Illinois PEL Study Guide | Questions and Answers (Complete Solutions)

Illinois PEL Study Guide | Questions and Answers (Complete Solutions) According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, in which of the following situations would a new student most likely be at the level of safety and security? a. Jackson knows only his next-door neighbor, who attends school with him. He plays basketball, but practice does not start for another two months. b. Jenny is living temporarily with relatives as a result of her parents; recent divorce and her family's long-term history of domestic violence. c. Juan moved to the area as a result of his father's job transfer. He is nervous about school and concerned about his appearance. d. Jamie's former school closed as a result of budget cuts. She knows most classmates but is concerned about losing touch with her old school friends. What is Maslow's hierarchy of needs? 1. Physiological needs 2. Safety and Security needs 3. Relationship / Love and Belonging Needs 4. Self esteem 5. self-actualization The mother of an intact family with four children seeks treatment for depression. The mother begins to function more effectively in the home and in the community. According to family systems theory, which of the following outcomes can be most clearly predicted for the family? a. Each member of the family will experience a significant improvement in his or her general affect. b. The mother's experiences will influence the roles or functions of each family member. c. The children in the family will look for new ways to ensure that their safety and security needs are met. d. The mother's experiences will prompt the father to seek greater personal and social power. What is the family systems theory? A perspective on family functioning that emphasizes interconnections among different family relationships (such as marital, parent-child, sibling). It views the family as a functioning unit that solves problems, makes decisions, and achieves collective goals. A teacher who is planning a long-term assignment could most effectively accommodate the diverse learning styles of third grade students by: a. Having students work independently when planning and working on their assignments. b. Providing students with clear guidelines regarding grading of the assignment. c. Allowing students to work cooperatively when planning and working on topics. d. Having students draw topics from a hat to determine the assignments and pairing the students as working partners. Which of the following describes the first step a school social worker should take before initiating referrals to community agencies for a student's family? a. Identifying the appropriate agency to meet the family's needs. b. Assist the student's parents/guardians as they complete an agency's forms. c. Ensure that the family if financially able to pay an agency's fees for service. d. Assess the effectiveness of the programs provided by an agency. A school social worker is starting a group for middle school students at risk for using drugs and alcohol. The social worker has obtained several referrals from teachers and interviewed the students individually. Which of the following would be the most appropriate goal for the group's first session? a. Making sure that students honestly disclose their experiments with drugs and alcohol. b. Establishing a sense of safety by creating clear rules and expectations. c. Describing the possible emotional and social costs of substance abuse. d. Discovering the students' misconceptions about drugs and alcohol. The school social worker is meeting with each of the teachers of a seventh grade student who has recently been diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Of the following interventions the school social worker could suggest to a teacher, which would best help the student remain on-task during class? a. Designing instruction that includes frequent breaks b. Implementing firm rules for all students' classroom behavior c. Providing direct instruction for basic academic skills. d. Permitting all students to move about freely in the classroom. How many days until you must complete an oral report for DCFS? 1 Day (24 hours) How many days until you must complete a written report for DCFS? 3 Days (72 hours) What are Erikson's stages of psychosocial development? 1. trust vs. mistrust 2. autonomy vs. shame and doubt 3. initiative vs. guilt 4. industry vs. inferiority 5. identity vs. role confusion 6. intimacy vs. isolation 7. generativity vs. stagnation 8. integrity vs. despair How old is Erikson's Stage for Trust vs. Mistrust? 0-18 months How old is Erikson's Stage for Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt? 18-36 months How old is Erikson's Stage for Initiative vs. Guilt? 3-6 years How old is Erikson's Stage for Industry vs. Inferiority? 6-13 years How old is Erikson's Stage for Identity vs. Role Confusion? 13-18 years How old is Erikson's Stage for Intimacy vs. Isolation? 18-35 years What are Kohlberg's stages of moral development? 1) preconventional 2) conventional 3) postconventional When does preconventional morality occur? What is it? Before age 9, children show morality to avoid punishment or gain reward. The child's behavior is governed by the consequences of the behavior. When does conventional morality occur? What is it? By early adolescence, the second level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the child's behavior is governed by conforming to the society's norms of behavior to gain social approval or maintain social order. When does postconventional morality occur? What is it? Usually around late adolescence. The third level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the person's behavior is governed by moral principles that have been decided on by the individual and that may be in disagreement with accepted social norms. What are Piaget's stages of cognitive development? 