CPS Special Education Laws & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which ethical principle requires psycho-educational specialists to accurately represent their competencies and not practice beyond their training?
- Beneficence
- Fidelity
- Competence (Correct answer)
- Justice
Correct answer: Competence
Competence obligates professionals to practice only within boundaries established by their education, training, supervised experience, and credentials.
Question 2: Under IDEA, 'extended school year' (ESY) services must be provided when:
- Parents request them in writing
- The IEP team determines the student will experience significant regression without them (Correct answer)
- The student qualifies for a self-contained classroom
- State law mandates summer programming for all students with IEPs
Correct answer: The IEP team determines the student will experience significant regression without them
ESY services are required when the IEP team determines a student will regress significantly without continued services during breaks.
Question 3: A parent requests an independent educational evaluation (IEE) after disagreeing with the school's assessment. Under IDEA, the school must:
- Deny the request if the evaluation was completed within 12 months
- Provide the IEE at public expense or initiate a due process hearing to defend its evaluation (Correct answer)
- Conduct a second evaluation using different instruments only
- Wait 60 days before responding to the request
Correct answer: Provide the IEE at public expense or initiate a due process hearing to defend its evaluation
IDEA requires the school to either fund the IEE at public expense or initiate due process to show its own evaluation was appropriate.
Question 4: The primary purpose of the manifestation determination review (MDR) under IDEA is to:
- Determine eligibility for special education services
- Decide whether a student's misconduct was caused by or substantially related to their disability (Correct answer)
- Review whether the student's IEP goals have been met
- Evaluate the appropriateness of the student's placement
Correct answer: Decide whether a student's misconduct was caused by or substantially related to their disability
An MDR examines whether a disciplinary infraction was a direct result of the student's disability or a failure to implement the IEP.
Question 5: Which document must accompany a student's IEP beginning at age 16 under IDEA 2004?
- A behavior intervention plan
- A statement of transition services (Correct answer)
- An assistive technology assessment
- A functional behavioral assessment
Correct answer: A statement of transition services
IDEA 2004 requires a statement of transition services—including postsecondary goals and needed activities—to be included in the IEP no later than age 16.
Question 6: A school psycho-educational specialist discovers during an evaluation that a student is experiencing abuse at home. The specialist's primary obligation is to:
- Consult with the principal before taking any action
- Maintain confidentiality because evaluation data is protected
- Report the suspected abuse to the appropriate child protective agency (Correct answer)
- Notify parents before contacting outside agencies
Correct answer: Report the suspected abuse to the appropriate child protective agency
Mandatory reporting laws override confidentiality; suspected child abuse must be reported to child protective services regardless of professional obligations.
Question 7: Under ADA Title II, public schools must provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so would cause:
- Any disruption to the classroom
- An undue hardship or fundamentally alter the nature of the program (Correct answer)
- Costs exceeding the school's special education budget
- Modifications to the general education curriculum
Correct answer: An undue hardship or fundamentally alter the nature of the program
ADA exempts accommodations that constitute an undue hardship (excessive cost/difficulty) or would fundamentally alter the nature of a program or service.
CPS Special Education Laws & Ethics 3
Which ethical principle requires psycho-educational specialists to accurately represent their competencies and not practice beyond their training?