A hearing aid has three basic parts. Which are they?Answer: A microphone, an amplifier and a speaker. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "Hearing Aids". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, I. Characteristics of Learners and Their Development (16%), K.2 components of a hearing device.
According to NIDCD, what share of deaf children are born to hearing parents?Answer: More than 90%. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "Quick Statistics About Hearing, Balance, and Dizziness". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, I. Characteristics of Learners and Their Development (16%), H. family and shared language.
In which part of the ear do the hair cells ride the wave that sound sets up along the basilar membrane?Answer: The cochlea of the inner ear. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "How Do We Hear?". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, I. Characteristics of Learners and Their Development (16%), C. hearing mechanism.
Show all 47 questions (44 more)
Learners and their development, continued
Since 2020, from what age have cochlear implants been FDA approved for eligible children?Answer: From 9 months. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "Cochlear Implants". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, I. Characteristics of Learners and Their Development (16%), J.2 identify candidacy criteria.
What does prelingual deafness refer to?Answer: Deafness that occurs before a child learns speech or language. Source: Wikipedia, "Prelingual deafness". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, I. Characteristics of Learners and Their Development (16%), G. effects of etiology, age, and degree of loss.
What does research suggest about the first few years of a child's life?Answer: They are the most crucial to the development of language skills. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "American Sign Language". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, I. Characteristics of Learners and Their Development (16%), I.1 how early communication can improve language development.
Where does the root cause of a sensorineural hearing loss lie?Answer: In the inner ear, the cochlea and its structures, or the vestibulocochlear nerve. Source: Wikipedia, "Sensorineural hearing loss". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, I. Characteristics of Learners and Their Development (16%), D.2 types of hearing loss.
Which infection before birth is the most common cause of non-genetic sensorineural hearing loss in children?Answer: Cytomegalovirus (CMV). Source: Wikipedia, "Congenital cytomegalovirus infection". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, I. Characteristics of Learners and Their Development (16%), F.1 typical etiologies of hearing loss (e.g., heredity, CMV).
Assessment and program planning 11
A hard of hearing student was last evaluated in second grade, and nobody has asked for new testing since. What does IDEA require?Answer: A reevaluation at least once every 3 years, unless parent and agency agree it is unnecessary. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.303(b)(2). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), A.1 the referral-to-placement process.
A kindergartner fails a school hearing screening, and her parents sign consent for an initial evaluation. Their state has set no timeframe of its own. How soon must the evaluation be conducted?Answer: Within 60 days. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.301(c)(1). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), A.1 the referral-to-placement process.
A language sample of 100 utterances holds 250 morphemes. What is the mean length of utterance?Answer: 2.5. Source: Wikipedia, "Mean length of utterance". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), K.1 define and calculate mean length of utterance (MLU).
A student's audiogram shows thresholds of 75 dB HL. On the chart ASHA publishes, which range of hearing loss is that?Answer: Severe. Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, "Degree of Hearing Loss". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), B.3 ranges of hearing loss.
A team wants to plan a deaf student's reading program from one test score, and the test was normed on hearing children. What do the IDEA evaluation procedures say?Answer: No single measure may be the sole criterion. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.304(b)(2). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), J. gathering data for recommendations.
Besides parents, teachers and an agency representative, which member does the IEP team include to make sense of the testing?Answer: An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.321(a)(5). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), I. stakeholder roles in the IEP process.
For an individual with deafness, how do the IDEA regulations define the mode of communication that counts as native language?Answer: The mode normally used by the individual, such as sign language. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.29(b). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), E.2 assessments in a student's first or preferred language.
How is hearing displayed on an audiogram?Answer: Frequency in hertz on the x-axis and loudness in decibels on the y-axis. Source: Wikipedia, "Speech banana". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), B.1 interpret a pure tone audiogram.
Under IDEA, in what language or mode must assessments be provided and administered?Answer: In the child's native language or other mode of communication. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.304(c)(1)(ii). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), E.2 assessments in a student's first or preferred language.
What does a norm-referenced test yield?Answer: An estimate of the tested person's position in a predefined population. Source: Wikipedia, "Norm-referenced test". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), C.2 standard score, raw score, grade equivalent, and norms.