1. sensorimotor 2. preoperational 3. concrete operational 4. formal operational When does the sensorimotor stage occur? 0-2 years When does the preoperational stage occur? 2-7 years When does the concrete operational stage occur? 7-11 years When does the formal operational stage occur? 11+ years What is egocentrism? In Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view. It is the tendency of people to be concerned above all with their own values, beliefs, and well-being What is egocentrism in the Sensorimotor Stage? To be out of sight, out of mind. What 3 stages is egocentrism found? 1) Sensorimotor Stage 2) Preoperational Stage 3) Concrete Operational Stage What is the Group Development Stages? 1. Forming 2. Storming 3. Norming 4. Performing 5. Adjourning What are Freud's stages of psychosexual development? 1) oral stage 2) anal stage 3) phallic stage 4) latency stage 5) genital stage When is the oral stage of psychosexual development? 0-18 months When is the anal stage of psychosexual development? 18 months to 3 years When is the phallic stage of psychosexual development? 3-6 years When is the latency stage of psychosexual development? 6 years to puberty (12 years) When is the genital stage of psychosexual development? puberty to adulthood What is Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory? personality is shaped by childhood experiences and unconscious thoughts/desires. What are the three stages of the personality according to Freud? 1) id 2) ego 3) superego What is the id? The pleasure principle. It is the seat of aggression and sexual impulse. It is devoid of logic and time orientation. It is chaotic and bodily focused. What is the ego? This is the reality principle in Freudian theory. It indicates power of reasoning and control over behavior. It helps keep the impulses of the id in check. What is the superego? It's our moral conscience, and is found as part of the conscious and unconscious mind. What are the three levels of the mind? 1) conscious 2) preconscious 3) unconscious What is the conscious mind? The level of the mind that is aware of immediate surroundings and perceptions. What is the preconscious mind? Freud's term for what is stored in one's memory that one is not presently aware of but can access. What is the unconscious mind? The level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness. What is an IEP? A plan with accommodations and modifications for a student with potential academic challenges. What is a 504 plan? A plan for students with disabilities who do not have an IEP but have a disability and require reasonable accommodation while attending school. Modifications vs. Accommodations Modifications mean that you are modifying the actual curriculum. Accommodations mean you are NOT changing the curriculum but accommodating the students with extra supports. IDEA Disability Categories 1) Autism Spectrum Disorder 2) Deaf-blindness 3) Deafness 4) Emotional disturbance (ED) 5) Hearing impairment 6) Intellectual disability (ID) 7) Multiple disabilities 8) Orthopedic impairment 9) Other health impairment (OHI) 10) Specific Learning Disability (SLD) 11) Speech or Language Impairment 12) Traumatic brain injury (TBI) 13) Visual Impairment / including blindness What is an emotional disturbance disorder in IDEA? An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors. It's an inability to build/maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships w/ peers/teachers. May have Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings with a general pervasive mood or unhappiness/depression. There may be a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal/school problems. What is included in other health impairment? Asthma, ADHD, diabetes, epilepsy, heart condition, Tourettes, etc. What is Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory? 1. You 2. Microsystem (frequent interactions: family, school, peers, work, church) 3. Mesosystem (social connections, relationships) 4. Exosystem (Economic, political, education, government) 5. Macrosystem (social norms, overarching beliefs and values, policies) 6. Chronosystem (Dimension of time) Which of the following is the best confirmation of the reliability of data obtained in behavioral research? a. the data collected for one research project can be used in another project examining a similar behavioral process. b. A researcher is able to show that the data reflect the behavioral process being examined. c. A researcher takes special precautions to ensure that his or her preconceptions due not influence the data collection process. d. Several independent researchers achieve similar results when using the same methodology. Which of the following is the most effective first step in gathering information to assess the medical factors that affect an elementary student's learning? a. Interviewing the student about his or her medical history b. Arranging for the student to be examined by a local pediatrician c. Interviewing the student's physician about his or her medical history. d. Asking the student's parents to release the student's medical records. In the course of developing a behavioral intervention plan for a seventh grade boy, the school social worker interviews him, observes him in the classroom, and asks