Chapter 5 Planning Instruction by Analyzing Classroom and Student Needs
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following provides the best example of a ‘reasonable’ accommodation?
a. The teacher develops a separate test with different items for a student with a learning disability.
b. The teacher writes an outline of the new science lesson, including key terminology, on the board
to help a hearing impaired student.
c. The teacher spends at least half an hour each morning working one-on-one with a student with
autism.
d. The teacher produces audiotapes of all the trade books used in his classroom for a student who is
visually impaired.
2. Which of the following identifies elements in the first step of the INCLUDE strategy?
a. identify instructional methods, note academic needs and select age-appropriate accommodations
b. note social-emotional development, identify strengths in physical development and determine
possible bypass strategies
c. note academic needs, select accommodations with demonstrated effectiveness and evaluate
student progress
d. determine classroom management, physical organization, routines and climate
3. Which of the following represents the fourth step a teacher should follow when using the INCLUDE
strategy?
a. look for potential problem areas
b. brainstorm ways to differentiate
c. check for potential areas of student success
d. identify classroom demands
4. ‘Instructional methods’ includes which of the following?
a. learning outcomes
b. strategies for managing behavior
c. ways in which teachers present content
d. grouping arrangements
5. The primary purpose of Step 3 in the INCLUDE strategy is to ____.
a. identify potential mismatches within an instructional context
b. search for activities or tasks the student can do successfully
c. analyze student’s strengths in view of instructional demands
d. check the effectiveness of intervention strategies implemented
6. Once mismatches have been identified, teachers should use the information to identify ways to eliminate or
minimize their effects, including ____.
a. employing a permanent seating arrangement in the classroom
b. using bypass strategies in a primary area of instruction
c. providing learning strategies to address areas in which the student is deficient
d. grouping students without regard to skill levels
7. Which of the following is not a strategy recommended for selecting accommodations?
a. select accommodations preferred by students
b. select appropriate accommodations regardless of how they may be perceived by others
c. select novel accommodations you have not used before
d. select accommodations supported in the body of professional literature
8. Which of the following identifies strategies in the final step of INCLUDE?
a. selecting appropriate and effective accommodations
b. evaluating academic and physical strengths and needs
c. observing students and analyzing student work
d. examining activities and tasks for students’ potential success
9. Which of the following is a key element of the instructional environment?
a. students’ home situation
b. availability of computers
c. students’ extracurricular activities
d. physical organization of space
10. Which of the following represents an accommodation within the physical organization of a classroom to
improve the instructional environment?
a. The teacher requested two new computers to assist students with their writing skills.
b. The teacher changed his/her physical organization each day to keep it interesting.
c. The teacher arranges a work and reading area with soft light instead of fluorescent.
d. The teacher places books and materials needed at the computer center on shelves above the
computer.
11. Which of the following identifies the four general areas of ‘instructional environments’?
a. classroom routines, grouping, technology and methods
b. physical organization, cooperative learning, materials and methods
c. classroom management, classroom grouping, instructional materials and instructional methods
d. classroom climate, collaborations, materials and methods
12. Which of the following is an aspect of classroom management?
a. mixed-skill grouping
b. inquiry learning
c. transition time
d. assistive technology
13. Which of the following components of classroom management can effectively prevent behavior problems?
a. small group instruction
b. scaffolding
c. predictable classroom
d. manipulatives and models
14. Classroom climate is influenced by this component.
a. the teacher’s positive attitude toward individual differences
b. the teacher stressing content coverage above all else
c. the teacher de-emphasizing classroom rules
d. the teacher’s strict focus on students’ academic needs
15. Effective classroom rules ____.
a. should be general and all-encompassing
b. should be punitive in nature
c. should accommodate all students’ cultures
d. should reflect different expectations for students with special needs
16. Teachers monitor student classroom behavior frequently by____.
a. establishing a clear view of the class regardless of the activity
b. establishing clear expectations
c. establishing a clear view of the aides assisting students
d. making students behave first before continuing the lesson
17. Effectively using classroom time involves ____.
a. removing classroom clocks
b. managing transitions
c. reducing time for lunch
d. physically reorganizing the classroom
18. Which type of grouping works best when some, but not all, students are having trouble mastering a skill?
a. small, same-skill group
b. small, mixed-skill group
c. large group
d. one-on-one
19. The type of grouping that provides students with special needs a range of positive models for academic and
social behavior is ____.
