SPED 5313
Week 3: Case Study Review
Assessment and Evaluation in Special Education
Comprehensive Practice Examination
50 Multiple-Choice Questions
Date: April 22, 2026
Instructions: Select the single best answer for each question.
This examination covers legal foundations, psychometric principles,
data-based decision making, eligibility procedures, and professional ethics.
,Section 1: Legal and Ethical Foundations of Assessment
Question 1. Under IDEA's mandate for a non-discriminatory evaluation, which of the following is a required
procedural element that local educational agencies (LEAs) must ensure when conducting an initial evaluation to
determine a child's eligibility for special education services?
A. The evaluation must be completed within 30 calendar days of receiving parental referral for services,
regardless of consent timelines or procedural safeguard requirements.
B. A single standardized assessment instrument with adequate reliability coefficients (.80 or above) is
sufficient to determine eligibility across all disability categories.
C. The evaluating professional must hold certification exclusively in clinical psychology rather than school
psychology to ensure independence from the LEA.
D. Evaluation materials and procedures must be provided and administered in the child's native
language or other mode of communication, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.
Question 2. Which of the following accurately describes a key distinction between the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) and IDEA's procedural safeguards regarding parental access to educational records?
A. FERPA grants parents the right to access educational records within 45 days, while IDEA requires
that copies of evaluation reports be provided to parents at least 5 school days before an ARD
committee meeting in Texas.
B. FERPA permits schools to disclose a student's personally identifiable information (PII) to any school
personnel without parental consent, while IDEA requires written consent for all disclosures.
C. IDEA allows parents to amend educational records at any time without school review, whereas FERPA
requires a formal hearing before amendments can be made.
D. FERPA protections expire when a student turns 18, while IDEA procedural safeguards automatically
extend the same rights to the student regardless of competency determinations.
Question 3. According to the APA Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014), with provisions
reinforced under the 2026 Standards revision, which standard most directly addresses a test administrator's
obligation when using a cognitive assessment that was normed on a predominantly White, English-speaking
population to evaluate a culturally and linguistically diverse student?
A. Standard 3.5, which requires documentation of test-taker demographic characteristics and testing
conditions for each administration session.
B. Standard 10.8, which mandates that test users provide accommodations for examinees with disabilities
without altering the construct being measured.
C. Standard 9.12, which requires evidence that test score meaning and interpretation are comparable
across relevant subgroups whenever a test is used for high-stakes decisions involving linguistically
diverse populations.
D. Standard 7.6, which specifies that test developers must provide multiple parallel forms with equivalent
difficulty levels for repeated administrations.
Question 4. Dr. Patel, a licensed specialist in school psychology (LSSP) at a Texas LEA, has completed a
comprehensive evaluation report for a 3rd-grade student referred for a suspected specific learning disability in
reading. A general education teacher who works with the student asks Dr. Patel to share the cognitive and
achievement test scores before the scheduled ARD committee meeting, stating it will help her prepare
differentiated instruction plans. The parent has not yet received the evaluation results. What is the most
appropriate action for Dr. Patel to take?
, A. Provide the teacher with a written summary of instructional recommendations derived from the
evaluation without including actual scores, since this does not constitute sharing personally identifiable
information.
B. Share the scores orally with the teacher but request that they not be documented in any written form until
after the parent has received the full report.
C. Decline the teacher's request and explain that evaluation results must first be shared with the
parent in accordance with IDEA procedural safeguards and Texas Education Code provisions,
typically at least 5 school days before the ARD meeting.
D. Share the full report with the teacher immediately, since educators who provide direct services to the
student are considered to have a legitimate educational interest under FERPA.
Question 5. Marco is a 10-year-old student who relocated to a Texas school district from Mexico 18 months ago.
His teacher has referred him for a special education evaluation due to persistent academic difficulties in reading
and math. The campus bilingual education program has documented his English language proficiency (ELP) as
Level 2 (Beginning) on the TELPAS, and his native Spanish literacy skills are at grade level per informal
assessments. The evaluation team is planning the assessment battery. Which approach best aligns with IDEA's
non-discriminatory evaluation mandate, the 2026 IDEA emphasis on culturally responsive assessment, and Texas
Education Agency (TEA) guidance?
