Teachers' Professional License – Subject Test: Special Education (Learning Disabilities): free practice test

Practice question Unit: General Principles of Special Education

1. A4, then 2, then 3, then 1

   Special schools came after institutional care, not before, and full inclusion is the latest stage, not one that precedes special classes.

2. B1, then 2, then 4, then 3

   Special classes in regular schools appeared after special schools, so they do not precede institutional care.

3. C2, then 4, then 1, then 3 ✓ Correct answer

   This is the sequence: institutional care first, then special schools and institutes, then special classes inside regular schools, then full inclusion.

4. D2, then 1, then 4, then 3

   Special schools and institutes preceded special classes in regular schools in the historical sequence.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.1.1 (philosophy, concepts, policies and foundations of special education), indicator 2, p. 8

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Practice question Unit: General Principles of Special Education

1. APerinatal, then prenatal, then postnatal

   This order swaps the first two: alcohol exposure precedes birth, and the cord wrapping occurred during birth.

2. BPrenatal, then perinatal, then postnatal ✓ Correct answer

   Alcohol acts on the fetus in the womb, the oxygen deprivation happened at birth, and meningitis struck after birth.

3. CPrenatal, then postnatal, then perinatal

   This order swaps the last two: the cord wrapping occurred during birth, and meningitis at 18 months came after.

4. DPostnatal, then perinatal, then prenatal

   This order is fully reversed; meningitis at 18 months comes after birth, not before.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.1.2 (general causes of disability, developmental characteristics and individual differences), indicator 1, p. 8

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Practice question Unit: Planning Instruction in Special Education

1. AThe first practises inclusive education and the second placement-only integration because the student in the first needs no extra support from the school

   The student in the first school adapts alone without support, which is not inclusion.

2. BBoth practise inclusive education because the student is in the general class in both cases

   Presence in the class alone is not enough; teaching and environment must adapt.

3. CThe first practises placement-only integration where the student adapts to the class; the second inclusive education where the class adapts ✓ Correct answer

   The key difference is that inclusion changes the school and class, while placement-only integration asks the student to change.

4. DBoth practise placement-only integration because inclusive education is only possible in dedicated schools

   Inclusive education is achieved in general schools when their practices adapt.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.1.6 (the concept of inclusive education and its applications), indicator 1, p. 9

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Practice question Unit: Motivating and Supporting Learning in Special Education

1. AThe family is a member of the first team only, and the second team involves it in no decision about the student

   Family involvement does not decide the team type; either can include the family.

2. BThe first is for early intervention only, and the second is for secondary and transition stages only

   Both styles are used across several age stages and are not tied to one stage.

3. CSpecialists in the first work separately; in the second they meet to build a joint plan ✓ Correct answer

   Correct: coordination, sharing results, and a unified plan distinguish the interdisciplinary team from the separate work in a multidisciplinary one.

4. DThe first is limited to teachers, while the second includes only medical specialists with no teachers

   Membership is not the distinguishing criterion; the difference is in how members work and communicate.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.1.8 (roles of consultation, teamwork and the team in special education), indicator 2, p. 10

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Practice question Unit: General Principles of Learning Disabilities

1. AOrton's work on reading, then Broca's studies of language loss, then Kirk's term, then Law 94-142

   Incorrect. Broca's studies came decades before Orton's work.

2. BBroca's studies of language loss, then Kirk's term, then Orton's work on reading, then Law 94-142

   Incorrect. Orton's work came before Kirk's term, which appeared in 1963.

3. CBroca's studies of language loss, then Orton's work on reading, then Law 94-142, then Kirk's term

   Incorrect. Law 94-142 was passed in 1975, after Kirk's term and not before it.

