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“Top 5 CSET Study Guide Tips” –
How To Pass Faster And Easier Now

Reviews for CSET study guides reveal the same issues over and over again:

  • “This book was full of typos and errors!”
  • “The online portion was useless…practice tests didn’t even work.”
  • “These practice tests were way harder than the real thing!”
  • “A lot of the info on here wasn’t even relevant to the test!”

 

But for every bad review, it seems like there’s a positive one claiming that the study guide helped them pass the CSET test. There’s no doubt that choosing a prep book can feel like a guessing game!

Once you have a prep guide, you have to use it the right way to pass-the-CSET. Good preparation materials without a good study strategy won’t help you!

Tip #1: Before You Buy a CSET Study Guide Take An Official Practice Test

Don’t depend on other’s CSET test study guide reviews on Amazon.com. Start with an official practice test from the CTC website.

There you’ll find: a CSET Math subtest 1, 2, 3 practice test, a CSET Science practice test, a CSET English subtest 1, 2, 3 practice test, a CSET Physical Education practice test, a CSET Social Science practice test, a CSET Multiple Subjects practice test and ones for the other exams.

Since these CSET practice tests come straight from the test-makers, you know that they’ll accurately represent the test. This gives you the knowledge to judge your study resources for yourself!

Your official sample exam will:

  • Give you a baseline to judge your CSET study guide.

Don’t wait until you’re taking the real CSET to learn your study guide was useless! Starting with an official practice exam will help you determine if your book’s information is relevant and if its practice tests accurately represent the real thing.

  • Help you determine your weaker areas.

Get the most out of your CSET study materials by focusing on improving your weaknesses!

cset study guide books preparation materials

Links To Free CSET Practice Tools And Tactics:

Tip #2: Read CSET Book Reviews On Amazon.com

With an official practice test under your belt, you’re ready to pick out a test prep book. Always look for CSET review guides with the following features:

  • 100% up-to-date.
  • Make sure it was published after the last update to the CSET!
  • Edited and fact-checked.
  • Check-out reviews to make sure you don’t waste your money on a CSET guide filled with errors and typos!
  • Has practice tests.
  • This is essential! A CSET exam study guide won’t help you learn the timing and format of the real test, but sample questions serve as diagnostic tests to assess your exam knowledge. A few guides come with a CD, but many simply provide access codes to online practice exams. Be sure to investigate the product details; some don’t advertise their computerized portion as prominently as others.
  • Explains practice question answers thoroughly.
  • “Look inside” features let you know if the study guide has clear, thorough explanations for sample questions.
  • Has mostly positive reviews.
  • Each CSET prep book will always have a few negative reviews. Many statistics reveal ‘negative oriented’ people (or at least people with a negative experience) are 3 times more likely to write a review than a happy, successful person. So take negative reviews with a grain of salt. But any rating lower than three stars is a red flag you can’t ignore!
  • Covers your weakest areas well.
  • Again, check out reviews to see the book’s strengths and weaknesses. Make sure it doesn’t have a ton of negative reviews about the subject areas you need to study most!

Once you have a quality CSET exam study guide, it’s time to start the studying process!

Check-out: How To Avert CSET Test Prep Time Wasters, Fluff And Leap-Frog Yourself Into The Classroom Quicker…

cset prep study guide resources

Tip #3: Start Using Your CSET Test Study Guide Today

No matter the subject, all CSET study books have one thing in common: they’re thick!

If you don’t give yourself adequate time to prepare and gradually retain information, no guide will be useful for you.

“Early” will mean different things to different testers.

  • Fresh out of college, feeling confident, scoring well on practice tests? 3-4 weeks of studying might suffice.
  • Just out of college, nervous, not doing so well on practice tests? Give yourself at least 6-8 weeks.
  • Out of school for a long time and need an in-depth review? If possible, Give yourself 3-5months.
  • Not sure how much time you need? Use your official practice questions results to see how much work you need to do.

Another huge benefit of starting early? If you’ve decided that you need more preparation resources to pass, you’ll have time to find them!

Tip #4: Don’t Neglect CSET Constructed Response Question Preparation

It’s tempting to only focus on the multiple choice practice questions. They usually come with an answer key and detailed explanations, giving you instant scores and information.

Constructed response questions, on the other hand, don’t offer the same feedback or instant gratification. Testers often spend much less time studying constructed response questions and how to draft effective responses that get full points.

That’s a big mistake.

It may feel like a waste of time to write responses with no feedback, CR practice questions will help you write faster, more focused responses. And scoring your own constructed responses helps you get into the mind of the scorer who will be evaluating and analyzing your responses. Getting a clearer insight into how someone else will score your answers, will boost your score.

Use your CSET study guide to get more points in the constructed response sections:

  • Read and re-read scoring guidelines for your test’s constructed responses.
  • Review scored diagnostic questions in your CSET study guide.
  • Using that information, score your questions.
  • Write a few bullet points explaining your score. Be honest and specific about your answer’s strengths and weaknesses.
  • Use this information to improve your constructed responses.

cset study guide prep book

Tip #5: Determine If You Need More CSET Test Study Guides

Ask almost anyone who has passed the CSET, and they’ll tell you two things.

  1. CSET prep study guides are invaluable.
  2. No review manual can give you every single thing you need to know.

Good CSET prep materials give you a foundation for what you need to know, but occasionally you might need to dive deeper in some areas. After all, study guides must cover multiple subjects in one book and can only include so much detail.

These are the best criteria to determine when you’ll need additional review resources:

  • Your own awareness of your weaker subjects.
  • Results on CSET practice tests.
  • If you’re consistently struggling in one subject area despite thoroughly reviewing your CSET book, you might consider reading or watching some other resources.
  • Amazon reviews.
  • Reviewers might point out that the book is fantastic in literature but not extremely detailed in history. Carefully selected outside resources will help you get the most out of your CSET preparation resources.

Be cautious about the credibility of any outside preparation resources you use. We recommend starting with the preparation materials recommended by the California Educator Credentialing Examinations website.

Take Action

Above all, don’t procrastinate! With plenty of time, you’ll be able to:

  • Determine your weakest subject areas.
  • Pick out the perfect CSET study guide for you.
  • Make an effective CSET test prep plan.
  • Gather quality supplemental study materials.

Get started today, and you’ll be one step closer to your teaching career!

Go to: This Brain-Dead Simple Fact Helped Me Pass-The-CSET On My First Try…

Get started today, and you’ll be one step closer to your teaching career!

Author: Mark Dahlson