a. small, same-skill group
b. small, mixed-skill group
c. large group
d. one–on–one
20. Well designed textbooks require____.
a. an intricate level of detail for the reader
b. a low reading level
c. fewer accommodations for the students with special needs
d. involvement in real-life problem solving
21. Which of the following is a guideline for selecting effective textbooks?
a. Support is provided for student comprehension.
b. Graphic aids are de-emphasized.
c. Levels of students’ background knowledge are assumed.
d. Multiple facts in isolation are stressed.
22. In order to support student comprehension, textbook content should be ____.
a. uniquely organized for each topic heading
b. organized with meaningful headings and subheadings
c. presented with minimal use of bold or italicized words
d. organized with creative, attention-grabbing headings
23. Manipulatives and models can benefit students with special needs in each of the following ways except
____.
a. focusing their attention throughout lessons
b. providing tangible objects to reinforce difficult concepts
c. helping to make connections between concepts and real-life problems
d. providing physical representations of complex abstractions
24. Which model supports students with disabilities that may have trouble with transference from one concept
to another?
a. Select materials that are developmentally appropriate.
b. Use a range of manipulative materials.
c. Accompany object manipulation with verbal explanation.
d. Elicit student explanations of the materials.
25. When using manipulatives to enhance student learning, it is important to remember that ____.
a. manipulatives may interfere with a student’s ability to transfer from concrete to abstract
b. student understanding is reduced with too much teacher guidance and structure
c. using manipulatives only in teacher demonstrations is sufficient for re-enforcing concepts
d. students should be encouraged to verbalize their use of manipulatives to clarify their conceptual
understanding
26. Drill-and-practice software programs are often effectively used with students with special needs for all of
the following reasons except that such programs ____.
a. allow students to learn in small, incremental steps
b. provide students with an opportunity to engage in authentic situations
c. provide students with immediate, systematic feedback
d. allow students ample opportunity for practice to mastery
27. Disadvantages of using tutorial software programs with students with special needs include providing ____.
a. insufficient review and tasks that fail to motivate
b. one–on-one instruction and scaffolding at too simplistic a level
c. incremental lessons without real world applications
d. items and materials at too many levels of difficulty
28. Technology that can enable students with both low and high-incidence disabilities to bypass their disability
is known as ____.
a. drill-and-practice programs
b. independent tutorials
c. simulations
d. assistive technology
29. Direct instruction involves ____.
a. guided student practice
b. independent discovery learning
c. limited feedback to students
d. little independent practice
30. Teachers can best ensure that all students give their own responses to oral instructor questions about a
lesson’s content by ____.
a. calling randomly on students who raise their hands
b. having students indicate their responses with index cards
c. drawing sticks with students’ names to select a respondent
d. listening to responses freely offered after the question is presented
31. Which of the following is true about direct instruction?
a. It is important to follow all six steps whenever presenting a lesson.
b. It is required by all students with special needs.
c. It can be modified for students with sufficient background knowledge or skills.
d. It is based on a belief that children learn naturally.
