Praxis Practice Test Deck 2 Flashcards
Projective tests (e.g., Rorschach, Draw a Person) are usually used for?
A. Building rapport with a student
B. Gathering supplementary information about a student
C. Determining if a student is prone to malingering and deception
D. These tests are rarely used by school psychologist due to poor psychometrics (e.g., reliability)
B. Projective tests are effective measures, but a high degree of skill and training are involved. It is
good practice to supplement test results when using projective measures. Professional Practices,
Practices That Permeate All Aspects of Service Delivery
Parental complaints regarding Section 504 should be directed to which authority?
A. The Department of Education
B. The school district’s administration office
C. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
D. The state’s Board of Education
C. Section 504 is an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) law and governed by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery
What is the primary difference between achievement tests and cognitive tests?
A. Intelligence tests are norm referenced and used to diagnose learning disabilities
B. Achievement tests are generally used to predict academic progress
C. Cognitive tests are typically used to predict future learning more than achievement tests
D. Cognitive tests use standard scores, whereas achievement tests use grade-equivalent scores
C. One of the primary reasons cognitive assessments are administered to students who are struggling academically is to predict academic performance and to help determine the appropriate level of curriculum. Professional Practices, Practices That Permeate All Aspects of Service Delivery
You find out that another school psychologist has violated an ethical rule. What should you do
first?
A. Attempt to talk to the person directly and address the situation informally
B. Immediately report the situation to school officials because you have an ethical obligation to
do so. Failure to report a known violation implicates you in the situation
C. Notify the school psychologist that if he or she does not report the violation, you will have to
report it
D. Not all ethical violations are legal violations. Legally, you do not have to take any action
A. In low-level cases of an ethical violation, it is acceptable to address the situation at the direct
level with the person. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery
Case example for questions 45 and 46: A student was referred to you due to behavioral disruptions in
class. After a series of interventions, the special education team and parents agree that formal
assessments should be initiated. The results from your formal cognitive assessment demonstrated that the student has a very large verbal and nonverbal difference between scores. Other streams of
information support the idea that the student has a learning disability, specifically a nonverbal learning
disability.
- The parents have difficulty accepting your findings and demand to see the test protocol. Your
response should be to:
A. Show the protocol to the parents and give them a copy of only the test scores if they request it
B. Refuse to let the parents examine the protocol, citing copyright laws and the need to keep
testing material strictly confidential. Refer the parents to your individual education program
(IEP) report that details the results
C. Provide the parents with qualitative information and your reasoning when interpreting the test
results. The protocol may be used in your explanation, but not copied
D. Reiterate for the parents that the identification of a learning disability is a team decision and
multiple pieces of information were used in the determination. After your explanation, supply
the parents with all the necessary scores
C. This is a difficult question to answer. Note that test protocols cannot be copied and parents
cannot be allowed to copy some types of information from a test protocol. Psychologists should
fully explain their reasoning and educate parents about what scores mean without violating laws. Data-Based Decision Making, Professional Practices, Practices That Permeate All Aspects of
Service Delivery and Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery
Case example for questions 45 and 46: A student was referred to you due to behavioral disruptions in class. After a series of interventions, the special education team and parents agree that formal assessments should be initiated. The results from your formal cognitive assessment demonstrated that the student has a very large verbal and nonverbal difference between scores. Other streams of information support the idea that the student has a learning disability, specifically a nonverbal learning disability.
After a lengthy explanation about the student’s evaluation, the parents in the aforementioned
example are still refuting your results and want outside (private) testing done. Which of the following statements reflects what is most likely to happen?
A. The parents can have a private assessment done at the school district’s expense if they complete the formal appeals process
B. Parents can have a private assessment completed, but the school district is not obligated to pay for outside testing if the results are congruent with the school’s assessments
C. Private assessments are not typically paid for by a public school district
D. A judge can order private testing that is paid for by a school district, not considering whether the results are congruent with the school district’s findings
B. Parents can use private testing, but schools do not always have to pay for such testing. Only in special circumstances are schools required to pay for outside testing. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery
A high school student is in your office requesting to see you. He is visibly upset because of a serious fight he had with his girlfriend the past night. You do not have permission to counsel him. What is the “best practice” in this situation?
A. You are not allowed to counsel a new student without parent permission
B. It is acceptable to perform a brief intervention in an emergency or crisis situation without
permission
C. Refer the student to his counselor at school
D. Have the student wait in a supervised room until his parents can be contacted
B. When safety or crisis situations arise, psychologists have more flexibility to meet with students. You do not need permission in this situation. Foundations of School Psychological Service
Delivery and Direct and Indirect Services for Children, Families, and Schools
At what point in a counseling relationship do you explain the limitations of confidentiality?
