Deck 6: Learners With Learning Disabilities

Question 1

Freda, Sam, and Liz are eighth-grade students with learning disabilities. Which one of the following statements best illustrates the concept of intraindividual variation?

A)Freda scores high in math, but not in spelling.
B)In comparison to eighth graders nationally, Sam scores lower in reading and written expression.
C)In comparison to Freda and Sam, Liz has higher achievement in math.
D)Liz has lower reading scores than any of the nondisabled students in her class.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In a typical school of 1000 students, about how many students with learning disabilities would you expect to find?

A)10
B)50
C)150
D)250

Answer 2

B

Question 3

By definition, every student with learning disabilities has

A)academic problems.
B)brain damage.
C)hyperactivity.
D)deficits in all academic areas.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The degree to which a certain condition, such as a learning disability, occurs in a single family is determined by

A)heritability studies.
B)neuroimaging studies.
C)familiality studies.
D)retrospective studies.

Question 5

Changes in the number of students in the learning disabilities category has been attributed to all of the following factors EXCEPT

A)poor diagnostic procedures.
B)teachers' reluctance to change teaching methods.
C)increase in poverty.
D)increase in prevalence of mental retardation.

Question 6

According to law, states

A)must require the use of severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement, but may permit the use of response to intervention.
B)must not require the use of severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement, and must permit the use of response to intervention.
C)must require the use of severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement, and must require the use of response to intervention.
D)must not require the use of severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement, and must not require the use of response to intervention.

Question 7

Research using CAT scans, MRIs, PET scans, and ERPs suggest that some cases of learning disability are caused by

A)poor nutrition.
B)brain damage.
C)structural and functional differences in the brain.
D)allergies to food additives.

Question 8

John, Jim, and Ann are fifth-grade students with learning disabilities. Which one of the following statements best illustrates the concept of interindividual differences?

A)John has problems with math, while Ann has problems with reading.
B)In comparison to the nondisabled students in her class, Ann scores lower in reading and math.
C)Jim does well in reading, but not in math.
D)John has high intelligence, but low achievement in spelling.

Question 9

Which poses the most difficulty for most children with learning disabilities?

A)reading
B)spelling
C)handwriting
D)math

Question 10

Definitions used to make eligibility and classification decisions related to learning disabilities traditionally include which one of the following factors?

A)IQ-achievement discrepancy
B)learning problems due to visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage
C)neurological evidence of brain injury
D)deficits in adaptive behavior

Question 11

Students with poor phonological skills are most likely to have problems with which aspect of written language?

A)handwriting
B)spelling
C)metacognitive strategies
D)creative writing

Question 12

The ability to understand the rules of how sounds combine to make up words is

A)phonological awareness.
B)phonemic awareness.
C)decoding.
D)reading fluency.

Question 13

The most commonly used definition of learning disabilities is that endorsed by

A)AAIDD.
B)NJCLD.
C)LDA.
D)the federal government.

Question 14

Each of the following is suggested in the textbook as an explanation for why boys outnumber girls in the learning disabilities category EXCEPT

A)greater biological vulnerability of boys
B)referral bias against boys
C)other behavior by boys (hyperactivity)leads to referral
D)lower academic expectations for girls

Question 15

Dyslexia refers to a severe impairment in the ability to

A)read.
B)write.
C)compute.
D)use expressive language.

Question 16

One of the major advantages of the response to intervention method of identifying learning disabilities is that

A)it is easy to implement.
B)it is not subject to the same "wait-to fail" criticism.
C)it ensures that a student's low achievement is not simply due to ineffective instruction.
D)A great deal of research has been done to show how best to implement RTI.

Question 17

Each of the following is an element of the NJCLD definition EXCEPT

A)Learning disabilities are due to central nervous system dysfunction.
B)Learning disabilities are a lifelong condition.
C)Spelling is a specific manifestation of learning disabilities.
D)Learning disabilities can occur concurrently with mental retardation.

Question 18

Which statement is TRUE regarding concerns about the use of RTI for identifying students with learning disabilities?

