TExES Exam TExES Special Education EC-12 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which component is REQUIRED in every IEP under IDEA 2004?
- A career and technical education pathway
- A statement of the student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) (Correct answer)
- A plan for full inclusion in general education
- Monthly progress reports sent to state agencies
Correct answer: A statement of the student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP)
IDEA mandates that every IEP include a PLAAFP statement that describes how the disability affects involvement and progress in the general curriculum.
Question 2: A student with a physical disability uses a wheelchair and needs to access a science lab. This is BEST addressed through:
- Excusing the student from science lab entirely
- Providing the student with written descriptions of experiments only
- Making reasonable accommodations to ensure physical access and participation (Correct answer)
- Assigning a peer to complete lab work for the student
Correct answer: Making reasonable accommodations to ensure physical access and participation
IDEA and ADA require schools to make reasonable accommodations to provide students with disabilities access to all educational activities.
Question 3: When conducting a manifestation determination review, the IEP team asks whether the behavior was:
- Intentional and willful according to witnesses
- Caused by or had a direct substantial relationship to the student's disability (Correct answer)
- A first-time offense or repeated misconduct
- Dangerous to other students regardless of disability
Correct answer: Caused by or had a direct substantial relationship to the student's disability
A manifestation determination must establish whether the behavior was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the student's disability.
Question 4: A teacher notices a student with dyscalculia struggles with number sense but excels with spatial reasoning. Applying a strengths-based approach, the teacher should:
- Focus all instruction on remediating the math deficit
- Leverage the student's spatial reasoning to build number concepts using visual-spatial models (Correct answer)
- Reduce math assignments to avoid frustration
- Refer the student for more restrictive placement
Correct answer: Leverage the student's spatial reasoning to build number concepts using visual-spatial models
A strengths-based approach uses existing abilities as entry points to build skills in areas of deficit.
Question 5: Which law specifically prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in programs receiving federal financial assistance and applies to both students and staff?
- IDEA 2004
- Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Correct answer)
- Americans with Disabilities Act Title I
Correct answer: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
Question 6: A student's IEP team is considering an assistive technology device. Which step should occur BEFORE selecting a specific device?
- Purchase the most advanced technology available
- Assess the student's needs, tasks, and environments to determine what supports are needed (Correct answer)
- Ask the student's parents to buy their preferred device
- Try the least expensive option first regardless of student needs
Correct answer: Assess the student's needs, tasks, and environments to determine what supports are needed
AT evaluation requires matching the student's functional needs with available tools by considering the student, environment, and tasks (SETT framework).
Question 7: Which instructional strategy is MOST supported by research for teaching reading to students with dyslexia?
- Whole-language immersion approach
- Explicit, systematic, multisensory phonics instruction (Correct answer)
- Silent sustained reading for 30 minutes daily
- Context-clue focused comprehension strategies
Correct answer: Explicit, systematic, multisensory phonics instruction
Structured Literacy, which is explicit, systematic, and multisensory phonics instruction, is the most evidence-based approach for students with dyslexia.
TExES Exam TExES Special Education EC-12 3
Which component is REQUIRED in every IEP under IDEA 2004?