PRAXIS (5402) SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST |ACTUAL
QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS|BRAND NEW
2026-2027 UPDATE|GRADED A+
Question 1
Sue is a second grade student who struggles with reading. It happens that Sue's teacher
lives next door to a reading specialist in the school district. Sue's teacher asked her
neighbor to look at Sue's standardized reading test to offer some advice. What law has
Sue's teacher violated?
A.The Federal Confideniality Act of 1975?
B.No law was violated because teacher are government employees.
C.IDEA law right to privacy
D.Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
CORRECT ANSWER
D. FERPA law governs student information and confidentiality related to educational
records.
Ethical, Legal, and Professional Foundation
Question 2
Noam Chomsky is known for what psychological idea?
A. People have a predisposition to acquire language
B. Children who come from impoverished backgrounds are more likely to have behavioral
and emotional difficulties
C. Whole-word reading is innate
D. Children acquire language skills through explicit instruction
CORRECT ANSWER
1
@THE STUDY VAULT
, A. Noam Chomsky is known for concepts related to language development and language
acquisition device.
Applied Psychological Principles
Question 3
A school wants to adopt a new but controversial math curriculum. As a school
psychologist, you are called in for a consultation. What do you tell the school's principal
about best practices in this situation?
A. There will be resistance from some parents, so a meeting should be held with concerned
parents.
B. Parents need a way to voice their opinions during the adoption phase.
C. The school should seek consensus on this issue because parents must agree on such an
important topic
D. The school needs to consult with curriculum experts so that parents can make informed
decisions.
CORRECT ANSWER
B. During a professional consultation situation, parents (not just concerned parents)
must have an avenue to express themselves and feel as if their opinions are considered.
Consultation and Collaboration
Question 4
What type of goal setting approach is most appropriate when teaching teenage students?
A. Goal setting that is within the student's Zone of Proximal Development
B. Mastery goal setting that increases performance and decreases anxiety
C. Performance goal setting based on classroom norms
2
@THE STUDY VAULT
,D. High goals and standards to keep students striving for achievement
CORRECT ANSWER
A. Although a few other choices are valid, answer "A" is the best response because it has a
specific basis in pedagogy. While it is important to have high and realistic goals when
teaching students, students perform best when goals are individualized. Educational goals
need to be within a student's specific and attainable limits, which is called the ZPD.
Research-based Academic Practices
Question 5
Which neurotransmitters are primarily implicated in depression?
A. Melatonin, serotonin, and dopamine
B. Serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins
C. Serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine
D. Glutamate, dopamine, and melatonin
CORRECT ANSWER
C. Serotonin is the major brain chemical that is implicated in clinical depression. Although
other brain chemicals, such as glutamate, might also play a role in depression, the other
answer choices do not support its combination with other neurochemicals. Of the
combinations provided, norepinephrine and dopamine are the other two neurotransmitters
primarily supported by research.
Applied Psychological Principles
Question 6
A parent asks you to perform an emotional assessment on her daughter. When
interviewing the parent for more background information on the situation, the mother
mentions that her daughter has no friends and she appears withdrawn, sad, and anxious.
3
@THE STUDY VAULT
, Given the mother's observations, what is the most appropriate tool to initially use in your
assessment?
A. The Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)
B. The Vineland
C. The Clinical Scales of Depression in Children-II
D. The Beck Depression Inventory.
CORRECT ANSWER
A. Despite the two traits associated with possible depression (e.g., withdrawal and
sadness), the additional comment about anxiety indicates that a braod-spectrum tool
such as the BASC is a valid assessment to initially use.
Data-Based Decision Making
Question 7
A child you recently tested with the Differential Ability Scales (DAS-II) had a General
Conceptual Ability (GCA) standard score of 85. The student's Vineland assessment from
the teacher illustrated an overall standard score of 61, but the mother's Vineland resulted
in an overall standard score of 87 and the father's Vineland revealed a score of 75. You
determine that the discrepancy between the adaptive assessment scores is most likely due
to:
A. Measurement error inherent in all tests, psychometrically referred to as standard error of
measurement (SEM)
B. Differences in contextual factors, the child behaves differently in different settings.
C. The subjectivity and different perceptions of raters.
D. The difficulty associated with completing complex surveys.
CORRECT ANSWER
C. This is a very difficult question to answer because other answer choices could be correct,
but the best answer is C. Given the presenting facts of this case, it is unlikely a student would
score over 20 standard points higher at home than at school because the inter-rater
4
@THE STUDY VAULT
QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS|BRAND NEW
2026-2027 UPDATE|GRADED A+
Question 1
Sue is a second grade student who struggles with reading. It happens that Sue's teacher
lives next door to a reading specialist in the school district. Sue's teacher asked her
neighbor to look at Sue's standardized reading test to offer some advice. What law has
Sue's teacher violated?