What is the speech banana?Answer: The region of an audiogram where the sounds of human languages appear. Source: Wikipedia, "Speech banana". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, II. Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning (23%), B.4 implications of audiological results for spoken language.
Instruction and pedagogy 11
By when must an IEP include measurable postsecondary goals and transition services?Answer: Not later than the first IEP in effect when the child turns 16. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.320(b). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), G. transitions.
How do ASL users ask a question?Answer: By raising their eyebrows, widening their eyes and tilting their bodies forward. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "American Sign Language". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), B. language development.
How does Cued Speech make a spoken language visible?Answer: A small number of handshapes for consonants are shown in locations near the mouth for vowels. Source: Wikipedia, "Cued speech". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), D. instructional techniques.
What does auditory-verbal therapy teach deaf children to do?Answer: To listen and speak using hearing technology such as hearing aids and implants. Source: Wikipedia, "Auditory-verbal therapy". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), D.6 benefits of Listening and Spoken Language (LSL).
What is fingerspelling often used for in ASL?Answer: Proper names, or the English word for something. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "American Sign Language". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), F. literacy and communication skills.
What is manually coded English?Answer: A set of invented manual codes meant to show the exact grammar and morphology of spoken English. Source: Wikipedia, "Manually coded English". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), D. instructional techniques.
What is phonological awareness?Answer: Awareness of the sound structure of words. Source: Wikipedia, "Phonological awareness". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), F.4 skills necessary for literacy development (e.g., phonological awareness).
What is Total Communication?Answer: An approach that uses a number of modes, signed, oral, auditory, written and visual, to fit the person. Source: Wikipedia, "Total Communication". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), D. instructional techniques.
What marks a bilingual-bicultural (bi-bi) deaf education program?Answer: Sign language is used as the native, or first, language to teach deaf children. Source: Wikipedia, "Bilingual–bicultural education". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), D.6 benefits of ASL instruction and Listening and Spoken Language (LSL).
Which statement about American Sign Language matches NIDCD?Answer: It is a complete, natural language with grammar that differs from English. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "American Sign Language". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), D.6 benefits of American Sign Language instruction (ASL).
Why can a speechreader not tell the sounds p, b and m apart by sight alone?Answer: They belong to one group of sounds that look alike on the lips. Source: Wikipedia, "Lip reading". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), F. literacy and communication skills.
The learning environment 8
A public school is deciding which auxiliary aid to give a deaf parent at a meeting. What does the ADA Title II rule require?Answer: The school gives primary consideration to the request of the individual with a disability. Source: ADA Title II regulations, 28 CFR 35.160. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, IV. Planning and Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment (18%).
For a child who is deaf or hard of hearing, what must the IEP team consider as a special factor?Answer: The child's language and communication needs, and chances for direct communication with peers and staff in the child's mode. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.324(a)(2)(iv). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, IV. Planning and Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment (18%).
How do alerting devices tell a deaf person that the doorbell or a wake-up alarm has gone off?Answer: By sound, light, vibrations or a combination. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "Assistive Devices for People with Hearing, Voice, Speech, or Language Disorders". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, IV. Planning and Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment (18%).
How does a video relay service call work?Answer: Video links the ASL user with a communications assistant, who signs with the user and speaks to the hearing party. Source: Federal Communications Commission, consumer guide "Video Relay Services". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, III. Instructional Content and General Pedagogy (23%), B.3 help learners use technology (e.g., video-relay services).
In a classroom FM system, who wears the microphone and transmitter?Answer: The instructor. Source: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), "Assistive Devices for People with Hearing, Voice, Speech, or Language Disorders". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, IV. Planning and Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment (18%).
What does a CART operator do during a lesson?Answer: Writes the exact words spoken so that they appear as text on a screen. Source: Wikipedia, "Communication access real-time translation". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, IV. Planning and Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment (18%).
What does the IDEA rule on the least restrictive environment say about where children with disabilities are taught?Answer: To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities are educated with children who are nondisabled. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.114(a)(2). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, IV. Planning and Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment (18%).
Which list is the continuum of alternative placements that a public agency must have available?Answer: Instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, at home, and in hospitals and institutions. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.115(b). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, IV. Planning and Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment (18%).