A. During your initial meeting
B. After a rapport has been established
C. When your sessions with the student are nearing completion
D. When you provide parents with informed consent
A. It is best practice to set your rules and limitations of counseling as early as possible in the
therapeutic relationship. Direct and Indirect Services for Children, Families, and Schools
A parent and teacher complete an adaptive scales assessment (e.g., Vineland) on a child suspected of having a cognitive impairment. The parent’s version is significantly different from the teacher’s version. What do you do?
A. The results are said to be invalid and another type of survey should be administered
B. You should call the parent and teacher and ask questions regarding the survey. Ask about the
child’s functioning at home and school
C. Analyze and use other assessment sources for your evaluation instead of the survey. Although
the survey was not used in your evaluation, you must make a notation in your report as to
why the survey was not used
D. Interpret both the teacher and parent surveys separately and present the objective results to
the special education team for consultation
B. Asking clarifying questions, when differences in results are discovered, may illuminate the reasons for the differences. Results are not necessarily invalid just because differences exist, but you should explore why significant differences exist. Professional Practices, Practices That
Permeate All Aspects of Service Delivery
The “stay-put” rule is implemented at what time?
A. When due process has started
B. When due process has been completed
C. When a student has been suspended
D. When it has been determined that a behavior was a manifestation of a child’s disability
A. A child cannot change schools or placement when a due process proceeding has commenced. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery
At what type of meeting are eligibility requirements discussed and interventions or modifications
to the curriculum discussed?
A. During the initial staff meeting with parents and the special education team
B. During the initial referral meeting
C. During the student’s annual meeting
D. During the formal assessment and testing phase
A. The only other possible answer to this question is C, but annual meetings are typically for reviewing goals and progress toward goals. The student’s eligibility for special education services
is discussed during the initial staffing (not referral) meeting. Foundations of School Psychological
Service Delivery
You are preparing to conduct a formal evaluation on a student for special education services. As part of your evaluation, you determine that you should administer a processing speed test due to fluency concerns voiced by the teacher. When is it considered best practice to administer this type of formal cognitive assessment?
A. During the student’s typical school day and when the student is experiencing his or her
normal routine
B. After you have observed the child in the classroom, in order to evaluate his or her true
behavior
C. After you have examined authentic work samples and completed a file review
D. Research has demonstrated that the morning time frame is the most effective time for
processing speed tests
A. This simple question might be difficult to answer because it suggests that a processing speed test has unique administration criteria, when the main point is that the test is a formal cognitive test
that follows standard administration practices. Although option “C” might also be a good answer,
the point of a school psychologist’s assessment is to determine how a child functions in a typical
school day. Additionally, authentic fluency evaluations are usually done in real-time reading
situations, not via a work sample review. Professional Practices, Practices That Permeate All Aspects of Service Delivery
The consumption of large amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can cause? A. Intellectual disabilities (ID) B. Executive functioning deficits C. Fetal alcohol symptoms (FAS) D. Fetal alcohol effects (FAE)
D. The answer is factual. You must know the correct terms to describe specific disorders. For example, do not be misled by official-sounding terms, such as fetal alcohol symptom, because there is no such disability. Fetal alcohol effects (FAE) is the correct terminology. Direct and
Indirect Services for Children, Families, and Schools
Autism is associated with which of the following?
A. Abnormalities in brain structures and function
B. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
C. Executive dysfunction
D. Genetic disorder that is linked to the Y chromosome
A. Sometimes you will have a few easy questions. Through a process of choice elimination, the
best answer to this question is a neurologically based issue that is implicated in autism. The majority of disorders that psychologists deal with are brain-based dysfunctions. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery
According to mainstream researchers and experts, such as Sattler and Kaufman, the most valid and reliable score(s) on widely adopted cognitive test batteries are usually which score?
A. The major cluster or domain score
B. The individual subtest scores
C. Ipsative score
D. The global or full-scale standard score
. D. The broader the score the more valid and reliable it is to interpret, given little intra/intersubtest variability. Professional Practices, Practices That Permeate All Aspects of Service Delivery
According to educational theorists, when fostering intrinsic motivation, you should use: A. Variable reinforcement B. Tangible rewards C. Verbal praise D. Choice selection
D. This is a difficult question to answer if you do not know the research related to intrinsic
motivation. Note that tangible rewards, while effective in some situations, may hinder the
development of intrinsic motivation. Cognitive approaches are best to use to build intrinsic
motivation. “Choice” is a cognitive approach that gives students control to develop preferences.
Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery and Direct and Indirect Services for
Children, Families, and Schools
Typically, block design subtests on major cognitive assessments primarily evaluate the functioning of the: A. Right hemisphere of the brain B. Left hemisphere of the brain C. Both hemispheres of the brain D. Cerebrum
A. Block design tasks can measure several different cognitive functions, but from a neuropsychological perspective, novel visual perception tasks (e.g., block design) usually activate
the right regions of the brain. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery and
Professional Practices, Practices That Permeate All Aspects of Service Delivery
If a student’s misbehavior increases after the teacher takes away his recess time, this is called? A. Spontaneous behavioral burst B. Response cost C. Negative reinforcement D. Punishment
C. Punishment and negative reinforcement are commonly confused. Remember, any intervention
that increases a behavior is related to negative reinforcement. Foundations of School
Psychological Service Delivery and Direct and Indirect Services for Children, Families, and
Schools
High school students who have dysgraphia should be given what type of accommodation and/or modification on tests?
A. Extra time
B. Frequent breaks
C. Multiple-choice tests
D. An alternative form version of the test
C. Children who have dysgraphia have difficulty in writing coherently. Multiple-choice tests are a
typical and appropriate accommodation for this disorder. Direct and Indirect Services for
Children, Families, and Schools and Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery
Which therapeutic method or therapy works best for selective mutism? A. Behavior therapy B. Cognitive therapy C. Stimulus fading D. Flooding
C. Although the answer to this question could be debated, stimulus fading is a specific and effective method used with students who demonstrate selective mutism. Stimulus fading is related to gradual desensitization techniques. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery and Direct and Indirect Services for Children, Families, and Schools
A second-grade teacher uses the removal of a desirable activity, such as music class, to shape the
behavior of his special education students. The teacher does not think other interventions are
practical or effective. As the school psychologist, how should you respond?
A. The welfare of the student comes first and the school psychologist has a duty to discuss the
situation with the principal
B. It should be explained to the teacher that the method he is using might be working, but will
most likely produce short-term results if no positive reward or feedback is used for compliant
behavior
C. The teacher’s intervention might be working in the short term, but you should suggest to the teacher that “feedback” is provided to the students when possible
D. Inform the teacher that such interventions usually foster an external motivation instead of an
internal behavioral regulation skill in the student
B. The best answer to this question is “B,” although “D” is also a possibility. Choice “B” is the
better answer because it addresses both the positive and negative interventions involved in shaping
behavior. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery and Direct and Indirect Services
for Children, Families, and Schools
In regard to the professional associations related to school psychology, which of the following
statements is most valid?
A. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) is the primary accreditation body
for the Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) credential
B. The American Psychological Association (APA) does not fully recognize master’s- or
specialist’s-level school psychologists
C. There is no major difference between APA and NASP guidelines
D. The APA typically regulates psychologists working in clinical or research domains
A. This question is fairly straightforward. The best choice for this question is that the National
Association of School Psychologists (NASP) is the primary accreditation body for the Nationally
Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) credential. Foundations of School Psychological Service
Delivery
Case example for questions 63 to 65: Parents gave signed permission for the special education team to complete a full evaluation.
After the initial staffing meeting, the parents’ lawyer demands that you
supply them with copies of your protocols.
- As a licensed school psychologist you should do which of the following?
A. As a lawyer is formally requesting the documents, you should supply all the necessary copies
of the requested documents so you are in compliance with law
B. Collaborate with the parents by stating that all necessary information is in the individual
education plan (IEP) report and review the IEP with the parents
C. Collaborate with the parents and review test information with the parents and lawyer, but you
do not have to make copies at this point in the legal process
D. When legal matters initiate, you should inform the school district’s lawyers and have them
speak to the parent’s lawyer before further communication with the parents continues
C. This is a difficult situation and a difficult question to answer. Only a judge can legally order a
psychologist to turn over protocols that are copyright protected. In this situation, it is best to
collaborate with the parents and explain your results to them. Although “B” is a valid choice, if a
lawyer is demanding access to school records and protocols, it is best to review test results, but not
copy them (“C”) unless subpoenaed to do so. If parents and the lawyer persist in their demands,
contact the school’s lawyer. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery and
Professional Practices, Practices That Permeate All Aspects of Service Delivery
Case example for questions 63 to 65: Parents gave signed permission for the special education team to
complete a full evaluation. After the initial staffing meeting, the parents’ lawyer demands that you
supply them with copies of your protocols.
Which specific law or case law requires parental access to records?
A. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
B. Rowley vs. Hudson Board of Education
C. Brown vs. Board of Education
D. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
D. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is related to confidentiality issues and
parent access to school records. Foundations of School Psychological Service Delivery