A. Administer all cognitive and achievement assessments in English using standardized tests, since Marco
has been enrolled in a U.S. school for 18 months and has had sufficient exposure to English for valid
assessment.
B. Delay the evaluation entirely until Marco reaches Level 4 (Advanced High) on the TELPAS, as
evaluating a student with limited English proficiency violates the exclusionary criteria for special education
eligibility.
C. Administer cognitive assessments in Spanish (if validated for use with Marco's regional/dialectal
background), use bilingual or nonverbal measures where appropriate, assess both English and
Spanish literacy and language proficiency, and document that Marco's difficulties are not solely
attributable to limited English proficiency.
D. Use a single nonverbal cognitive assessment (e.g., UNIT-2) and skip achievement testing entirely,
relying solely on classroom observation data and teacher ratings to determine eligibility.
Question 6. Dr. Thompson, a licensed specialist in school psychology (LSSP) at a Texas elementary school,
administered the WISC-V to a 7-year-old student as part of a comprehensive evaluation for a suspected
intellectual disability. The following week, the student's parent calls Dr. Thompson directly and asks: 'Can you
just tell me over the phone whether my child has an intellectual disability? The ARD meeting isn't for three
weeks, and I'm really anxious.' What is the most ethically and legally appropriate response?
A. Provide the parent with the Full Scale IQ score and explain that this single score is the primary
determinant of intellectual disability eligibility, since IDEA requires a significant discrepancy between
cognitive ability and achievement.
B. Decline to share any information and direct the parent to file a formal written request through the
district's special education department, since only the ARD committee chair is authorized to communicate
evaluation findings.
C. Inform the parent that formal evaluation results must be shared in a structured setting - ideally at
the ARD committee meeting or a prior parent conference - so that results can be interpreted within
the full context of the multi-factored evaluation, and offer to expedite the meeting if the parent's
schedule allows.
D. Share the IQ score over the phone but withhold interpretation or eligibility conclusions, as providing raw
data without analysis does not constitute a formal disclosure of results.
Page 1
Week 3: Case Study Review
Assessment and Evaluation in Special Education
Comprehensive Practice Examination
50 Multiple-Choice Questions
Date: April 22, 2026
Instructions: Select the single best answer for each question.
This examination covers legal foundations, psychometric principles,
data-based decision making, eligibility procedures, and professional ethics.
,Section 1: Legal and Ethical Foundations of Assessment
Question 1. Under IDEA's mandate for a non-discriminatory evaluation, which of the following is a required
procedural element that local educational agencies (LEAs) must ensure when conducting an initial evaluation to
determine a child's eligibility for special education services?
A. The evaluation must be completed within 30 calendar days of receiving parental referral for services,
regardless of consent timelines or procedural safeguard requirements.
B. A single standardized assessment instrument with adequate reliability coefficients (.80 or above) is
sufficient to determine eligibility across all disability categories.
C. The evaluating professional must hold certification exclusively in clinical psychology rather than school
psychology to ensure independence from the LEA.
D. Evaluation materials and procedures must be provided and administered in the child's native
language or other mode of communication, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.
Question 2. Which of the following accurately describes a key distinction between the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) and IDEA's procedural safeguards regarding parental access to educational records?
A. FERPA grants parents the right to access educational records within 45 days, while IDEA requires
that copies of evaluation reports be provided to parents at least 5 school days before an ARD
committee meeting in Texas.
B. FERPA permits schools to disclose a student's personally identifiable information (PII) to any school
personnel without parental consent, while IDEA requires written consent for all disclosures.
C. IDEA allows parents to amend educational records at any time without school review, whereas FERPA
requires a formal hearing before amendments can be made.
D. FERPA protections expire when a student turns 18, while IDEA procedural safeguards automatically
extend the same rights to the student regardless of competency determinations.
Question 3. According to the APA Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014), with provisions
reinforced under the 2026 Standards revision, which standard most directly addresses a test administrator's
obligation when using a cognitive assessment that was normed on a predominantly White, English-speaking
population to evaluate a culturally and linguistically diverse student?