4. DBroca's studies of language loss, then Orton's work on reading, then Kirk's term, then Law 94-142 ✓ Correct answer

   Correct. Broca in the 1860s, Orton in the 1920s and 1930s, Kirk's term in 1963, and the law in 1975.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.2.11 (general foundations of the learning disabilities field), indicator 1, p. 11

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Practice question Unit: General Principles of Learning Disabilities

1. AA general cognitive weakness reflected in all school subjects

   His math is average and his IQ typical, which does not support a general weakness.

2. BA normal pattern because achievement always follows IQ

   If that held, reading and math would be similar; the gap here is far larger than expected.

3. CEvidence of low motivation because his IQ is typical

   Motivation alone does not explain a gap confined to reading while math stays average.

4. DIntra-individual variation: typical ability with a specific weakness in reading ✓ Correct answer

   Typical IQ and average math exclude a general weakness and point to a difficulty in one specific area.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.2.12 (general characteristics of students with learning disabilities), indicator 1, p. 11

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Practice question Unit: Planning Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities

1. APositive reinforcement by adding a reward

   Nothing was added for the student; part of his homework was taken away.

2. BNegative reinforcement by removing a demand ✓ Correct answer

   Correct: an unwanted stimulus was removed after the behavior and the behavior became more likely, which is negative reinforcement.

3. CPunishment by removing a desired stimulus

   The behavior increased rather than decreased, and punishment reduces behavior even when it removes a desired stimulus.

4. DExtinction by withholding any response from the teacher

   Extinction means ceasing to reinforce a previously reinforced behavior, but here a consequence followed the behavior.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.2.14 (teaching methods specific to learning disabilities), indicator 1, p. 12

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Practice question Unit: Planning Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities

1. AGoals limited to first-grade skills until he masters them all before he is exposed to any of the unit's content.

   It keeps him away from the curriculum content for a long time and ignores the option of support during the unit.

2. BGoals for multiplication facts and place value taught alongside the unit, with a multiplication chart as support for reaching its content. ✓ Correct answer

   It combines remediation of the missing prerequisite skills with access to the unit's own content.

3. CThe unit's goals in full as they appear in the book, giving the student extra time without addressing the missing skills.

   Extra time alone does not fix the missing prerequisites, so the goal stays out of reach.

4. DNew goals in measurement and geometry replacing the unit, because the student has not mastered multiplication and the content does not suit him.

   It swaps the content for other content that does not address the same missing skills.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.2.15 (designing integrated learning programmes in learning disabilities), indicator 2, p. 12

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Practice question Unit: Motivating and Supporting Learners with Learning Disabilities

1. AKeep varying: drawing first, then link it to the number sentence ✓ Correct answer

   He draws on his visual strength first, then the drawing is linked to the number sentence so he moves toward the abstract.

2. BDropping the story and the number sentence from the coming presentations

   Dropping them deprives other students of useful routes and keeps this student from moving to the abstract.

3. CExempting him from word problems permanently

   Exemption stops his learning; the need is to adapt the presentation, not drop the skill.

4. DRepeating the story louder and more slowly

   The story did not work for him and repeating it in the same form adds no new channel.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.2.16 (creating learning opportunities for students with learning disabilities), indicator 1, p. 13

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Practice question Unit: Motivating and Supporting Learners with Learning Disabilities

1. AShowing all the division steps on the board and leaving him to practise at home

   Showing and sending home does not check the prerequisites, so he may fail for earlier reasons.

2. BRelying on last term's test result to decide whether he is ready to move on

   An old test result does not reflect his current level in the skills division depends on.

3. CBreaking the lesson into small steps without looking at his earlier arithmetic skills

   Breaking the lesson down helps, but by itself it does not reveal whether he has mastered the prerequisites.

4. DChecking that he has mastered the multiplication and subtraction that division relies on and filling any gaps ✓ Correct answer

   Long division requires earlier skills, and checking them ensures the new skill rests on a solid base.

Reference: ETEC Learning Disabilities Teacher Standards (2020), Standard 6.13.2.17 (Reinforcing learning for students with learning disabilities), indicator 1, p. 13

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