OAE (043)

1. Question 1 · Understanding Students with Disabilities

   An evaluation team is considering a specific learning disability for a third grader who reads well below grade level. The student moved to the district four months ago after attending three schools in two years and missing many days of reading instruction. Which question must the team answer before determining eligibility?
   • A.Whether the student's parents have a documented history of reading difficulty or dyslexia
   • B.Whether the student's full-scale IQ score falls at least two standard deviations below the mean
   • C.Whether the reading difficulty is primarily the result of a lack of appropriate instruction
   • D.Whether the student has already received a medical diagnosis of dyslexia from a physician
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Whether the reading difficulty is primarily the result of a lack of appropriate instruction

   Under IDEA, a team may not identify a specific learning disability if the determining factor is a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, so the student's interrupted schooling must be ruled out first. An IQ two standard deviations below the mean relates to intellectual disability, not SLD, and IDEA does not require a medical diagnosis or family history for eligibility.

2. Question 2 · Assessment and Program Planning

   A third-grade intervention specialist wants to know whether a student has mastered each of the grade-level standards for adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators, so she can decide which skills to reteach. Which type of assessment would be MOST appropriate for this purpose?
   • A.A cognitive ability test that yields a full-scale standard score and index scores
   • B.An adaptive behavior rating scale completed by the parent and teacher
   • C.A criterion-referenced test that reports performance on each targeted standard
   • D.A norm-referenced achievement battery that reports age-based percentile ranks
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. A criterion-referenced test that reports performance on each targeted standard

   A criterion-referenced test compares the student's performance with a fixed standard of mastery, so it shows exactly which skills are and are not yet mastered. A norm-referenced achievement battery compares the student with peers and gives a percentile rank, which does not identify which specific fraction skills need reteaching.

3. Question 3 · Learning Environments and Instructional Practices

   During the first week of school, an intervention specialist is setting up expectations in a resource room that serves students with emotional disturbance and specific learning disabilities. Which approach to classroom rules is MOST likely to prevent problem behavior?
   • A.State three to five rules positively, teach each one with examples and practice, and acknowledge students who follow them
   • B.Have each student sign a behavior contract listing all class rules on the first day and send a copy home for parents to sign
   • C.Review the rules aloud on the first day and then enforce them consistently with a three-warning system before any consequence
   • D.Post a detailed list of prohibited behaviors, each paired with its consequence, so students know exactly where the limits are
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. State three to five rules positively, teach each one with examples and practice, and acknowledge students who follow them

   Proactive classroom management relies on a small number of positively stated expectations that are explicitly taught, practiced, and reinforced. A list of prohibited behaviors with consequences tells students what not to do but never teaches the expected behavior. Simply reviewing rules once and relying on warnings is reactive rather than preventive.

4. Question 4 · Learning Environments and Instructional Practices

   During independent work, a sixth grader with an emotional disturbance begins tapping his pencil, glancing around the room, and sighing loudly. He has not yet made verbal threats or left his seat. According to the acting-out cycle, which response by the intervention specialist is MOST appropriate at this point?
   • A.Call the crisis team to the room so they are available if needed
   • B.Quietly offer him a brief break or a choice of where to complete the task
   • C.Remind him privately of the consequence for disrupting the class again
   • D.Ignore the behavior completely and wait to see whether he finishes the assignment
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. Quietly offer him a brief break or a choice of where to complete the task

   Pencil tapping, darting eyes, and sighing are signs of the agitation phase, when supportive, low-demand responses such as offering a break or a choice can interrupt escalation. Warning about consequences at this stage often pushes the student into acceleration, and calling a crisis team is premature because no unsafe behavior has occurred.

5. Question 5 · Foundations and Professional Practice

   A seventh grader with an emotional disturbance has already been suspended for 9 school days this year for separate incidents of verbal aggression. After another similar incident, the principal proposes a 3-day out-of-school suspension. If the district decides the removals form a pattern, what must happen within 10 school days of that decision?
   • A.The district, parent, and relevant IEP team members must hold a manifestation determination review
   • B.The IEP team must complete a full reevaluation to confirm the student’s continued eligibility for special education
   • C.The district must convene an expedited due process hearing to approve the change of placement
   • D.The student must be placed in an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 school days
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. The district, parent, and relevant IEP team members must hold a manifestation determination review

   A pattern of removals totaling more than 10 school days is a change of placement, which triggers a manifestation determination review within 10 school days. An interim alternative setting for up to 45 school days applies only to weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury. A reevaluation and an expedited hearing are not required steps for this decision.

