TExES Special Education Specialist EC-12 (186)
TExES Special Education Specialist EC-12 (186) is a trademark of its owner, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse Test Treasure Publication or TTP Prep.
TExES Special Education Specialist EC-12 (186) is a trademark of its owner, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse Test Treasure Publication or TTP Prep.
10 sample questions for the TExES Special Education Specialist EC-12 (186), with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.
Sections covered on the exam: Legal & Ethical Guidelines, Knowledge of Learners, Assessment, Individualized Programs, Curriculum & Specialized Strategies, Effective Instruction, Behavior & Social-Emotional Support, Professional Collaboration and Responsibilities, Curriculum and Instructional Practices, Analysis and Response, Legal Guidelines and Knowledge of Learners, Professional Responsibilities, Assessment and Program Planning.
Question 1 · Legal & Ethical Guidelines
Amara, a fifth grader with an intellectual disability, has had the same three reading goals in her IEP for three consecutive years, and progress reports show minimal growth on each. At the annual ARD meeting, a committee member states that the IEP is legally sufficient because Amara receives “some benefit” from her services. Which legal standard should the special education teacher cite in response?
Answer: C. An IEP must be reasonably calculated to enable progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.
In Endrew F. v. Douglas County, the Supreme Court held that an IEP must be reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances, and it rejected a standard of merely more than trivial benefit. Goals repeated for three years with minimal growth signal that the program needs to change. Maximizing potential overstates the law, as Board of Education v. Rowley made clear, and grade-level advancement is the expectation the Court described for a child fully integrated in the regular classroom, not a rule for every child.
Question 2 · Knowledge of Learners
Refer to the scenario in the previous question. Which action would BEST strengthen a protective factor already present in Omar’s life?
Answer: B. Arranging a regular morning job with the librarian so that he starts each day with a trusted adult
A stable relationship with a caring adult is the most consistently identified protective factor for children under stress, and Omar already seeks out the librarian each morning. Making that contact predictable builds on a strength he has chosen. Sessions with a counselor he does not know may help later, but they start a new relationship instead of strengthening an existing one, and cutting his workload removes the routine and sense of competence that also support resilience.
Question 3 · Individualized Programs
A special education teacher is preparing draft recommendations for the initial IEP of Rosa, a kindergartner eligible under developmental delay whose needs are in expressive language and fine motor skills. The kindergarten teacher asks which classroom Rosa will be “placed in” so that she can plan. Which reply BEST reflects how placement should be considered?
Answer: C. Goals and services are drafted first; then general education with supports is considered before other settings
Placement is an individual decision made after the IEP’s goals and services are developed, and the ARD committee starts from the general education classroom with supplementary aids and services before considering more restrictive settings. Assigning a setting by eligibility category, or by what a program already offers, reverses that order.
Question 4 · Effective Instruction
Student Current group Exit tickets passed (last 4) Student 1 Reteach 4 of 4 Student 2 Reteach 4 of 4 Student 3 Reteach 1 of 4 Student 4 Extension 1 of 4 Student 5 Extension 4 of 4 Ms. Lozano provides inclusion support in fifth-grade mathematics. At the start of the school year, the teachers formed small groups from a screener, and the groups have not changed since. The table shows recent exit- ticket results on the current unit for five students. Which action is MOST appropriate?
Answer: C. Regroup the students by skill need using the exit-ticket data, and revisit the groups as new data come in
Small groups should be flexible: formed for a specific skill from current data and changed as students’ performance changes. Students 1 and 2 have passed all four exit tickets and no longer need reteaching, while Student 4 has passed one of four and does. Unit exit tickets are exactly the formative data that skill groups should follow, so waiting for the next screener, or moving only Student 4 and then fixing the groups for the year, leaves students in groups that no longer match their needs.
Question 5 · Professional Collaboration and Responsibilities
Ms. Greer, a paraprofessional, supports three students with intellectual disabilities in a fourth-grade general education class. The special education teacher learns that Ms. Greer has been deciding on her own which assignments to shorten and has started introducing new mathematics concepts to the students in the hallway. Which action by the teacher is MOST appropriate?
Answer: D. Clarify that the teacher plans instruction and modifications, and give her written plans to carry out.
