TExES Exam TExES Special Education EC-12 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student with an IEP requires extended time on tests. Under IDEA, which team is responsible for determining this accommodation?
- The classroom teacher alone
- The ARD/IEP committee (Correct answer)
- The campus principal
- The state education agency
Correct answer: The ARD/IEP committee
The Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee, also known as the IEP team, is responsible for determining and documenting all accommodations and modifications.
Question 2: Which behavior intervention strategy involves reinforcing a student for NOT engaging in a challenging behavior during a set time interval?
- Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO) (Correct answer)
- Extinction
- Positive Punishment
- Response Cost
Correct answer: Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO)
DRO provides reinforcement when the target challenging behavior does not occur during a specified time interval.
Question 3: A student with autism spectrum disorder struggles with transitions between activities. Which strategy is MOST likely to reduce transition-related anxiety?
- Surprise transitions to build flexibility
- Visual schedules and advance warnings (Correct answer)
- Shortening all activity periods
- Removing transition activities from the day
Correct answer: Visual schedules and advance warnings
Visual schedules and advance warnings provide predictability, which significantly reduces anxiety around transitions for students with ASD.
Question 4: Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, who qualifies for a 504 plan?
- Only students with a diagnosis under IDEA disability categories
- Students with any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity (Correct answer)
- Students with GPAs below 2.0 due to a disability
- Students whose parents request one regardless of disability status
Correct answer: Students with any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity
Section 504 covers any student with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, broader than IDEA's categories.
Question 5: A special education teacher is writing measurable annual goals for a student's IEP. Which goal is written MOST appropriately?
- The student will improve reading skills
- The student will enjoy reading more
- Given a 4th-grade passage, the student will read 90 words per minute with 95% accuracy by May (Correct answer)
- The student will try harder in reading class
Correct answer: Given a 4th-grade passage, the student will read 90 words per minute with 95% accuracy by May
Measurable IEP goals must include conditions, behavior, and criteria — specifying the level, skill, measurement, and timeline.
Question 6: Which assessment approach is MOST appropriate for a student with limited English proficiency who is also suspected of having a learning disability?
- Administer only English-language standardized tests
- Use a nonverbal assessment and gather data in both languages (Correct answer)
- Defer all assessment until English is fully acquired
- Rely solely on teacher observation in the general education classroom
Correct answer: Use a nonverbal assessment and gather data in both languages
Using nonverbal assessments and bilingual data collection ensures the evaluation measures ability rather than language proficiency.
Question 7: A student with emotional disturbance frequently disrupts class. The teacher should FIRST:
- Request immediate removal to an alternative placement
- Conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) to identify the behavior's purpose (Correct answer)
- Increase academic demands to redirect the student's energy
- Contact law enforcement for a behavioral plan
Correct answer: Conduct a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) to identify the behavior's purpose
An FBA identifies the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to determine the function of behavior before developing an intervention plan.
TExES Exam TExES Special Education EC-12 2
A student with an IEP requires extended time on tests.
Under IDEA, which team is responsible for determining this accommodation?