A)There is ample evidence regarding the effectiveness of RTI for this purpose.
B)Most of what is validated about RTI is focused just on reading.
C)Most RTI models are used to identify learning disabilities in grades 3-5.
D)Tiered models are efficient because most students progress through the tiers in the proscribed manner.

Question 19

The technology often used with infants to measure the brain's response to perceptual and cognitive processing is

A)ERP
B)MRI
C)PET scan
D)fMRI

Question 20

Over the years, evidence has accumulated showing that learning disabilities

A)dramatically improve in the adult years.
B)can be inherited.
C)manifest themselves prior to age three.
D)occur more often in first-born children.

Question 21

Individuals who have a cluster of disabilities in social interaction, math, visual-spatial tasks, and tactual tasks are referred to as having

A)nonverbal learning disabilities.
B)motivational problems.
C)social cognition problems.
D)locus of control deficits.

Question 22

Making students aware of the stages of problem-solving tasks while they are performing them and bringing behavior under verbal control is

A)self-instruction.
B)self-monitoring.
C)scaffolded instruction.
D)reciprocal teaching.

Question 23

A tendency to reverse letters when writing may be due to problems in

A)visual perception.
B)auditory perception.
C)perceptual-motor skills.
D)general coordination.

Question 24

Which approach to mathematics instruction is most efficient for students with learning disabilities?

A)constructivist
B)discovery-oriented
C)teacher-directed
D)student-centered

Question 25

Pragmatics is the study of

A)word order within sentences.
B)the sound structure of words.
C)the meaning of language.
D)language use in social settings.

Question 26

All of the following are features of Direct Instruction EXCEPT

A)fast-paced lessons.
B)emphasis on drill and practice.
C)student-centered lessons.
D)immediate corrective feedback.

Question 27

A method in which the teacher-student relationship is similar to that of an expert and an apprentice is

A)reciprocal teaching.
B)scaffolded instruction
C)co-teaching.
D)team teaching.

Question 28

What percentage of children with learning disabilities do recent estimates indicate also have attention problems?

A)25 to 50%
B)10 to 25%
C)50 to 75%
D)75 to 100%

Question 29

Gareth is a twelve-year-old with learning disabilities who makes many grammatical errors when speaking. Gareth has a problem with which aspect of language?

A)phonology
B)semantics
C)pragmatics
D)syntax

Question 30

When writing creatively, students with learning disabilities tend to

A)use less complex sentence structures than their peers.
B)write paragraphs that are generally as well organized as their peers.
C)include about the same number of ideas as their peers.
D)have the same type and degree of handwriting problems as their peers.

Question 31

Difficulties experienced by students with learning disabilities in interpreting the feeling and emotions of others reflects a problem with

A)visual perception.
B)social cognition.
C)nonverbal learning disabilities.
D)referential communication.

Question 32

Which one of the following problems best illustrates difficulty in metacognition?

A)Joelle reverses b and d.
B)Simon is always active and out of his seat.
C)Rita can't tell the difference between the spoken words think and thing.
D)Oscar neglects to slow down when reading a difficult passage.

Question 33

Effective writing instruction involves teaching systematic strategies for each of the following EXCEPT

A)planning.
B)handwriting skills.
C)revising.
D)editing.

Question 34

One of the major reasons why children with learning disabilities do poorly on memory tasks is

A)neurological abnormalities.
B)attention deficits.
C)strategy use deficits.
D)perceptual disorders.

Question 35

Repeated readings is a technique specifically used to improve

A)phonemic awareness.
B)reading fluency.
C)phonics.
D)reading comprehension.

Question 36

An academic area that may cause just as much trouble for students with learning disabilities as reading is

A)spoken language.
B)science.
C)written language.
D)math.

Question 37

A method in which assistance is provided to students when they are first learning tasks, then gradually reduced until the students do the tasks independently is

A)scaffolded instruction.
B)self-monitoring.
C)prompted instruction.
D)self-regulated strategy development.

Question 38

Brianna is a junior in high school who has a learning disability and an external locus of control. When she succeeds on a homework assignment in math, she is most likely to attribute her success to

A)effort.
B)help from others.
C)math ability.
D)intelligence.