A. Standard 3.5, which requires documentation of test-taker demographic characteristics and testing
conditions for each administration session.
B. Standard 10.8, which mandates that test users provide accommodations for examinees with disabilities
without altering the construct being measured.
C. Standard 9.12, which requires evidence that test score meaning and interpretation are comparable
across relevant subgroups whenever a test is used for high-stakes decisions involving linguistically
diverse populations.
D. Standard 7.6, which specifies that test developers must provide multiple parallel forms with equivalent
difficulty levels for repeated administrations.
Question 4. Dr. Patel, a licensed specialist in school psychology (LSSP) at a Texas LEA, has completed a
comprehensive evaluation report for a 3rd-grade student referred for a suspected specific learning disability in
reading. A general education teacher who works with the student asks Dr. Patel to share the cognitive and
achievement test scores before the scheduled ARD committee meeting, stating it will help her prepare
differentiated instruction plans. The parent has not yet received the evaluation results. What is the most
appropriate action for Dr. Patel to take?
, A. Provide the teacher with a written summary of instructional recommendations derived from the
evaluation without including actual scores, since this does not constitute sharing personally identifiable
information.
B. Share the scores orally with the teacher but request that they not be documented in any written form until
after the parent has received the full report.
C. Decline the teacher's request and explain that evaluation results must first be shared with the
parent in accordance with IDEA procedural safeguards and Texas Education Code provisions,
typically at least 5 school days before the ARD meeting.
D. Share the full report with the teacher immediately, since educators who provide direct services to the
student are considered to have a legitimate educational interest under FERPA.
Question 5. Marco is a 10-year-old student who relocated to a Texas school district from Mexico 18 months ago.
His teacher has referred him for a special education evaluation due to persistent academic difficulties in reading
and math. The campus bilingual education program has documented his English language proficiency (ELP) as
Level 2 (Beginning) on the TELPAS, and his native Spanish literacy skills are at grade level per informal
assessments. The evaluation team is planning the assessment battery. Which approach best aligns with IDEA's
non-discriminatory evaluation mandate, the 2026 IDEA emphasis on culturally responsive assessment, and Texas
Education Agency (TEA) guidance?
A. Administer all cognitive and achievement assessments in English using standardized tests, since Marco
has been enrolled in a U.S. school for 18 months and has had sufficient exposure to English for valid
assessment.
B. Delay the evaluation entirely until Marco reaches Level 4 (Advanced High) on the TELPAS, as
evaluating a student with limited English proficiency violates the exclusionary criteria for special education
eligibility.
C. Administer cognitive assessments in Spanish (if validated for use with Marco's regional/dialectal
background), use bilingual or nonverbal measures where appropriate, assess both English and
Spanish literacy and language proficiency, and document that Marco's difficulties are not solely
attributable to limited English proficiency.
D. Use a single nonverbal cognitive assessment (e.g., UNIT-2) and skip achievement testing entirely,
relying solely on classroom observation data and teacher ratings to determine eligibility.
Question 6. Dr. Thompson, a licensed specialist in school psychology (LSSP) at a Texas elementary school,
administered the WISC-V to a 7-year-old student as part of a comprehensive evaluation for a suspected
intellectual disability. The following week, the student's parent calls Dr. Thompson directly and asks: 'Can you
just tell me over the phone whether my child has an intellectual disability? The ARD meeting isn't for three
weeks, and I'm really anxious.' What is the most ethically and legally appropriate response?
A. Provide the parent with the Full Scale IQ score and explain that this single score is the primary
determinant of intellectual disability eligibility, since IDEA requires a significant discrepancy between
cognitive ability and achievement.
B. Decline to share any information and direct the parent to file a formal written request through the
district's special education department, since only the ARD committee chair is authorized to communicate
evaluation findings.
C. Inform the parent that formal evaluation results must be shared in a structured setting - ideally at
the ARD committee meeting or a prior parent conference - so that results can be interpreted within
the full context of the multi-factored evaluation, and offer to expedite the meeting if the parent's
schedule allows.
D. Share the IQ score over the phone but withhold interpretation or eligibility conclusions, as providing raw
data without analysis does not constitute a formal disclosure of results.
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