32. Which of the following is not true regarding how teachers can enhance the effectiveness of Tier 1
instruction?
a. by establishing predictability
b. by presenting concise statements
c. by providing scaffolding
d. by continuing instruction and correcting student errors at intervals
33. Inquiry learning is an instructional method that places the learner in the role of ____.
a. initiator
b. teacher
c. facilitator
d. receiver
34. When using scaffolding with students with special needs, teachers should remember to ____.
a. allow students significant freedom to explore topics and content of interest
b. verify that the students have sufficient background knowledge and ability to learn the cognitive
skill
c. move the student through a series of progressive more difficult cognitive skills as quickly as
possible
d. start the learning task a couple of steps beyond the students’ current abilities to challenge them
35. Which of the following is a way that scaffolding can increase the effectiveness of non-direct instructional
methods for students with special needs?
a. It provides students with little guided practice to reinforce key skills and concepts.
b. Continuous corrective feedback throughout the process increases success while diminishing the
establishment of erroneous patterns.
c. It provides practice within a narrow context, facilitates the process of transference of concepts and
skills, and increases independence.
d. Student independence is fostered through the maintenance of scaffolding throughout cognitive
skill development.
36. Which of the following represents the order in which scaffolding must occur in order to promote higher–
order cognitive strategies?
a. provide varying contexts for practice, regulate difficulty during guided practice, present new
strategies, provide independent practice and provide feedback
b. regulate difficulty during guided practice, increase student responsibility, provide varying contexts
for practice, present new strategies, provide independent practice and provide feedback
c. present new strategies, regulate difficulty during guided practice, provide varying contexts for
practice, provide feedback, increase student responsibility and provide independent practice
d. provide independent practice, present new strategies, provide varying contexts for practice
regulate difficulty during guided practice, increase student responsibility and provide feedback
37. When assigned independent student practice, students are more likely to be successful if they ____.
a. are first learning a new skill
b. have a little practice on several skills
c. achieve increasing levels of success
d. have a desire to learn what they are practicing
38. In order for independent student practice to be more effective in promoting student growth and
achievement, most students need to complete practice items at an accuracy rate of ____.
a. 90%
b. 80%
c. 70%
d. 50%
39. Immediate feedback on practice items is important, so students ____.
a. will maintain their motivation
b. can make meaningful corrections of their work
c. will have important conceptual understanding
d. can feel successful and competent
40. The primary purpose of student evaluation is to ____.
a. determine the level of student mastery
b. assign letter grades for report cards
c. provide a standard for comparing students
d. establish the effectiveness of instruction
True/False
1. The idea behind ‘differentiated instruction’ is that a specific teaching strategy applies to each category of
disability.
2. ‘Universal design’ minimizes the need for labor-intensive accommodations.
3. Differentiated instruction is an approach that only addresses the needs of students with disabilities.
4. When identifying a student’s academic strengths and needs, it is important to look only at basic skills and
learning strategies.
5. In the INCLUDE strategy, teachers should make accommodations when a mismatch is identified between
instructional demands and the student’s learning needs.
6. The “D” step of INCLUDE involves determining the student’s academic, social-emotional and physical
development.
7. The effectiveness of an intervention or accommodation could be determined by tracking through portfolio
assessments or parent ratings.
8. The physical organization of a classroom can contribute to establishing a positive and effective
instructional environment.
9. Carefully constructed classroom routines that are clear and consistent will reduce nonacademic time and
increase learning time.
10. Effective classroom rules are brief and very general in content.
11. When student behavior is carefully monitored, students usually choose to follow the rules consistently.
12. The advantage of whole-class instruction is to decrease social interaction between students with and
without disabilities.
13. Although difficult to achieve, one–on-one instruction is typically the most effective grouping arrangement.
14. Well-designed basal textbooks require fewer accommodations for students with special needs.
15. The quality of writing in a textbook should be considered during the selection process, for it can support or
hinder student comprehension.
16. The use of manipulatives can help students make connections between abstractions often presented in
school and the real-life products/situations those abstractions represent.
17. Computer-based tutorials facilitate learning by providing students adequate opportunities to review.
18. Direct instruction should be adapted based on student needs.
19. In inquiry learning students take the initiative in making discoveries and thus are actively engaged in
personal learning.
20. Using scaffolding as an instructional approach always requires the teacher to help bridge the gap between
the student’s current level and the behavioral goal.