Paraprofessionals reinforce and support instruction under the direction and supervision of a certified teacher; designing instruction, deciding on modifications, and introducing new content are the teacher’s responsibilities. Approving her changes after the fact or training her to write lesson plans keeps the decisions with the paraprofessional, and handing her materials does not change the fact that initial instruction in new concepts belongs to the teacher.
Question 6 · Legal & Ethical Guidelines
Naveen, an eighth grader with an emotional disability, has been suspended for a total of 8 school days this year. After he shoves a classmate during an argument, the principal decides on a 5-day suspension. The district determines that the removals, all for similar behavior, form a pattern. No weapon, drugs, or serious bodily injury was involved. Which action is required?
Answer: C. Hold a manifestation determination review within 10 school days of the decision to remove him.
The new suspension brings Naveen’s removals to 13 school days in a pattern, which is a change of placement under IDEA even though no single removal exceeds 10 days. Within 10 school days of that decision, the district, parent, and relevant ARD committee members must decide whether the conduct was caused by or directly related to the disability or resulted from a failure to implement the IEP. A functional behavioral assessment follows a finding that the conduct was a manifestation; it does not replace or come before the review, and 30 calendar days is the timeline for the ARD meeting after an initial evaluation.
Question 7 · Knowledge of Learners
Graciela, a seventh grader with a specific learning disability, has experienced several family disruptions and often says, “Nothing I do makes a difference.” She is a skilled artist and is patient with younger children. Her special education teacher wants to strengthen factors associated with resilience. Which plan is MOST likely to do so?
Answer: B. Arranging for her to lead art activities for a kindergarten class and set her own weekly goals
Resilience is associated with a sense of competence, opportunities to contribute, and the belief that one’s actions matter. Using Graciela’s real strengths in a valued role and having her set and track goals gives her authentic experiences of mastery and control. Goals chosen by a teacher and rewards controlled by adults keep the direction outside her, and shortened assignments produce success without the effort that builds self-efficacy.
Question 8 · Individualized Programs
Cole, a twelfth grader with a specific learning disability in mathematics, has a postsecondary goal of enrolling in a community college welding program. Transition assessment data from his welding course show that he cannot read a tape measure to the nearest sixteenth of an inch or add fractional lengths, skills the college program expects of entering students. Which annual IEP goal would BEST support his postsecondary goal?
Answer: C. Cole will measure and add fractional lengths to the nearest sixteenth inch accurately on 4 of 5 shop tasks
Annual goals build the skills the student needs to reach the postsecondary goal, and the transition assessment identified a specific, teachable gap in measurement that the welding program requires. An algebra goal is measurable but does not address the gap the assessment found. A campus visit is a transition activity, not a skill to be mastered, and enrolling in the program restates the postsecondary goal itself.
Question 9 · Effective Instruction
Mr. Salinas provides inclusion support in a sixth-grade reading class of 28 students, five of whom have IEP goals in oral reading fluency. Students currently take turns reading one paragraph aloud while the class follows along, so each student reads aloud for about one minute per period. Which grouping strategy would BEST increase practice for the five students?
Answer: D. Structured peer tutoring in pairs, with partners taking turns reading aloud and correcting errors with a set procedure
In structured peer tutoring, every student reads aloud for roughly half of the practice time and receives immediate correction from a trained partner, which multiplies practice without removing anyone from the class. Round-robin reading at a separate table still gives each of the five students only a fraction of the time, and following along with a recording is listening, not oral reading practice.
Question 10 · Curriculum and Instructional Practices
An exit ticket in a co-taught sixth-grade mathematics class shows that 5 of 26 students, two of whom have IEPs, cannot yet find a common denominator, a prerequisite for tomorrow’s lesson. The other students are ready to move on. Which co-teaching model would BEST address this need at the start of tomorrow’s class?
Answer: B. Alternative teaching: one teacher briefly reteaches the five students while the other leads a warm-up
Alternative teaching lets one teacher give a small, flexible group short- term preteaching or reteaching while the other works with the rest of the class, so the five students gain the prerequisite without holding others back. Because the group is formed from current data and changes often, it does not single out students with IEPs.
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