Educ 5100
IDEA Exam March 21:
1. The six major provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) include
Zero Reject, Nondiscriminatory Testing, Free and Appropriate Education, Least Restrictive
Environment, Due Process, and Parent Participation.
2. The four key additions to IDEA are Transition Services, Early Childhood Education,
Assessments, and Early Intervening Services. The Transition Services provides children ages
sixteen and above assistance in transitioning from school to the work force. The Early
Childhood Education provides services to infants, toddlers and preschoolers with
disabilities. The Assessment addition requires any student with special needs to
participate in state testing. The Early Intervening Services requires no more than fifteen
percent of funding go to students not declared needing special education.
3. The following acronyms are followed by their meaninga. FAPE stands for “Free Appropriate Public Education”
b. IDEA stands for “Individual with Disabilities Education Act. This is the federal special
education law.
c. IEP stands for “Individualized Education Program. This is a written plan pertaining to
students learning goals and services provided by the school to help the student in
achieving their goals.
d. LRE stands for “Least Restrictive Environment” and protects students from being
unnecessarily removed from an environment containing non-disabled students
4. Define the following terms.
a. Child with a disability includes a child having mental retardation, a hearing
impairment, a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment, a serious
emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury,
an other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or
multiple disabilities and who is in need of special education and related services
b. Special Education is instruction designed at no cost to the parents, to meet the
unique needs of a child with a disability.
c. Related Services are any transportation and such developmental, corrective or
other supportive services required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from
special education. Some examples of related services include speech therapy
(speech-language pathology), physical and occupational therapy, counseling
services, and recreation.
d. Transition Services are coordinated sets of activities for children with disabilities
and are designed as a results-oriented process based on the individual child’s
needs. Some examples of transition services are special education (if provided as
specially designed instruction), or a related service.
5. What are the top 10 basics of special education? 1) to identify the child possibly needing
special education and related services; 2) evaluate the child; 3) decide if the child is
eligible as defined by IDEA; 4) find child eligible; 5) schedule to meet within 30 days to
write up an IEP for the child; 6) hold IEP meeting and write IEP; 7) provide services as
stated in IEP; 8) measure progress and report to parents; 9) review IEP; and 10) reevaluate
the child at least every three years.
6. What ages are covered with IDEA? Discretionary services are covered from birth to three
years of age; free, appropriate public education is provided at ages three to five and
special education services are provided to any qualified school aged student.
7. The 13 handicapping conditions covered by IDEA include (1) autism, (2) deaf-blindness,
(3) deafness, (4) emotional disturbance, (5) hearing impairment, (6) mental retardation,
(7) multiple disabilities, (8) orthopedic impairment, (9) other health impairments, (10)
specific learning disabilities, (11) speech or language, (12) traumatic brain injury, and (13)
visual impairment including blindness.
8. The seven levels of the continuum of services are general education classroom, general
education classroom with consultative services, general education classroom with
instruction co-teaching or other services, general education classroom with resource
room services, full time special education classroom, special school, special facilities,
and nonpublic school (day or residential). Most Students with Disabilities are served in the
public school with non-disabled peers.
9. Three strategies for communicating effectively in IEP meetings with parents and
colleagues include (1) using active listening techniques such as verbal and nonverbal
actions, (2)finding a common goal by restating and summarizing conversations to
identify common goals and turning conversations into productive problem solving
toward goal attainment, (3) brainstorming possible solutions without passing judgment,
and (4) following up to monitor progress by summarizing the entire conversation positively
and state goals, solution, evaluation and target dates.
10. The seven key members of the IEP Team are the parents, the child, an LEA (Local
education agency) representative, a child’s regular education teacher, the child’s
special education teacher, someone who can explain the tests the child took, and any
one else invited by parents or school.
11. The nine key components that must be included in an IEP are (1) the child’s present level
of performance, (2) annual goals, (3) how the school will measure progress on the IEP
goals, (4) special education services and related services the child will receive, (5) the
amount of time the child will not be in regular education classes, (6) accommodations or
supports teachers will need to teach child, (7) the starting date, amount, frequency,
location, and duration of IEP services, (8) planning for life after high school (for students
age 14 and older), and (9) when the school will provide progress on the IEP goals.
