FTCE ESE K-12 EXAM 2025 QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
IDEA - ANS Individuals with Disabilities Act. Requires states to provide free, appropriate
public education for all students with disabilities who participate in special education. The four
main challenge areas: learning, social/emotional, motor skills, and communication. The basic
source of law for special education. Represents the latest phase in the philosophy of educating
children with disabilities
*Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 - ANS Topeka, Kansas. Addressed the inequality of
"separate but equal" facilities on the basis of race. School segregation became illegal.
*Diana v. The State Board of Education, 1970 - ANS This case resulted in the decision that all
children must be tested in their native language
Wyatt v. Stickney, 1971 - ANS Established the right to adequate treatment (education) for
institutionalized persons with mental retardation
*Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
1972 - ANS The first right to education lawsuit. Laid the foundation for the right to education
for all children with disabilities previously denied if they had not attained a mental age of 5 by
the start of first grade. Special Education was guaranteed to children with mental retardation.
The victory in this case sparked other court cases for children with other disabilities.
1
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@COPYRIGHT @THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
, *Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, 1972 - ANS The right to special
education was extended to all children with disabilities, not just mentally retarded children.
Judgements in PARC and Mills paved the way for P.L. 94-142. Students with disabilities must be
given education regardless of the schools' financial limitations.
Public Law 93-112 (Rehabilitation Amendments of 1973) - ANS The first comprehensive
federal statute to address specifically the rights of disabled youth. It prohibited illegal
discrimination in education, employment, or housing on the basis of a disability.
Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - ANS Section 504 expands on older law by extending
its protection to other areas that receive federal assistance, such as education. Protected
individuals must (a) have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
major life activities, such as self-care, walking, seeing, breathing, working, or learning; (b) have
a record of such an impairment; or (c) be regarded as having such an impairment. A disability in
itself is not sufficient grounds for a complaint of discrimination. The person must be otherwise
qualified, or able to meet, the requirements of the program in question.
Public Law 93-380 (Education Amendments of 1974) - ANS P.L.94-142 is the funding portion
of this act. It required states to provide full educational opportunities for children with
disabilities. It addressed identification, fair evaluation, alternative placements, due process
procedures, and free, appropriate public education.
Public Law 94-142 Education for all Handicapped Children Act), 1975 - ANS Provided for a
free, appropriate public education for all children with disabilities, defined special education
and related services, and imposed rigid guidelines on the provisions of those services. It
paralleled the provision for a free and appropriate public education in section 504 of Public Law
94-142 and extended these services to preschool children with disabilities (ages 3-5) through
provisions to preschool incentive grants.
Seven fundamental provisions of IDEA - ANS 1. Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
2. Notification and procedural rights for parents.
3. Identification and services to all children
2
4. Necessary related services.
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@COPYRIGHT @THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
, 5. Individualized assessments
6. Individualized Education Plans (IEP's)
7. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Goss v. Lopez, 1975 - ANS This case ruled that the state could not deny a student education
without following due process. While this decision is not based on a special education issue, the
process of school suspension and expulsion is obviously critical in assuring an appropriate
public education to children with disabilities.
Public Law 95-56 (Gifted and Talented Children's Act), 1978 - ANS This case defined the
gifted and talented population, and focused upon this exceptionally category, which was not
included in Public Law 94-142
*Larry P. V. Riles, 1979 - ANS This case ordered the reevaluation of black students enrolled in
classes for educable mental retardation (EMR) and enjoined the California State Department of
Education from the use of intelligible tests in subsequent EMR placement decisions.
Parents in Action on Special Education (PASE) v. Hannon, 1980 - ANS Ruled that IQ tests are
necessarily biased against ethnic and racial subcultures.
Board of Education v. Rowley, 1982 - ANS Amy Rowley was a deaf elementary school student
whose parents rejected their school district's proposal to provide a tutor and speech therapist
services to supplement their daughter's instruction in the regular classroom. Her parents
insisted on an interpreter even though Amy was making satisfactory social, academic, and
educational progress without one. In deciding in favor of the school district, the Supreme Court
ruled that school districts must provide those services that permit a student with disabilities to
benefit from instruction. Essentially, the court ruled that the states are obligated to provide a
"basic floor of opportunity" that is reasonable to allow the child to benefit from social
education.
Public Law 98-199 (Education of the Handicapped Act [EHA] Amendments), 1983 - ANS P.L.
3
94-142 was amended to provide added emphasis on parental education and preschool,
Page
secondary, and post-secondary programs for children and youth with disabilities.