Short Answer
1. List the 7 steps of the ‘INCLUDE’ strategy.
2. What is the main idea behind ‘differentiated instruction’?
3. What is the key element of ‘RtI’?
4. Explain the statement ‘the arrangement of your class should be predictable.’ Provide one example.
5. Explain ‘academic learning time.’
6. Provide three examples of upper elementary ‘sponges.’
7. Instructional materials are designed to cover a range of learning outcomes. Provide three examples noted
in your textbook.
8. Explain three examples of common classroom demands that significantly influence student learning.
9. Explain two areas described in the textbook found in the ‘N’ step of INCLUDE.
10. The ‘U’ step of INCLUDE identifies possible ways to differentiate. What are the two ways to differentiate
for students with disabilities?
11. Step ‘D’ of INCLUDE involves strategies to try. Explain three guidelines suggested in your textbook for
step ‘D.’
12. How do you decide whether a given practice is evidence-based? Provide one example.
13. List four elements included in your textbook under ‘instructional methods.’
14. Explain one example of ‘establishing clear routines.’
15. Effective classroom rules share three key characteristics. List the three characteristics.
16. The quality of writing can be evaluated in five ways. Explain two examples found in the textbook.
17. Explain the purpose of an ‘assistive technology device’?
18. You have been asked to participate in the selection of an assistive device for a student with special needs in
your class. You need to consider the features of the technical devices as well as the extent to which it will
help the student meet their IEP goals. List four of the eight considerations provided in your textbook.
19. Describe the role of the teacher in ‘inquiry learning.’
20. Step 5 in the scaffolding approach is to ‘increase student responsibility.’ Explain the actions the teacher
would take to accomplish this step.
Essay
1. Ms. Mellon is a new fifth-grade teacher in your building. She is facing the challenge of meeting the needs
of all students in her class, especially the three students identified with various special needs. She has
asked you for suggestions and you have referred her to the INCLUDE strategy. Explain how each of the 7
steps could help Ms. Mellon meet the educational needs of her students.
2. Maria is a student with cerebral palsy. Maria has been a wheelchair user most of her life. While she
sometimes has difficulty articulating her thoughts, she has repeatedly demonstrated competency and
interest in the subject area. Identify appropriate accommodations that would enhance her success. Include
in your discussion which major components of classroom organization may impact her ability to be
academically successful.
3. Four key elements impact the effectiveness of instructional environments. Identify each of the four
elements, describe at least two components of each element and provide an explanation of how they work
to impact instruction.
4. You are a third-grade teacher and you have just received your first teaching evaluation. Your building
principal has stated you need to improve your management of transition time and increase academic
learning time. Explain the strategies identified in your textbook you could use to become more effective in
these areas.
5. Robin is a shy fourth grader who consistently performs below the rest of the class in basic math skills.
Explain the different grouping options you would consider for Robin. Include in your discussion the option
you believe will be the most beneficial for Robin.
6. You have been asked to serve as the chair of the committee in charge of selecting learning materials for the
school. As the chair, you are responsible for establishing the guidelines to evaluate the old and possible
new textbooks. Identify the guidelines you would suggest and explain how these guidelines will help the
committee select more effective materials.
7. During a recent faculty meeting, Mrs. Foster stated she is interested in using scaffolding in her classroom.
After the meeting, she has asked you for suggestions, including examples, of how this approach would help
a student with special needs. Explain the steps of scaffolding and the examples you would discuss with
Mrs. Foster.
8. Explain how using ‘Sponges’ will increase academic learning time. Provide a discussion of when this
approach would be used. Include five examples to illustrate your response.
9. You will be selecting drill-and-practice programs for your third-grade math class. Since you know not all
programs are created equal, explain three of five considerations listed in your textbook for selecting these
programs.
10. According to IDEA, the IEP team must consider whether a child needs assistive-technology devices and
services as part of his/her plan. Discuss three of the questions your textbook has indicated your IEP team
could use for determining classroom demands.
Chapter 5
Multiple Choice
True/False
Short Answer
Essay
