GACE Special Education 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which section of a student's IEP must describe how the student's disability affects involvement and progress in the general education curriculum?
- Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) (Correct answer)
- Transition services section
- Related services section
- Annual goals section
Correct answer: Present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP)
The PLAAFP section must explicitly describe how the student's disability affects their involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.
Question 2: A student with an emotional and behavioral disorder repeatedly disrupts class. The teacher finds that disruptions occur most often during independent seatwork. This information was gathered through which process?
- Functional behavior assessment (FBA) (Correct answer)
- Manifestation determination
- Reevaluation
- Eligibility determination
Correct answer: Functional behavior assessment (FBA)
An FBA identifies the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to determine the function of a behavior, including when and where it most commonly occurs.
Question 3: Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which students are eligible for accommodations?
- Only students who qualify for special education services under IDEA
- Students with any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity (Correct answer)
- Students with a documented IQ score below 70
- Only students with physical disabilities affecting mobility
Correct answer: Students with any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity
Section 504 has a broader eligibility definition than IDEA, covering any student with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Question 4: A teacher wants to use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in her classroom. Which action best reflects UDL implementation?
- Creating separate lesson plans for students with IEPs
- Providing multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement for all students (Correct answer)
- Testing students only orally to accommodate all learners
- Reducing content difficulty for struggling students
Correct answer: Providing multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement for all students
UDL is a framework that proactively builds in multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement to make learning accessible to all students.
Question 5: Which term describes a student's ability to read words correctly and with appropriate speed and prosody, serving as a bridge between decoding and comprehension?
- Phonemic awareness
- Fluency (Correct answer)
- Vocabulary
- Morphological awareness
Correct answer: Fluency
Reading fluency—accurate, automatic reading with appropriate expression—bridges decoding and comprehension by freeing cognitive resources for meaning-making.
Question 6: A student with an intellectual disability is learning to make purchases independently. This instruction targets which domain in special education curriculum?
- Academic skills
- Functional/life skills (Correct answer)
- Social-emotional skills
- Transition planning only
Correct answer: Functional/life skills
Functional life skills instruction focuses on practical, everyday skills such as making purchases that promote independence in community settings.
Question 7: Which type of intellectual disability classification system uses adaptive behavior assessments in addition to IQ scores?
- DSM-5 criteria
- IDEA eligibility criteria
- Both DSM-5 and AAIDD/IDEA criteria (Correct answer)
- Only IQ-based classification systems
Correct answer: Both DSM-5 and AAIDD/IDEA criteria
Both DSM-5 and the AAIDD framework (as reflected in IDEA) require assessment of adaptive behavior alongside intellectual functioning for intellectual disability classification.
GACE Special Education 3
Which section of a student's IEP must describe how the student's disability affects involvement and progress in the general education curriculum?