@COPYRIGHT @THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
AND ANSWERS
IDEA - ANS Individuals with Disabilities Act. Requires states to provide free, appropriate
public education for all students with disabilities who participate in special education. The four
main challenge areas: learning, social/emotional, motor skills, and communication. The basic
source of law for special education. Represents the latest phase in the philosophy of educating
children with disabilities
*Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 - ANS Topeka, Kansas. Addressed the inequality of
"separate but equal" facilities on the basis of race. School segregation became illegal.
*Diana v. The State Board of Education, 1970 - ANS This case resulted in the decision that all
children must be tested in their native language
Wyatt v. Stickney, 1971 - ANS Established the right to adequate treatment (education) for
institutionalized persons with mental retardation
*Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
1972 - ANS The first right to education lawsuit. Laid the foundation for the right to education
for all children with disabilities previously denied if they had not attained a mental age of 5 by
the start of first grade. Special Education was guaranteed to children with mental retardation.
The victory in this case sparked other court cases for children with other disabilities.
1
Page
@COPYRIGHT @THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
, *Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, 1972 - ANS The right to special
education was extended to all children with disabilities, not just mentally retarded children.
Judgements in PARC and Mills paved the way for P.L. 94-142. Students with disabilities must be
given education regardless of the schools' financial limitations.
Public Law 93-112 (Rehabilitation Amendments of 1973) - ANS The first comprehensive
federal statute to address specifically the rights of disabled youth. It prohibited illegal
discrimination in education, employment, or housing on the basis of a disability.
Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - ANS Section 504 expands on older law by extending
its protection to other areas that receive federal assistance, such as education. Protected
individuals must (a) have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
major life activities, such as self-care, walking, seeing, breathing, working, or learning; (b) have
a record of such an impairment; or (c) be regarded as having such an impairment. A disability in
itself is not sufficient grounds for a complaint of discrimination. The person must be otherwise
qualified, or able to meet, the requirements of the program in question.
Public Law 93-380 (Education Amendments of 1974) - ANS P.L.94-142 is the funding portion
of this act. It required states to provide full educational opportunities for children with
disabilities. It addressed identification, fair evaluation, alternative placements, due process
procedures, and free, appropriate public education.
Public Law 94-142 Education for all Handicapped Children Act), 1975 - ANS Provided for a
free, appropriate public education for all children with disabilities, defined special education
and related services, and imposed rigid guidelines on the provisions of those services. It
paralleled the provision for a free and appropriate public education in section 504 of Public Law
94-142 and extended these services to preschool children with disabilities (ages 3-5) through
provisions to preschool incentive grants.
Seven fundamental provisions of IDEA - ANS 1. Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
2. Notification and procedural rights for parents.
3. Identification and services to all children
2
4. Necessary related services.
Page
@COPYRIGHT @THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
, 5. Individualized assessments
6. Individualized Education Plans (IEP's)
7. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Goss v. Lopez, 1975 - ANS This case ruled that the state could not deny a student education
without following due process. While this decision is not based on a special education issue, the
process of school suspension and expulsion is obviously critical in assuring an appropriate
public education to children with disabilities.
Public Law 95-56 (Gifted and Talented Children's Act), 1978 - ANS This case defined the
gifted and talented population, and focused upon this exceptionally category, which was not
included in Public Law 94-142
*Larry P. V. Riles, 1979 - ANS This case ordered the reevaluation of black students enrolled in
classes for educable mental retardation (EMR) and enjoined the California State Department of
Education from the use of intelligible tests in subsequent EMR placement decisions.
Parents in Action on Special Education (PASE) v. Hannon, 1980 - ANS Ruled that IQ tests are
necessarily biased against ethnic and racial subcultures.
Board of Education v. Rowley, 1982 - ANS Amy Rowley was a deaf elementary school student
whose parents rejected their school district's proposal to provide a tutor and speech therapist
services to supplement their daughter's instruction in the regular classroom. Her parents
insisted on an interpreter even though Amy was making satisfactory social, academic, and
educational progress without one. In deciding in favor of the school district, the Supreme Court
ruled that school districts must provide those services that permit a student with disabilities to
benefit from instruction. Essentially, the court ruled that the states are obligated to provide a
"basic floor of opportunity" that is reasonable to allow the child to benefit from social
education.
Public Law 98-199 (Education of the Handicapped Act [EHA] Amendments), 1983 - ANS P.L.
3
94-142 was amended to provide added emphasis on parental education and preschool,
Page
secondary, and post-secondary programs for children and youth with disabilities.
@COPYRIGHT @THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