Question 39

Cognitive training involves all of the following EXCEPT

A)changing thought processes.
B)providing strategies for learning.
C)teaching self-initiative.
D)multisensory training.

Question 40

Visual devices that employ lines, circles, and boxes to organize information are

A)mnemonic organizers.
B)linear organizers.
C)graphic organizers.
D)geometric organizers.

Question 41

An informal reading inventory is primarily used to

A)determine what kinds of reading errors a student makes.
B)explain the cause of a student's reading problems.
C)estimate the appropriate difficulty level of reading materials.
D)design instructional interventions.

Question 42

The most common placement for students with learning disabilities is

A)self-contained special classes.
B)special schools.
C)resource room.
D)general education classroom.

Question 43

Each of the following is true of peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS)EXCEPT

A)it involves pairing a higher-performing student with a lower-performing student.
B)it is not effective for high school students without learning disabilities.
C)students take turns being "coach" and "reader."
D)students participate in three 35-minute-long tutoring sessions each week.

Question 44

All of the following practices are typical of curriculum-based assessment EXCEPT

A)frequent observation of child's behavior.
B)testing completed by classroom teacher.
C)comparison of child to national norms.
D)use of curriculum the student has been exposed to.

Question 45

Each of the following are areas of development important to early educators EXCEPT

A)comprehension and/or expression of spoken language.
B)emergent literacy skills.
C)functional reading and math skills.
D)perceptual-motor skills.

Question 46

The vast majority of children with learning disabilities develop social-emotional problems.

Question 47

The most common testing accommodations for students with learning disabilities are

A)extended time and small group administration.
B)dividing assessment into multiple sessions and individual assessment.
C)having directions read aloud and group administration.
D)extended time and group administration.

Question 48

The resource room is the most popular placement for students with learning disabilities.

Question 49

Rather than talking about identification of learning disabilities at the preschool level, educators emphasize

A)preacademic skills.
B)prediction.
C)adaptive behavior.
D)classification.

Question 50

Most children with learning disabilities outgrow their disabilities as adults.

Question 51

As many as 25% of students with learning disabilities also have problems with attention.

Question 52

All the major professional and parent organizations have developed position papers against placing students with learning disabilities in full-inclusion programs.

Question 53

Psychological processing disorders are considered to be the primary reason for most learning disabilities.

Question 54

Response to intervention is the federally preferred method of identifying learning disabilities.

Question 55

A method involving breaking down academic problems into their component parts that can be taught separately and then combined is called

A)direct instruction.
B)scaffolded instruction.
C)cognitive training.
D)task analysis.

Question 56

In addition to a transition plan, federal law now requires that schools develop a(n)

A)summary of performance
B)exit interview.
C)assessment review.
D)list of ongoing accommodations.

Question 57

The part of the graph typically used with curriculum-based measurement to depict where a student should be performing at a given point in time is the

A)baseline data point.
B)expected growth norm.
C)aim line.
D)expected aim point.

Question 58

Children and youths with learning disabilities comprise over half of all students who receive special education.

Question 59

In the case of most children with learning disabilities, there is little neurological evidence of actual damage to the brain tissues.

Question 60

All types of disabilities are more prevalent in males than in females.

Question 61

Describe three explanations for the increase in the number of students identified as having learning disabilities in the last 20 years.

Question 62

Identify the main features of cognitive training and describe two techniques that fall under this heading.

Question 63

Define IQ-achievement discrepancy and list three objections to using it for identifying learning disabilities.

Question 64

Identify the major features of direct instruction (DI)and describe the benefit of this approach for students with learning disabilities.

Question 65

Which is a more convincing method for determining whether learning disabilities are inherited: heritability studies or familiality studies? Why?

Question 66

Write a scenario illustrating the relationship between "locus of control" and "learned helplessness."

Question 67

Describe the problems that many individuals with learning disabilities encounter in making the transition from student to adult life.

Question 68

Describe four psychological or behavioral characteristics of students with learning disabilities.

Question 69

Describe two reasons why defining learning disabilities has been so problematic.

Question 70

Describe how the training for teachers of students with learning disabilities can be utilized in collaborative models with general education teachers (include three specific skills of special education teachers).