12. Three benefits of Early Intervening services are (1)to ensure that all students receive highquality instruction in the general education classroom, (2) to promote immediate
intervention as soon as students’ reading problems are revealed, and (3) to reduce
inappropriate referrals and placements in special education for students with learning
disabilities.
13. Early Intervening Services is children grades K-12, with an emphasis on K-3. It is aimed at
catching problems early and identifying students who struggle –especially with reading
and math.
14. The RtI mandate in IDEA 2004 changed Wisconsin’s regulations in determining student
eligibility for Specific Learning disabilities by sorting out whether a struggling child is really
a “child with disabilities” as defined by IDEA or just requiring more intensive regular
education strategies to succeed in school.
15. The basic components of all RtI approaches include universal screening and three tiers of
interventions. The first level of assistance is a class or school-wide intervention involving all
students, whether or not they are struggling. The second tier requires a targeted
approach where students might receive additional instruction or replacement instruction
to help them in areas where they struggle. The third and most intensive tier reaches out
to a small percentage of students and provides them with even more individualized
instruction and special services in order to become successful readers.
16. Two rights parents have related to their child’s school records include access to the
records and ability to amend records.
17. A procedural safeguards notice is a comprehensive written notice in the parents’ native
language and it must be provided to parents once a year.
18. Three items that could possibly be included in procedural safeguards notices are
Independent Education Evaluation (IEE), prior written notice, and parental consent. A
fourth is access to educational records.
19. The eight areas that are evaluated are: health, vision, hearing, social/emotional status,
communicative status, motor abilities, general intelligence, and academic performance.
20. The three principles of UDL are 1) representation, or presenting information in multiple
formats, 2) action and expression, which allows students alternative ways to demonstrate
their learning, and 3) engagement, or using a variety of ways to stimulate students’
interests.
The Inclusive Classroom: Chapters 3
A. The seven levels of the continuum of services are general education classroom, general
education classroom with consultative services, general education classroom with instruction
co-teaching or other services, general education classroom with resource room services, fulltime special education classroom, special school, special facilities, nonpublic school (day or
residential). Most students with disabilities are served in the public school with their non-disabled
peers in Levels 1 through 5
B. The four higher-incidence disabilities are speech or language impairments, learning
disabilities, mild or moderate intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbance. The most
common is a learning disability
C. Three speech disorders are voice, articulation, and fluency disorders. Voice disorders involve
volume, pitch, and flexibility, and quality of voice. Articulation disorders represent the largest
subgroup and include difficulty pronouncing words, including omissions, additions, distortions,
and substitutions. Fluency disorders are interruptions in the natural flow or rhythm of speech, for
example stuttering.
D. A language disorder is a problem in using or comprehending language, either expressive or
receptive and can include phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, or pragmatics.
E. Seven characteristics of students with learning disabilities are as follows: (1) Language and
literacy: Difficulties with both expressive and receptive language, including discriminating
between sounds, misunderstanding grammar, understanding subtleties in language, and “wordfinding” abilities or retrieving appropriate words when needed; (2) Mathematics: Exhibit
difficulties in learning math facts, rules, procedures, or concepts, and in personal math ex.
managing money; (3) Attention and Memory: Difficulties with sustaining attention to tasks,
deficits in both long and short-term memory, and working memory for verbal information, the
ability to hold information while simultaneously processing the same or other information; (4)
Thinking and Reasoning: Take longer than others to learn new tasks and information, difficulties
organizing thinking, drawing conclusions, over-rigidity in thinking, and general lack of effective
strategies for solving problems; (5) Metacognitive Abilities, Including Study Skills, Learning
Strategies, and Organizational Strategies: Lack metacognitive skills necessary to become
successful, self-sufficient learners; may appear disorganized and lack an understanding of what
to do or how to proceed with academic tasks or assignments; (6) Social-Emotional Functioning:
Social skill difficulties, low self-esteem, low self-awareness and self-perception, low self-concept,
weak self-confidence, anxiety, or depression; and (7) Generalization and Application: Difficulty
generalizing learned information to novel situations. Some may master content-area material
but fail to apply that information to the general education classroom or real-life settings.
