreases the likelihood that the student will repeat errors when initially engaged in learning new skills or activities, reducing students' frustration and the need for correction or reteaching while promoting their retention of the learning.

Competency 0007
Understand strategies for developing students' communication and social skills and for providing effective behavioral interventions for students with disabilities.

13. A student with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has the following Individualized Education Program (IEP) goal.

Given time throughout the school day, the student will participate in reciprocal conversations in 3 to 4 exchanges in topics initiated by themselves or others in 4/5 opportunities by the end of this IEP.

Which of the following strategies would be most appropriate for the special education teacher to use to incorporate this IEP goal into the student's daily classroom routine?

  1. establishing morning meetings for all students to discuss current topics and events
  2. calling on students to answer content-related questions
  3. providing written prompts for students to follow when engaged in class discussions
  4. reminding the student to ask questions during whole group instruction
Answer
Correct Response: A. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of strategies for fostering students' social skills for increasing self-awareness. Incorporating a morning meeting into the daily schedule has been shown to promote students' language and active listening skills, as well as build a responsive, supportive, and student-focused classroom culture. In this scenario, the student would have a safe and structured setting to practice skills related to their goal, allowing the teacher to observe their progress and adjust future instruction.

14. A special education teacher provides students with an independent writing assignment for morning work. Students select one prompt to respond to in their weekly correspondence journal.

How do you use technology to support your learning and everyday activities?

What qualities do you look for in a friend?

If you could have a job or career, what would you choose and why?

In what ways can your teachers support you in your learning right now?

The teacher follows up with a written personalized comment based on the student's response. The use of this type of interactive writing activity is most effective for building rapport and promoting students':

  1. self-determination skills.
  2. perceptual skills.
  3. social language.
  4. emotional resilience.
Answer
Correct Response: A. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of strategies for fostering students' self-awareness and self-determination. The question prompts encourage students to think personally about a topic and explain their thoughts with supporting information. Students' responses and their perceptions provide a way for the teacher to make meaningful connections with each student. Students at this age want and need to communicate their thoughts, feelings, preferences, and dislikes and to feel that they are being heard and respected. This activity is an effective initial strategy to develop students' self-determination skills.

Competency 0008
Understand strategies for teaching functional living skills and promoting successful transitions for students with disabilities.

15. A student is working on transitioning between classes. The special education teacher and general education teacher initially provide verbal prompting and modeling supports for the student to record their homework and to take their tablet, weekly agenda notebook, and pencils to class. Without these verbal supports, the special education teacher observes that the student randomly forgets items. Which of the following strategies would most support the student to develop independent skills needed to transition effectively between classes?

  1. marking the materials needed for each class using a color-coding system
  2. identifying a peer to provide reminders to the student before leaving the room to go to their next class
  3. creating a short checklist with pictures and words of the materials and activities needed for each class
  4. asking general education teachers to send the student back to get materials when needed
Answer
Correct Response: C. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of strategies that promote successful transitions between various environments. It is beneficial for both general education teachers and special education teachers to use every opportunity during the school day to teach students how to transition efficiently and quickly. Visual supports for organizers, such as a chart with words, pictures, or diagrams, help students remember various materials needed for transitions. Visual cues can be added to assistive technology supports, rather than paper or notes, to make them readily available and interactive.

16. A special education teacher is working with students on exploring employment opportunities that match their abilities and interests. Which of the following strategies would be most appropriate as an initial step for the students to begin to explore their employment interests?

  1. discussing considerations and interests such as transportation, salary, and hours of work required
  2. having the student complete a questionnaire to match their abilities and interests to potential future areas of employment 
  3. having students locate and analyze several job postings including descriptions and job requirements that match their interests
  4. having students search the internet to identify sites where information about jobs of interest can be found
Answer
Correct Response: B. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of strategies that promote successful transitions between various environments. Preparing students for life beyond high school, including post-secondary employment, is a part of the transition process. IDEA states that schools must develop a plan for transitioning students to adult life. IDEA also states that a transition plan must be a part of the IEP by the age of 16. A job interest questionnaire will initiate the process of students thinking more about their career interests.