A.The Federal Confideniality Act of 1975?
B.No law was violated because teacher are government employees.
C.IDEA law right to privacy
D.Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
CORRECT ANSWER
D. FERPA law governs student information and confidentiality related to educational
records.
Ethical, Legal, and Professional Foundation
Question 2
Noam Chomsky is known for what psychological idea?
A. People have a predisposition to acquire language
B. Children who come from impoverished backgrounds are more likely to have behavioral
and emotional difficulties
C. Whole-word reading is innate
D. Children acquire language skills through explicit instruction
CORRECT ANSWER
1
@THE STUDY VAULT
, A. Noam Chomsky is known for concepts related to language development and language
acquisition device.
Applied Psychological Principles
Question 3
A school wants to adopt a new but controversial math curriculum. As a school
psychologist, you are called in for a consultation. What do you tell the school's principal
about best practices in this situation?
A. There will be resistance from some parents, so a meeting should be held with concerned
parents.
B. Parents need a way to voice their opinions during the adoption phase.
C. The school should seek consensus on this issue because parents must agree on such an
important topic
D. The school needs to consult with curriculum experts so that parents can make informed
decisions.
CORRECT ANSWER
B. During a professional consultation situation, parents (not just concerned parents)
must have an avenue to express themselves and feel as if their opinions are considered.
Consultation and Collaboration
Question 4
What type of goal setting approach is most appropriate when teaching teenage students?
A. Goal setting that is within the student's Zone of Proximal Development
B. Mastery goal setting that increases performance and decreases anxiety
C. Performance goal setting based on classroom norms
2
@THE STUDY VAULT
,D. High goals and standards to keep students striving for achievement
CORRECT ANSWER
A. Although a few other choices are valid, answer "A" is the best response because it has a
specific basis in pedagogy. While it is important to have high and realistic goals when
teaching students, students perform best when goals are individualized. Educational goals
need to be within a student's specific and attainable limits, which is called the ZPD.
Research-based Academic Practices
Question 5
Which neurotransmitters are primarily implicated in depression?
A. Melatonin, serotonin, and dopamine
B. Serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins
C. Serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine
D. Glutamate, dopamine, and melatonin
CORRECT ANSWER
C. Serotonin is the major brain chemical that is implicated in clinical depression. Although
other brain chemicals, such as glutamate, might also play a role in depression, the other
answer choices do not support its combination with other neurochemicals. Of the
combinations provided, norepinephrine and dopamine are the other two neurotransmitters
primarily supported by research.
Applied Psychological Principles
Question 6
A parent asks you to perform an emotional assessment on her daughter. When
interviewing the parent for more background information on the situation, the mother
mentions that her daughter has no friends and she appears withdrawn, sad, and anxious.
3
@THE STUDY VAULT
, Given the mother's observations, what is the most appropriate tool to initially use in your
assessment?
A. The Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)
B. The Vineland
C. The Clinical Scales of Depression in Children-II
D. The Beck Depression Inventory.
CORRECT ANSWER
A. Despite the two traits associated with possible depression (e.g., withdrawal and
sadness), the additional comment about anxiety indicates that a braod-spectrum tool
such as the BASC is a valid assessment to initially use.
Data-Based Decision Making
Question 7
A child you recently tested with the Differential Ability Scales (DAS-II) had a General
Conceptual Ability (GCA) standard score of 85. The student's Vineland assessment from
the teacher illustrated an overall standard score of 61, but the mother's Vineland resulted
in an overall standard score of 87 and the father's Vineland revealed a score of 75. You
determine that the discrepancy between the adaptive assessment scores is most likely due
to:
A. Measurement error inherent in all tests, psychometrically referred to as standard error of
measurement (SEM)
B. Differences in contextual factors, the child behaves differently in different settings.
C. The subjectivity and different perceptions of raters.
D. The difficulty associated with completing complex surveys.
CORRECT ANSWER
C. This is a very difficult question to answer because other answer choices could be correct,
but the best answer is C. Given the presenting facts of this case, it is unlikely a student would
score over 20 standard points higher at home than at school because the inter-rater
4
@THE STUDY VAULT
