Practice Test Questions Flashcards
A school psychologist completed a multiday comprehensive assessment on a 12-year-old student initially referred for special education services. Student tested has a WISC full-scale standard score of 67 and an ABAS standard score of 73. The student wants to know about his performance and asks the psychologist to explain the results. What is best practice in this situation?
First, secure parent permission before discussing assessment findings with the student
Planned learning communities (PLCs) are helpful in developing staff skills. PLCs usually require staff members to meet at consistent, designated times to review, analyze, and discuss data. PLCs are drive by 3 primary questions. Which one is NOT one of those driving questions?
How will the data be collected and presented?
Noam Chomsky is known for what psychologic idea?
Humans have a predisposition to acquire language
A new school psychologist is assigned to an inner-city public school. The department leader gives the psychologist a new cognitive test to administer for which they have no formal training. Parents of the student have an advocate. The advocate is formally requesting that the new test be administered because it uses the latest norms and it is culturally sensitive. The new test is highly regarded and it would be effective for this case. What should the school psychologist do in this situation?
The psychologist can practice with the test first, then administer with supervision
A child who was recently tested with a well-known cognitive test battery had a full-scale standard score of 85. Student’s Vineland assessment from the teacher illustrated a standard score of 60, but Mom’s Vineland resulted in a standard score of 88, and Dad’s Vineland revealed a standard score of 79. The school psychologist determined the discrepancy between adaptive assessment scores is most likely due to:
The subjectivity and different perceptions of raters
What is the primary difference between achievement tests and cognitive tests?
Cognitive tests are typically used to provide reasons why a student is struggling
An optimal service delivery system is one that is aligned with MTSS supports. According to NASP, which one is NOT a key component of the Tier-1 level of the MTSS model?
The use of evidence-based interventions that align to the intensive needs of specific students
Projective tests (e.g., Rorschach, Draw-A-Person) are usually used for:
Gathering supplementary information about a student
Which brain structure is usually associated with emotions?
Amygdala
A school psychologist is asked to perform a social-emotional assessment on a 9-year-old student. While evaluating the student, the psychologist must remember various developmental norms. According to Erikson, children in second grade are negotiating which stage of development?
Industry versus inferiority
What does research state about the use of “learning styles” in designing intervention strategies to help support students?
Research has found small to negligible effects for learning styles
CRC refers to:
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
A school psychologist works in a community where many parents use illegal drugs. The psychologist is concerned about one particular elementary school they spend 2 days a week servicing. The school psychologist has heard students talk about drugs and wanting to use drugs. What is an effective intervention in this case?
Gather parental, school, and community support to raise awareness and address the drug problem at school
A school psychologist is asked to work on a committee to address equity issues in the building. Through the course of a needs assessment, it is determined that there is disproportionality in discipline procedures. African American students are disciplined at twice the rate of nonminority students, African American and Latino students are significantly behind in academics, and there is a lack of minority parent participation at the school across all groups.
The school psychologist is very cognizant of social determinants of mental health and would like to propose that leadership and stakeholders examine which of the following?
Whether the teachers are experienced and qualified in working with the demographics of the school
A school psychologist is conducting a school-wide presentation to increase teacher effectiveness. The presentation focuses on the importance of “engagement.” Which of the following is NOT a type of engagement?
Social
What is one of the most effective intervention strategies for early reading difficulties?
Phonologic interventions
When staff directly instruct students on the behavior they want to see at school and positively reinfornce that behavior while examining data to determine where when, and with whom misbehavior is occurring, the school has potential to reduce disciplinary practices. Which model does this describe?
Positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS)
An important role of school psychologists is to implement antibullying programs in schools. During a schoolwide training, the school psychologist tells staff that bullying is conceptualized as a type of which of the following?
Aggression that is characterized by a consistent abuse of power
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) corresponds with:
NASP Practice Model
An assistant principal wants the school psychologist to modify the school’s process to address students who draw pictures that depict self-harm and death. The psychologist adds to the formal suicide process which of the following actions when dealing with a student who has drawn very concerning pictures regarding suicide?
Notify the parents of this student and conduct a suicide evaluation
Students grieve loss and respond to crisis in many ways. Which of the following is NOT a variable for how one is impacted?
Quality of adult guidance on how long grieving should take
When implementing a crisis intervention for an off-campus suicide, the second step is to do which of the following?
Lend direct support to peers/friends of the deceased student
Research shows that providing children from low socioeconomic status (SES) communities with executive functioning intervention significantly impacts later academic success (Deer et al., 2020).
The school psychologist is in the process of evaluating the research. Which of the following should she NOT consider in evaluating the research?
The county where the research was conducted
The “stay-put” rule is implemented at what time?
When due process has started
Typically, nonverbal and novel problem-solving subtests on major cognitive assessments primarily evaluate the functioning of the:
Right hemisphere of the brain
High school students who have dysgraphia should be given what type of accommodation and/or modification on tests?
Multiple-choice tests
Which therapeutic method or therapy works best for selective mutism?
Stimulus fading (related to gradual desensitization techniques)
In regard to professional associations related to school psychology, which of the following statements is most valid?
