NES Special Education: Hearing Impaired (808) Practice Tests

Competencies 01–04 make up about 19% of the test. They ask you to understand the role language plays in learning and the effects of hearing loss on development and learning; understand processes involved in hearing and characteristics of all types and degrees of hearing loss; understand language (including oral, written, and sign language) and language development, and more.

• Competency 0001: Understand the role language plays in learning and the effects of hearing loss on development and learning. Skills tested: the potential effects of hearing loss on children's language, speech, cognitive, social, and emotional development; characteristics of language and speech development typical among children who have hearing loss; processes by which learning occurs; applications of learning theories for students who are deaf or hard of hearing; factors that may affect learning (e.g., family language, etiology and onset of hearing loss); effects of other disabilities in conjunction with hearing loss.
• Competency 0002: Understand processes involved in hearing and characteristics of all types and degrees of hearing loss. Skills tested: the auditory system and normal auditory development; effects of various factors (e.g., physiological, disease) on hearing; types and degrees of hearing loss, their causes, characteristics, and implications; student behaviors that may indicate the presence of a hearing loss; knowledge of acoustics and ways to create optimal acoustic environments for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Competency 0003: Understand language (including oral, written, and sign language) and language development. Skills tested: theories relating to language development; typical stages and processes of language development (including oral, written, and sign language); phonological, semantic, morphemic, syntactic, and pragmatic aspects of language; linguistic features of English and American Sign Language; factors affecting language development (e.g., cognitive, environmental); forms and functions of language in communicative contexts; relationships between language and cognition, reading, and achievement.
• Competency 0004: Understand speech and speech development. Skills tested: anatomical structures and processes involved in speech production; acoustic aspects of speech; typical progressions in and characteristics of speech development; factors affecting speech development; developmental speech characteristics of children who are deaf or hard of hearing; visual, auditory, and tactile aspects of speech.

Competencies 05–10 make up about 26% of the test. They ask you to understand assessment procedures for evaluating individual differences and making placement and programming decisions for students with disabilities; interpret assessment results related to students' auditory functioning; apply procedures for assessing the receptive and expressive language of students who are deaf or hard of hearing, and more.

• Competency 0005: Understand assessment procedures for evaluating individual differences and making placement and programming decisions for students with disabilities. Skills tested: types and characteristics of informal and formal assessments used to make placement and programming decisions; methods for determining learning styles and strengths; interpretation and use of assessment information to identify and understand students with special needs, to make placement and program recommendations, and to monitor progress; assessment-related issues in special education (e.g., early identification and intervention, nondiscriminatory assessment).
• Competency 0006: Interpret assessment results related to students' auditory functioning. Skills tested: types and characteristics of formal and informal assessments of auditory function; procedures for conducting different types of assessments (including screening procedures and procedures for ongoing assessment of auditory behavior in the classroom); interpretation of assessment results.
• Competency 0007: Apply procedures for assessing the receptive and expressive language of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: types and characteristics of formal and informal language assessments used with students who are deaf or hard of hearing; basic procedures for conducting different types of receptive and expressive language assessments, including ongoing language assessment; interpretation of assessment results.
• Competency 0008: Understand procedures for assessing speech in students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: types and characteristics of formal and informal speech assessments used with students who are deaf or hard of hearing; procedures for conducting different types of speech assessments, including ongoing speech assessment; interpretation and implication of assessment results.
• Competency 0009: Apply procedures for assessing the academic achievement of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: types and characteristics of formal and informal assessments of academic achievement; procedures for conducting assessments of academic achievement, including ongoing assessment; interpretation of assessment results.
• Competency 0010: Apply procedures for developing and implementing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: roles and functions of team members; factors and procedures in gathering information, creating and maintaining records, determining appropriate placements, and developing IEPs for students who are deaf or hard of hearing; components of an IEP; evaluation of student progress with respect to the general curriculum and IEP goals.

Competencies 11–18 make up about 36% of the test. They ask you to understand how to establish a positive and productive learning environment for students with special needs; understand amplification methods and strategies for promoting auditory skill development in students who are deaf or hard of hearing; understand how to promote language development in students who are deaf or hard of hearing, and more.

