Free Special Education: Foundational Knowledge Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Special Education: Foundational Knowledge practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1When planning kindergarten activities, how should a teacher interpret CDC's statement that a skill is a developmental milestone for age five?

   1. A.The skill is expected in every child on the fifth birthday.
   2. B.The skill is performed by at least three quarters of children by that age.Correct answer: B
   3. C.The skill indicates the average achievement of children with disabilities.
   4. D.The skill should be introduced only after a child reaches that age.

   Explanation: CDC states, "Developmental milestones are things most children (75% or more) can do by a certain age." Thus, the milestone describes a common developmental expectation, with individual variation; it is neither universal mastery nor a rule about when instruction may begin.

   Reference: CDC: Milestones by 5 Years — Ways to monitor milestones

2. 2A teacher wants to make a new problem-solving process visible to students who cannot yet perform it. Which instructional move most directly serves that purpose?

   1. A.Ask students to infer the process from a completed answer.
   2. B.Assign independent practice before describing the process.
   3. C.Read the answer aloud without showing the reasoning.
   4. D.Demonstrate the steps while explaining the thinking behind them.Correct answer: D

   Explanation: HLP 16 explains, "They model and scaffold processes" to enhance understanding and task completion. Demonstrating both steps and reasoning makes the process accessible. Showing an answer without reasoning, or requiring unprepared independent discovery, leaves the process hidden.

   Reference: High-Leverage Practices for Students with Disabilities: 2024 Second Edition Materials — HLP 16: Use explicit instruction

3. 3A team proposes determining special education eligibility solely from one low achievement-test score. Which IDEA evaluation requirement directly rules out this approach?

   1. A.Every evaluation must produce the same score on all tools.
   2. B.A single measure may not be the sole eligibility criterion.Correct answer: B
   3. C.Achievement tests may never be included in an evaluation.
   4. D.Eligibility must be based on the most recently administered test alone.

   Explanation: Section 300.304(b)(2) says, "Not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion" for disability determination and educational programming. The score may contribute to a broader evaluation, but it cannot independently establish eligibility. Multiple measures need not yield identical results.

   Reference: IDEA Regulations: Section 300.304—Evaluation procedures — 34 CFR 300.304(b)(2)

4. 4In IDEA's federal definitions, dyslexia is expressly included within which disability category?

   1. A.Orthopedic impairment
   2. B.Specific learning disabilityCorrect answer: B
   3. C.Emotional disturbance
   4. D.Hearing impairment

   Explanation: Section 300.8(c)(10)(i), defining specific learning disability, includes "dyslexia, and developmental aphasia." Dyslexia is included in that definition, rather than the other listed categories. Inclusion of a condition in a definition does not by itself replace the required evaluation and educational-need determination.

   Reference: IDEA Regulations: Section 300.8—Child with a disability — 34 CFR 300.8(c)(10)(i)

5. 5A kindergarten teacher asks a child to recount a familiar story with two connected events. Which developmental domain is the teacher observing most directly?

   1. A.Movement and physical development
   2. B.Social and emotional development
   3. C.Language and communication developmentCorrect answer: C
   4. D.Sensory and perceptual development

   Explanation: Under Language/Communication Milestones, CDC lists, "Tells a story she heard or made up with at least two events." Recounting connected events directly demonstrates narrative language rather than motor ability, social adjustment, or sensory perception.

   Reference: CDC: Milestones by 5 Years — What most children do by 5 years, Language/Communication Milestones

6. 6A student can now complete a writing-planning task accurately with less help than before. What adjustment is consistent with effective instructional scaffolding?

   1. A.Fade planning prompts as performance shows they are no longer needed.Correct answer: A
   2. B.Keep every prompt even when the student demonstrates independent planning.
   3. C.Withdraw all planning prompts before checking independent performance.
   4. D.Increase adult modeling as the student begins planning with less help.

   Explanation: HLP 15 says educators "gradually remove them" once scaffolded supports are no longer needed. Performance-based fading transfers responsibility to the student. Maintaining unnecessary prompts, withdrawing all support without checking readiness, or increasing modeling despite reduced need misaligns support with performance.

   Reference: High-Leverage Practices for Students with Disabilities: 2024 Second Edition Materials — HLP 15: Provide scaffolded supports

7. 7A child communicates most accurately in a language other than English, and assessment in that language is feasible. Which evaluation approach meets IDEA's language-access requirement?

   1. A.Use English exclusively because instruction occurs in an English-speaking school.
   2. B.Select the assessment language based only on staff convenience.
   3. C.Assume limited English performance accurately represents all abilities.
   4. D.Assess in the native language or communication mode most likely to yield accurate information.Correct answer: D

   Explanation: Section 300.304(c)(1)(ii) requires assessments in "the child’s native language or other mode of communication" and the form most likely to yield accurate information, unless clearly not feasible. Feasibility is established here. School language, convenience, or an unsupported assumption about English performance cannot replace that requirement.

   Reference: IDEA Regulations: Section 300.304—Evaluation procedures — 34 CFR 300.304(c)(1)(ii)

8. 8A team is considering IDEA's other health impairment category for a student with ADHD. Which additional feature belongs to the federal definition?

   1. A.The diagnosis alone establishes eligibility regardless of school functioning.
   2. B.The student must have an orthopedic impairment as well as ADHD.
   3. C.The student must demonstrate severe hearing loss during testing.
   4. D.Limited strength, vitality, or alertness must adversely affect educational performance.Correct answer: D

   Explanation: Section 300.8(c)(9) describes limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to health conditions including ADHD, and requires that it "Adversely affects a child’s educational performance." A diagnosis alone is not the complete definition, and orthopedic impairment or hearing loss is not an added requirement.

   Reference: IDEA Regulations: Section 300.8—Child with a disability — 34 CFR 300.8(c)(9)(i)–(ii)

9. 9Which observation provides direct evidence of the number-concept development that CDC identifies as typical by age five?

   1. A.The child counts aloud from one through ten.Correct answer: A
   2. B.The child buttons a shirt during arrival.
   3. C.The child takes turns during a playground game.
   4. D.The child describes two events from a story.

   Explanation: CDC includes "Counts to 10" under Cognitive Milestones (learning, thinking, problem-solving). Counting provides the requested evidence of number development; the other observations concern physical, social, and language skills.

   Reference: CDC: Milestones by 5 Years — What most children do by 5 years, Cognitive Milestones

10. 10After teaching a reading strategy, a teacher asks students to notice when their understanding breaks down and decide whether to reread. Which instructional goal does this activity primarily address?

    1. A.Increasing reading speed without checking meaning
    2. B.Developing independent monitoring of one's own comprehensionCorrect answer: B
    3. C.Replacing comprehension with memorization of the passage
    4. D.Making comprehension judgments solely the teacher's responsibility

    Explanation: HLP 14 includes the ability to "monitor one’s own thinking" in cognitive and metacognitive strategy instruction. Recognizing a breakdown and selecting a repair strategy develops self-regulation of comprehension. Speed alone, memorization alone, or dependence on teacher judgments does not serve that goal.

    Reference: High-Leverage Practices for Students with Disabilities: 2024 Second Edition Materials — HLP 14: Teach cognitive and metacognitive strategies