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) is the primary accredidation body for the Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) credential
A student is referred to the school psychologist’s office because he consistently makes inappropriate comments and engages in disruptive behavior. What is the FIRST approach to addressing this problem?
Perform an FBA to determine the antecedent and consequence for the behavior so an intervention can be planned
According to many behaviorists, what are the major reasoning and motivations for a variety of common behaviors that school psychologists address within an educational setting?
Attention, affiliation, control
A seventh-grade female student has a speech impediment and poor social skills. By the second month of school, the student is teased by a group of girls to the point she becomes despondent. Several other students are aware of the teasing but do nothing about the situation. One day, the student writes a detailed note to her teacher that she will kill the teasing students if they do not stop with the bullying.
In this situation, the school psychologist MUST do which of the following?
Immediately notify the administration and the parents of the children who have been threatened
A seventh-grade female student has a speech impediment and poor social skills. By the second month of school, the student is teased by a group of girls to the point she becomes despondent. Several other students are aware of the teasing but do nothing about the situation. One day, the student writes a detailed note to her teacher that she will kill the teasing students if they do not stop with the bullying.
In this scenario, a school psychologist should also do which of the following?
Conduct a formal school-wide needs survey to improve school climate through tailored interventions and determine the extent of the bullying and harassment problem
A teacher resides in the community where he teaches. One evening, he sees one of his students at a store. The student has visible marks on his face and arms. The father of this child is known to be strict. In this situation, the teacher should do which of the following?
As a mandated reporter, the teacher has a duty to notify social services or law enforcement about the marks
When should a school psychologist suggest exploring more information regarding medication for ADHD to parents?
After assessments have been completed and there are indications of ADHD traits
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children:
Can cause learning disabilities and attention problems
A teacher asks the school psychologist for direct assistance regarding a disruptive student. The psychologist agrees to observe the child and discreetly sits in the class. The psychologist carefully observes what happens before, during, and after the targeted behavior. After several observations, it was determined that the student was acting out when the student was working with a specific peer. What type of evaluation was conducted to assist the teacher?
Functional behavioral assessment
A school psychologist reviews a journal article that describes several studies and experiments. The psychologist is specifically asked to discern the strongest correlation coefficient from the following. Which one depicts the strongest correlation?
-0.98
An experiment examines the impact background music has on learning. Two groups are formed: One group studies with soft classical background music, whereas the other group studies in a quiet area.
In the experiment, the music is considered the:
Independent variable
When a school psychologist assesses a student for special services, best practice suggests that the psychologist do which of the following?
Use both valid formal and informal assessments to base decisions
An educator teaches a student to employ a problem-solving method that reduces the number of options or alternatives to be considered. What type of problem-solving technique is this called?
A heuristic
During a structured interview for a Canadian-born student, the psychologist notices that the interviewee is well groomed and has a quick but polite sense of humor. Care must be taken that assessment results are not tainted by what psychologic phenomenon?
Halo effect
An administrator asks the school psychologist to analyze school-wide disaggregated data that may contribute to inequities. When examining the root causes of injustice and disparities, which one of the following should the psychologist carefully consider?
Systemic racism
A school district is mandated to formally identify children of all ages with suspected disabilities. According to educational law, this previous statement is known as which of the following?
Child Find
Which standardized cognitive assessment is largely based on Luria’s theory and the PASS (planning, attention, simultaneous, successive) model?
Cognitive Assessment System
An upper elementary school student is referred to the special education team for unusual social and egocentric behavior. The school psychologist conducts an observation of the student and interviews the teacher. The inquiry reveals that the young boy has an uncanny ability to remember detailed facts about World War II military planes. Interview information finds that although the child is polite, he has abnormalities in inflection when he speaks, he has few friends, and he has expressive language problems.
The parents have given the school psychologist signed permission to directly support the student. The psychologist decides that social skills training is the best initial approach. Which of the following best reflects social skills training?
Direct instruction, modeling, and coaching
- Reduce frequency of undesirable behavior by altering the relationship between the student behavior and the environment that prevents the consultee from working effectively with the client
- Help the consultee develop new methods, strategies, or skills to help the child achieve academically, behaviorally, or socially-emotionally by building the skill set of the consultee (typically a teacher, parent, or administrator).
- Prepare the consultee to deal with similar problems in the future
Behavioral Model/Problem-Solving Model
Supports meetings in which all parties come together (e.g., parent, student, and staff) to resolve issues
Conjoint Behavioral Consultation
Builds on the relationship between the facilitator and consultee to strengthen and support the person (teacher, parent, or other adult) who has the responsibility of helping the student(s). The relationship is nonjudgmental, nonprescriptive, and nonhierarchical. The goal is to facilitate conceptual change and understanding about the problem and co-construct new meaning for solutions. Works to improve the relationship between the consultee and the student(s) and to build the skills of the consultee
Consultee-Centered Consultation
Anticipates that cultural issues will need to be raised and the consultation process adjusted when working with cultural differences and values of the consultant, consultee, or client or any combination of the consultation participants.
Multicultural Consultee-Centered Consultation