Domain IV–Foundations and Professional Practice

Competency 0009
Understand the historical, legal, and ethical foundations of the field of special education.

17. A student who performs on grade level was recently diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD). The student currently has a 504 plan. To best address the student's identified area of need, a 504 plan would be designed to include which of the following elements?

  1. an instructional or environmental accommodation 
  2. an academic modification to the general education curriculum
  3. direct service delivery schedule for special education services
  4. access to specialized instruction for reading and writing    
Answer
Correct Response: A. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of federal laws and policies on 504 and ethical guidelines related to the education of students with disabilities. A 504 plan provides for reasonable accommodations provided in the general education setting that provides a student with access to grade level general education instruction. An academic accommodation such as preferential seating, extra time for work completion, or an environmental accommodation such as a study carrel or quiet work area for testing would likely be found on a 504 plan. The primary difference between a 504 plan and an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is that an IEP provides for a student with an identified disability to receive specialized instruction and related services from special education teachers and providers, as well as accommodations and modifications to access the general education setting and curriculum. A 504 plan does not provide for specialized instruction and related services or individualized instruction from special education teachers.

18. According to the Section 300.306 (b)(1) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a student may not be determined to have a disability, as defined by these provisions, if which of the following sole determinant factors is present?

  1. early intervention services were not provided or available for the student
  2. the student was not provided appropriate instruction in reading and/or math
  3. standardized assessments were unable to be administered in their entirety
  4. in-patient hospitalization interrupted the student's access to education  
Answer
Correct Response: B. Under the provisions of Section 300.306 – Determination of Eligibility of IDEA, the educational team may not determine a student has a disability if there is evidence that the student did not receive appropriate instruction in reading and/or math. Regulations specifically outline reading instruction as "including the essential components of reading instruction (as defined in section 1208(3) of the ESEA as such section was in effect on the day before the date of enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (December 9, 2015))."

Competency 0010
Understand the professional roles and responsibilities of the special education teacher.

19. A special education teacher and a general education teacher are co-teaching and are meeting to plan for the first nine weeks of school. As an initial activity, they each complete a co-teaching survey that consists of questions about preference of co-teaching model, preparation, problem solving, teaching style, and planning. The teachers review each other's survey responses together. Which of the following benefits supports the teachers' engagement in the use of a co-teaching survey?

  1. allowing for easier scheduling for co-teaching to take place
  2. providing the school administration with the data needed for additional professional development
  3. promoting collaborative decision making and effective communication skills to support their co-teaching
  4. determining the materials and activities needed to provide individualized instruction for special education students
Answer
Correct Response: C. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of effective strategies for engaging in reflection and self-assessment activities to identify one's own strengths and weaknesses. Completing a co-teaching survey allows the teachers to reflect on their teaching practices and expectations while co-teaching. Successful co-teaching requires effective, ongoing communication and professional collaboration between the teachers, with a continued focus on their student learners.

20. A middle school student receives pull-out services twice a month from a related service provider taking them out of their general education class. The student has expressed to the special education teacher that they no longer need these service provisions. The student shares they feel singled out when they must leave their class for their sessions. Which of the following actions would be most responsive for the special education teacher to take in this scenario?

  1. scheduling a meeting with the parents/guardians to suggest they call the related service provider to discuss the student's concern
  2. recommending the student involve the general education teacher to suggest better times for the related service provider to meet with the student outside the classroom
  3. facilitating a meeting to include the related service provider and the student to present their concerns and discuss how best to proceed
  4. asking the related service provider to present current progress monitoring information to determine the student's continued need for services  
Answer
Correct Response: C. This question requires the examinee to apply knowledge of strategies for communicating and collaborating with students with disabilities. A direct meeting between all parties would provide the best opportunity to share their perspectives, explore potential solutions, and forge a mutual understanding of how to meet the student's needs across domains. It would also provide the student with an opportunity to advocate for themselves as they learn to navigate their special education services.