his parents and teachers to complete behavioral rating scales about him. This evaluative process can be described as: a. a social-developmental assessment b. an adaptive behavior assessment c. a functional behavior assessment d. an informal individual assessment The most effective way for a school social worker to include parents/guardians in the special needs assessment process for their child is to: a. Wait for them to signal when they are ready to take a role in the process. b. Make a home visit to explain the benefits of their participation in the process. c. Mail them an information packet with instructions for how to participate in the process. d. Ask the teacher to call the with updates about their child and the assessment process. Which of the following communication techniques would be most effective for a school social worker to use to avoid adversarial discussions with students' parents/guardians? a. expressing concerns in a nonjudgmental manner b. controlling facial expressions c. being open and honest about important information d. summarizing important points When initiating a consulting relationship with teachers, a school social worker's most effective strategy would be offering to: a. identify important needs in different areas. b. recruit community resources c. mediate between students and their teachers d. build rapport with teachers Jane is a middle school student new to the school district with a recent history of a disrupted adoption and school discipline problems. Her caseworker would like to add school-based services to the therapy and specialized foster care that Jane receives. Of the following interventions, which would be the most proactive and collaborative one for the school social worker to suggest? a. inviting Jane to join a support group for new students b. Meeting with Jane, her caseworker, and her therapist to develop a supportive plan for her at school. c. Meeting with Jane and her teachers to build a relationship and identify school resources. d. Pairing Jane with a peer "buddy" to help her adjust to the school When survey results indicate a high rate of depression among local high school students, it would be most appropriate for the school social worker to advocate for: a. sending parents/guardians a letter informing them of treatments for depression b. presenting a school assembly on the causes of depression c. creating a program to screen students for depression. d. distributing a flyer listing the symptoms of depression Which of the following would best promote the development of social responsibility in a student who is working to manage her anger more effectively? a. mentoring a younger student with similar issues b. joining a school-based support group c. keeping a journal to reflect on her emotional growth d. getting involved in student government Three students with attendance problems report to the school social worker that they are being bulled in one wing of the school building. The school social worker requests a meeting with the principal to address bullying and the climate in the wing. Which of the following would be the most effective approach to engage the principal in an effort to change the school climate? a. giving the principal research data about the way bullying affects the students b. having the three students attend the meeting and describe the bullying c. suggesting that the principal ask teachers in that wing about the bullying d. bringing objective information and evidence of the bullying to the meeting. Which of the following interventions would be most likely to promote within the school staff an understanding of factors that affect the educational environment? a. Asking teachers to observe an after-school program in which students at risk of academic failure tutor younger students b. Giving teachers the address of a Web site listing social services available in the community c. Providing workshops for teachers about the social and cultural barriers to learning d. Encouraging teachers to discuss student employment with local businesspeople A fourth-grade teacher is planning a lesson on family history. Knowing that families have different structures, the teacher is concerned about having the class make family trees and has asked the school social worker for advice. Which of the following suggestions would be the most appropriate for the school social worker to offer in this case? a. make the assignment and ignore the family differences b. give some children a parallel project to complete while others make their family trees c. use a different activity that will accommodate a variety of family constellations. d. ask children to write about their families and read their work aloud for the class According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) standards, school social workers who are developing plans of action for students should give particular consideration to the capacity of all students to: a. be involved in directing their own learning b. distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior c. understand the consequences of their actions d. learn from the examples of their teachers and peers Membership in a national organization provides a school social worker with which of the following benefits? a. annuities and other investment options for retirement accounts b. medical and prescription drug insurance c. legal representation for malpractice claims d. information about current research and practices in the field Which of the following students is most clearly demonstrating strength in the area of practical intelligence? a. Sanjay experiments with different textures and patterns during a painting unit in art class. b. Ahna systematically observes how different variables affect plant growth for a science experiment. c. Jason takes detailed notes during instruction and highlights important vocabulary in his notes. d. Yolanda applies geometry and measurement concepts to construct a scale model of the school. What is practical intelligence? How well a person can apply the analytic intelligence (i.e., ability to use, apply, implement, and put ideas into practice). It refers to "street-smarts" or the ability to apply what we know to real-world situations. What are the three types of Sternberg's Intelligence Theory? 