• Competency 0011: Understand how to establish a positive and productive learning environment for students with special needs. Skills tested: factors in the learning environment that affect students' self-esteem and attitudes toward learning; strategies for modifying learning environments to address various student needs, particularly needs related to hearing loss; strategies for crisis prevention/intervention; individual and group management strategies and intervention techniques for achieving instructional management goals (e.g., maintaining standards of behavior, maximizing time spent in learning).
• Competency 0012: Understand amplification methods and strategies for promoting auditory skill development in students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: types and uses of amplification systems (including hearing aids and auditory trainers) and procedures for using and maintaining them; identification and modification of environmental barriers for students who are deaf or hard of hearing; strategies for developing auditory and listening skills in students who are hearing impaired.
• Competency 0013: Understand how to promote language development in students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: strategies for helping students who are deaf or hard of hearing (including students with additional exceptionalities) meet specified goals relating to oral, written, and sign language; strategies for providing students with opportunities to use language meaningfully in authentic settings; evaluation, selection, and adaptation of instructional methods, resources, and technologies to promote students' language development.
• Competency 0014: Understand how to promote speech development in students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: strategies for promoting the ability of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (including students with additional exceptionalities) to meet specified speech goals; evaluation, selection, and adaptation of instructional methods, resources, and technologies to promote the speech production of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Competency 0015: Understand how to meet the overall communication needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: historical and current educational and sociological issues related to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (including students with additional exceptionalities); modes of communication (e.g., American Sign Language, various forms of manually coded English, auditory-oral approaches).
• Competency 0016: Understand how to promote the academic achievement of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: ways in which hearing loss may affect students' progress in the general education curriculum; knowledge of elementary and secondary curricula and teaching methods in reading, language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics; strategies for teaching reading, comprehension skills, and academic content to students who are deaf or hard of hearing (including students with additional exceptionalities); evaluation, selection, and adaptation of course content and of instructional methods, resources, and technologies to promote achievement in students with given language and auditory competencies; appropriate goals, objectives, activities, programs, and support to promote transition to post-secondary education or training.
• Competency 0017: Understand how to promote the functional living competence of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: strategies for promoting the independent living and prevocational and vocational skills of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (including students with additional exceptionalities); strategies for providing learning experiences to enhance transition readiness; evaluation, selection, and adaptation of instructional strategies, materials, technologies, and community resources to promote functional living, vocational/career competence, independent and community living skills, citizenship skills, awareness for various heritages, and participation in civic, leisure, and recreational activities.
• Competency 0018: Understand procedures for promoting self-advocacy in students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: strategies that promote self-advocacy, self-determination, responsibility, flexibility, tolerance, and increased independence in students; skills and behaviors that enhance self-advocacy; ways to encourage students to seek assistance and resources in different situations; strategies for promoting students' understanding of their legal rights and their willingness to advocate for those rights.

Competencies 19–22 make up about 19% of the test. They ask you to understand how to promote strong school-home relationships; understand how to establish partnerships with other members of the school community to enhance learning opportunities for students who are deaf or hard of hearing; understand how to encourage school-community interactions that enhance learning opportunities for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, and more.

• Competency 0019: Understand how to promote strong school-home relationships. Skills tested: strategies for establishing and maintaining communication with families from a variety of backgrounds; how to work collaboratively with families to promote their participation in planning and implementing their children's education; how to provide information, training, support, counseling, and referrals to families whose children are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Competency 0020: Understand how to establish partnerships with other members of the school community to enhance learning opportunities for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: consultation, collaboration, and communication skills and strategies for working with other school staff and support service providers (e.g., general education teachers) to solve problems and promote student achievement; strategies for effectively providing services in a variety of educational contexts (e.g., providing training to other teaching professionals individually and through inservice programs, coordinating instruction with other teaching professionals).
• Competency 0021: Understand how to encourage school-community interactions that enhance learning opportunities for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Skills tested: strategies for accessing and working effectively with agencies and services that can help meet the needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Competency 0022: Understand the history and philosophy of special education, key issues and trends, roles and responsibilities, and legal and ethical issues relevant to special education. Skills tested: the historical and philosophical foundations of special education and education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing; ways in which approaches to education for students who are deaf or hard of hearing have changed over time; current issues and trends in special education; legal and ethical issues in special education (e.g., confidentiality, personal involvement with students and families, student discipline); roles and responsibilities (including professional development) of teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing; mediation techniques; application of special education related regulations (e.g., the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA]) and guidelines (e.g., regarding referral, evaluation, eligibility, program development, due process).