6. Question 6 · Understanding Students with Disabilities

   A ninth grader has repeatedly skipped class, vandalized property, and been involved in fights with peers he sees as rivals. He has close friends, shows no signs of depression or anxiety, and follows rules when it suits him. Which statement about emotional disturbance eligibility is most accurate?
   • A.The student qualifies if a behavior rating scale places his conduct in the clinical range
   • B.The student qualifies because the behavior has continued over a long period of time
   • C.The student qualifies because his conduct problems violate the school's code of conduct
   • D.Social maladjustment alone does not qualify; the team must find a defining ED characteristic
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. Social maladjustment alone does not qualify; the team must find a defining ED characteristic

   IDEA's definition of emotional disturbance excludes children who are socially maladjusted unless they also show one or more defining characteristics, such as pervasive unhappiness or inappropriate behavior or feelings under normal circumstances, to a marked degree and over a long period. Duration, code-of-conduct violations, or a rating scale result alone do not establish eligibility.

7. Question 7 · Assessment and Program Planning

   In September, an elementary school gives a brief reading measure to every student in kindergarten through third grade and flags those scoring below a benchmark for additional support. What is the PRIMARY purpose of this assessment?
   • A.To diagnose the specific phonological skills each student lacks
   • B.To identify students who may be at risk and need closer monitoring or intervention
   • C.To determine which students are eligible for special education and related services
   • D.To assign final grades in reading for the first marking period
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. To identify students who may be at risk and need closer monitoring or intervention

   Universal screening is a brief assessment given to all students to identify those who may be at risk and need further assessment, monitoring, or intervention within a multi-tiered system. It does not establish eligibility for special education, and its brevity means it does not diagnose specific skill deficits.

8. Question 8 · Learning Environments and Instructional Practices

   A third grader with a speech or language impairment calls out during lessons, and ABC data show that the teacher responds to each call-out with a reprimand. The team begins planned ignoring of call-outs while praising hand raising. During the first week, call-outs increase sharply. How should the team interpret this?
   • A.It shows the reinforcer for hand raising is too weak, so the team should switch to tangible rewards
   • B.It is likely an extinction burst, so staff should continue the plan and keep collecting data
   • C.It indicates that planned ignoring is harmful, so the teacher should return to reprimanding call-outs
   • D.It shows the behavior is not maintained by attention, so the team should conduct a new FBA right away
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. It is likely an extinction burst, so staff should continue the plan and keep collecting data

   When a previously reinforced behavior no longer produces reinforcement, a temporary increase called an extinction burst is common and predictable. Returning to reprimands at this point would reinforce the higher rate of call-outs. One week of increased behavior during extinction is not evidence that the attention hypothesis was wrong.

9. Question 9 · Learning Environments and Instructional Practices

   A ninth grader argues loudly when asked to put away his phone, moves closer to the teacher, and says, "Make me." Which response is MOST likely to prevent further escalation?
   • A.Take the phone from his hand so that the confrontation ends as quickly as possible
   • B.State the expectation briefly and calmly, offer two choices, and step back
   • C.Restate the rule firmly and wait in front of him until he complies
   • D.Remind him loudly that the whole class is watching how he behaves
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. State the expectation briefly and calmly, offer two choices, and step back

   In the acceleration phase, the adult should avoid power struggles by using a calm, brief statement, offering limited choices, and giving physical space. Standing over the student, drawing an audience, or grabbing the phone intensifies confrontation and can push the student to the peak.

10. Question 10 · Foundations and Professional Practice

    Parents file for due process because they disagree with the district’s proposal to move their son from a general education classroom with resource support to a separate classroom. While the hearing is pending, where must the student be educated, absent agreement otherwise?
    • A.In the separate classroom the district proposed until the hearing officer rules
    • B.At home with district-provided tutoring services, since his placement is formally in dispute
    • C.In his current educational placement until the proceedings end
    • D.In an interim alternative setting chosen by the IEP team for up to 45 school days
    Show answer and explanation

    Answer: C. In his current educational placement until the proceedings end

    The stay-put provision requires that the child remain in the current educational placement during due process unless the parents and district agree otherwise, a protection the Supreme Court enforced in Honig v. Doe. The district cannot implement its proposed change while the dispute is pending. Interim alternative settings apply only in specific discipline situations.

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