Foundations and professional practice 9
A district proposes to change a deaf student's placement. What must it give the parents a reasonable time beforehand?Answer: Written notice. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.503(a). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
An outside tutor asks a teacher of the deaf for a student's audiological report. What does FERPA require before the school discloses it?Answer: A signed and dated written consent from the parent or eligible student, unless an exception applies. Source: FERPA regulations, 34 CFR 99.30. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
How do the IDEA regulations define deafness?Answer: A hearing impairment so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing. Source: IDEA Part B regulations, 34 CFR 300.8(c)(3) and (c)(5). Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
What did the 1880 congress on the education of the deaf in Milan declare?Answer: That oral education was superior to manual education, with a resolution banning sign language in school. Source: Wikipedia, "Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
What did the research of William Stokoe, a professor at Gallaudet, lead to?Answer: A widespread recognition that sign languages are true languages, with syntax and morphology. Source: Wikipedia, "William Stokoe". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
What did the Supreme Court hold in Board of Education v. Rowley (1982)?Answer: The 1975 Act does not require interpreters for deaf students who are otherwise receiving an equal and adequate education. Source: Wikipedia, "Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
What set off the Deaf President Now protest at Gallaudet University in March 1988?Answer: The board's choice of a hearing candidate over deaf candidates as president. Source: Wikipedia, "Deaf President Now". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
Which school, founded in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1817, counts Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc among its founders?Answer: The American School for the Deaf. Source: Wikipedia, "American School for the Deaf". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
Why is the word Deaf often written with a capital D?Answer: To mark it as a cultural label, apart from the audiological condition. Source: Wikipedia, "Deaf culture". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5272, V. Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice (20%).
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the content topics of the ETS Study Companion for Praxis Special Education: Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students (5272) (https://www.ets.org/pdfs/praxis/5272.pdf, read 2026-10-13; test page https://praxis.ets.org/test/5272.html): five content categories, Characteristics of Learners and Their Development 16%, Assessment, Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Program Planning 23%, Instructional Content and General Pedagogy 23%, Planning and Managing the Teaching and Learning Environment 18%, Foundations of Deaf Education and Professional Practice 20%. The bank holds 8, 11, 11, 8 and 9 questions. Every fact was read on 2026-10-13 on the public page the question names: the IDEA, FERPA and ADA regulations (34 CFR 300 and 99, 28 CFR 35.160, law.cornell.edu), the health pages of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (nidcd.nih.gov), the FCC consumer guide to video relay services, the degree of hearing loss chart of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and Wikipedia articles on the methods and the history of deaf education. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
A deaf education Praxis study guide in two parts: the outline ETS publishes for test 5272, and 47 practice questions of our own on it. Unofficial. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by ETS.
Read the full guide
What Praxis 5272 covers
Special Education: Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students has 120 selected-response questions in 2 hours (ETS Study Companion, read October 13, 2026). Characteristics of Learners 16%, Assessment and Program Planning 23%, Instructional Content and Pedagogy 23%, the Teaching and Learning Environment 18%, Foundations and Professional Practice 20%.
What to study in each
Hearing loss, its causes and cochlear implants. Audiograms, IDEA evaluation rules, mean length of utterance. ASL, Cued Speech, Total Communication, bilingual-bicultural programs. Placement, FM systems, captioning. The 1817 Hartford school, Milan 1880, Stokoe, Rowley.
How the practice is built
The bank holds 8, 11, 11, 8 and 9 questions on the five categories. Each answer names the regulation or page it was read on.
ETS says the test rests on the standards of the Council for Exceptional Children and the Council on Education of the Deaf.
The law questions cite 34 CFR 300 by section. Open the section and read the sentence around the answer.
Questions and answers
Is there a free deaf education Praxis study guide?
ETS publishes a free Study Companion for test 5272 that lists every content topic. This page follows its five categories and adds practice questions with their sources.
Are these real Praxis 5272 questions?
No. They are our own, written from the ETS content topics and public sources. None is copied or reworded from a real test or an ETS sample question, and a result here does not predict a real score.
What is the passing score for Praxis 5272?
ETS does not set one. Each state or licensing agency that requires the test sets its own qualifying score, and ETS reports yours to it. Check the agency's page for the number.