PRAXIS 5354 · COURSE
Praxis 5354 Special Education: Core Knowledge and Applications course
27 guided lessons across 5 sections. Read the first chapter free — no account needed.
FREE CHAPTER
Disability versus difference
A real teacher decision: A student learning English struggles with unfamiliar English idioms but demonstrates age-level reasoning in their home language.
Key words
- Disability versus difference
- A principle used to make an individualized decision in this situation: Collect culturally responsive language and academic evidence across contexts before suspecting disability. — e.g. A student learning English struggles with unfamiliar English idioms but demonstrates age-level reasoning in their home language.
- Student need
- The barrier or learning target identified in the disability versus difference case. — e.g. A student learning English struggles with unfamiliar English idioms but demonstrates age-level reasoning in their home language.
- Evidence
- Observable information used to select and review a response to disability versus difference. — e.g. A student learning English struggles with unfamiliar English idioms but demonstrates age-level reasoning in their home language.
- Individualization
- Choosing supports based on the learner and task, rather than a disability label. — e.g. Collect culturally responsive language and academic evidence across contexts before suspecting disability.
- Progress check
- Collecting information after a support to decide whether it is working. — e.g. Collect culturally responsive language and academic evidence across contexts before suspecting disability.
FOUNDATION
Disability versus difference is about matching an educational decision to the student’s actual needs and available evidence. Read the situation carefully: A student learning English struggles with unfamiliar English idioms but demonstrates age-level reasoning in their home language.
I DO — MODEL
I identify the student need, check what the evidence actually shows, and choose this response: Collect culturally responsive language and academic evidence across contexts before suspecting disability. The decision must be individualized, not based on labels alone.
WE DO — GUIDED
Compare the recommended response with this tempting mistake: Refer immediately for intellectual disability testing based on English scores alone. Ask which choice preserves access, instruction, appropriate evaluation, and student dignity.
YOU DO — INDEPENDENT
Explain why assume multilingual students cannot qualify for special education. would not meet the need in the scenario. Then describe how you would collect evidence that your chosen strategy works.
TEST TRANSFER
In a new classroom case, identify the student need, the most defensible first action, and the data you would monitor. Reject this distractor: Use only an English vocabulary test to make the eligibility decision.
Remember this
- Need: A student learning English struggles with unfamiliar English idioms but demonstrates age-level reasoning in their home language.
- Best response: Collect culturally responsive language and academic evidence across contexts before suspecting disability.
- Avoid: Refer immediately for intellectual disability testing based on English scores alone.
NEED → EVIDENCE → ACTION → CHECK (Disability versus difference)
Every lesson in the course
I. Development and Characteristics of Learners
16%- Disability versus differenceFree
- Specific learning disability
- Autism and individual variation
- Intellectual disability and adaptive behavior
- Attention and executive functioning
II. Planning and the Learning Environment
23%- Measurable IEP goals
- Least restrictive environment
- Accommodations and modifications
- Positive classroom routines
- Functional behavior assessment
- Collaborative instructional planning
III. Instruction
23%- Explicit instruction
- Systematic prompting and fading
- Universal design for learning
- Progress monitoring
- Communication and AAC
- Generalization and maintenance
IV. Assessment
18%- Norm-referenced and criterion-referenced
- Reliability and validity
- Screening and diagnostic assessment
- Data-based decision making
- Assessment accommodations
V. Foundations and Professional Responsibilities
20%- IDEA and FAPE
- Procedural safeguards
- Confidentiality and records
- Family partnership
- Professional collaboration and ethics