1) Analytic intelligence 2) Creative intelligence 3) Practical intelligence What is analytical intelligence? The academic ability to solve well defined problems. It involves the skills traditionally thought of as reflecting intelligence: the ability to compare and contrast, explain, and analyze. What is creative intelligence? The ability to deal with new and different concepts and to come up with new ways of solving problems. It includes the ability to create, design, invent, originate, and imagine. It focuses on people's ability to use their knowledge and experiences in new and innovative ways. Students who attend schools where teachers and staff reflect students' cultural and racial characteristics generally experience enhanced: a. identity development. b. social interactions. c. peer relationships. d. self-management skills. What is identity formation? Identity formation is a process that takes many years, and role models are crucial in the formation of identity. When students have the opportunity to have role models who share their racial, cultural, and linguistic characteristics, they are better able to work through the process of identity formation. Which of the following elements of the educational environment is most essential in supporting second-language acquisition? a. regular, structured opportunities to recite new vocabulary in the second language b. ongoing feedback on appropriate pronunciation and syntax in the second language c. frequent, multisensory exposure to comprehensible input in the second language d. explicit instruction in the grammar and mechanics of the second language What is input language? Input is language that the student either hears or reads that aims at communicating something. For input to promote second-language learning, it must be comprehensible. What is comprehensible input? Comprehensible input allows students to figure things out by themselves using the context and background provided. When students can understand the meaning of some words but can't interpret others, the knowledge of the background or context can point them in the direction of the unknown words. A school social worker will be providing individual counseling for a fourth-grade student with generalized anxiety disorder. The student performs slightly above grade level, but consistently demonstrates undue concern and fretting behaviors related to school assignments and assessments, including hypervigilance about due dates, grades, and work quality. Appropriate interventions for this student should include which of the following elements? a. working with the student's teachers to increase their use of ungraded learning tasks b. helping the student develop concrete strategies for coping with key stressors c. instituting daily check-ins with a teacher for the student to review progress d. enhancing the student's ability to communicate concerns effectively Which of the following approaches would be most appropriate for a school social worker to emphasize when members of a small group begin having disagreements and challenging the process during sessions? a. discontinuing group sessions temporarily to give group members an opportunity to cool off b. enforcing the ground rules established by the group and refocusing members on the goals of the group c. inviting a third party, such as an administrator, to attend a session to observe and provide members with feedback d. providing the group with an icebreaker activity designed to help them get to know each other better A school social worker has been working with a student who displays aggressive behavior that is interfering with other students' ability to learn despite different interventions by the teacher. Based on the social learning theory, the school social worker should employ which of the following strategies? a. collaborating with the student's teachers to evaluate current behavioral intervention techniques b. reviewing the student's school records to obtain further information about the history of the behavior c. identifying role models that the student is regularly exposed to who could be reinforcing the behavior d. scheduling a meeting with the student's parents/guardians to discuss the behavioral concerns What is social learning theory? Social learning theory, theorized by Albert Bandura, posits that people learn from one another through observation, imitation, and modeling. People learn not only by observing others' behavior and attitudes, but also by observing the outcomes of those behaviors and attitudes. Which of the following roles does a school social worker typically fulfill with regard to the education of a student who receives services through several outside agencies? a. acting as a liaison to all relevant collateral contacts to meet the student's educational needs b. assembling pertinent information about the school curriculum for the student's parents/guardians c. reporting