F. Four strategies for adapting a classroom for students with learning disabilities include: (1)
Adapt the Physical Environment: Rearrange seating near students or personnel who can help in
the classroom and focus attention. Arrange desks so that they face away from any distraction.
Model organization of the physical environment by designating specific locations for books,
coats, etc. Structure daily classroom routines and schedules. (2) Adapt Instructional Materials:
Adapt materials to reduce literacy requirements whenever possible. Use assistive technology
applications. Teach students to adapt their own materials and study skills for classroom learning.
(3) Adapt Instruction: Maximize students engagement, monitor students’ progress toward goals,
make expectations explicit, question students frequently, and ask students to rephrase
information in their own words to monitor understanding. Use peer tutors and provide clear
directions and frequent reminders for assignments. Use research-based literacy practices. (4)
Adapt Evaluation Procedures: Adapt test formats so that they are easy to understand. Practice
taking tests with students and teach test-taking skills. Read test items to students with learning
disabilities when this doesn’t violate test standardization. Consider alternatives like performance
assessment and portfolio assessment rather than traditional test formats. Use frequent formative
evaluation to evaluate regular progress toward meeting objectives.
G. Mental retardation is defined as a disability characterized by the significant limitations both in
intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and
practical adaptive skills. The definition also includes five assumptions to be used in applying the
definition:(1) Consideration of the context of community, peers, and culture, (2) Consideration of
cultural and linguistic diversity, (3) Consideration of strengths and weaknesses, (4) The necessity
of developing a profile of needed supports, and (5) The expectation that the individual’s
functioning will improve over time with appropriate supports.
H. List and describe the four characteristics of students with intellectual disabilities.
Intellectual and Cognitive Functioning: Individuals will usually function substantially below their
age peers in related areas, including metacognitive abilities, memory, attention, thinking, and
problem solving abilities. They may also have difficulty generalizing learned information to novel
information.
Social and Adaptive Behavior: Individuals will have less-well-developed adaptive behaviors
than their peers including using the telephone or dressing appropriately. They may appear
socially immature, may struggle making and maintaining friends, and may be easily frustrated.
Language: Both receptive and expressive language are problem areas for individuals with
intellectual disabilities. Communication skills are typically less well-developed and can result in
misunderstandings of directions and there may be difficulty with comprehension of abstract
vocabulary and concepts.
Academic Skills: There may be a difficulty in learning the basic skills of reading, writing, and
mathematics. The rate of learning new information may be very slow and the student may
require repetition and the use of concrete examples.
I. Three characteristics of students with emotional/behavioral disorders are as follows: (1) Social
Behavior: Most students have problems with their social behavior, often manifested as less
mature or inappropriate social skills. This can include aggressive behavior to the point of causing
harm to others while interacting, not responding appropriately to discipline, and appearing
oblivious to class and school rules. Others may seem socially isolated and exhibit symptoms of
depression. Some may inappropriately attribute their behavior or social problems to causes
outside of themselves. (2) Affective Characteristics: Some students with emotional disturbances
may have affective disorders like depression, severe anxiety, phobias, and psychosomatic
disorders. (3) Academic Characteristics: Students may function two or more years below grade
level in reading, math, writing, and spelling. Others may exhibit deficiencies in metacognitive
skills, memory skills, and attention leading to underachievement in these academic areas.
J. Three ways you could adapt your teaching style for working with students with
emotional/behavioral disorders include (1) illustrating the rules with clear examples and specify
rewards for following rules and consequences if rules are not followed, (2) be consistent when
enforcing rules, but make sure the overall classroom atmosphere is positive, and (3) maintain a
positive relationship with students with emotional disabilities by using positive comments
frequently to reinforce good behavior.