assessment data to the student support team on the student's educational progress d. identifying alternative instructional methods and materials to individuals who work with the student In an assessment context, the concept of cultural loading refers to the: a. administration of unique test forms that are responsive to different cultures. b. extent to which a test requires knowledge of and experience with the dominant culture. c. provision of culturally based special accommodations for a test. d. understanding that individuals view test questions through a personal cultural lens. What is cultural loading? Cultural loading is the degree to which a test or item is specific to a particular culture, usually the dominant culture. A test with greater cultural loading has greater potential bias when administered to people of diverse cultures. The mean, median, and mode of the scores on an assessment are all equal. This characteristic represents a: a. normal distribution of assessment data. b. positive correlation between validity and reliability. c. small standard error of measurement. d. wide confidence interval for a true score on the assessment. What does it mean to have a normal distribution of scores? Normal distributions are symmetric, unimodal, and asymptotic, and the mean, median, and mode are all equal. A normal distribution is perfectly symmetrical around its center. That is, the right side of the center is a mirror image of the left side, representing what is generally known as a bell curve. An educational team has completed a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) for a five-year-old kindergarten student who is eligible for special education services under the category of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The educational team has collected information about events that are occurring in the student's educational environment and identified causes of the student's problem behaviors. Which of the following steps would be most appropriate to take next in addressing the student's behavioral needs in school? a. gathering antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) data b. completing an adaptive behavior assessment c. researching Positive Behavior Support (PBS) strategies d. developing a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) An 18-year-old high school student who has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is due for a reevaluation of special education services. At the special education conference the previous year, the school notified the student and the student's parents/guardians of the transfer of rights in writing and provided them with a Delegation of Rights form. The student has not submitted the Delegation of Rights form. In addition, the student has indicated that he does not want to participate in the reevaluation of special education services. Based on this information, which of the following statements best describes the student's rights in the reevaluation process? a. Input into the reevaluation will be delegated to outside agencies working with the student. b. Responses to reevaluation notices is the responsibility of the student's parents/guardians. c. The decision of whether or not to participate in the reevaluation process is the student's. d. Decisions about the reevaluation process fall primarily to the student's school. A primary purpose of peer mediation programs is to: a. identify students who may require formal interventions to address conflicts. b. enable administrators to work directly with students to resolve conflicts. c. teach students how to resolve conflicts in conjunction with school adults. d. support students in independently resolving interpersonal conflicts. What is peer mediation? Peer mediation is a form of conflict resolution in which trained student leaders help their peers work together to resolve everyday disputes. In peer mediation, a trained student acts as neutral mediator helping parties in conflict to understand the root causes of their dispute and to ultimately agree on a plan for resolving the conflict. A middle school team, led by the school social worker, implemented a community involvement program for students. Students in each grade level choose a community group or initiative in which to participate throughout the school year. For example, sixth-grade students chose to participate in activities for the community food bank. As the school year draws to a close, the team would like to evaluate the program's effectiveness. The team can best evaluate the program's effectiveness by gathering data that focuses primarily on which of the following questions? a. In what ways did program activities change during the course of the school year? b. Did student participation levels vary according to grade level? c. What effects did the program have on the students and on the targeted community need? d. Was the program well-accepted by school staff and community partners? What is outcome data? Outcome data reveals changes in program participants and/or recipients of services as a result of program activities. Positive outcome data generally means that one or more of the program's activities, services, or areas of focus were effective in promoting desired results. A new school social worker who wants to act as an effective change agent in the school should begin by taking which of the following actions? a. learning about the roles and functions of school personnel and how the school currently makes decisions b. analyzing the results of previous family and staff surveys about current school programs and services