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What is On the CSET English Exam

By: Karen Cunningham

Four subtests exist on the CSET Single Subject English exam. Subtests I and II are multiple-choice questions, and constructed-response questions are on subtests III and IV.

I have information on the CSET English exam for subtests III and IV that can prevent you from failing the exam. I can not stress enough how important what I am about to tell you really is. Subtests III and IV are not essay response questions. If you write an essay response you will not pass the CSET English exam. You will not have the time to write an essay with a thesis, body, and conclusion. You must write your answer in constructed-response format, not in essay format. In my CSET class, I will show you a great way to write a constructed-response answer.

Subtest I has 40 literature and textual analysis questions and 10 composition and rhetoric questions for a total of 50 multiple-choice questions.

There are 50 multiple-choice questions in the areas of language, linguistics, and literacy on subtest II.

Subtest III has 2 long constructed-response questions. One of these constructed-response questions will be on a nonliterary text like a speech, and the other constructed-response question will be on a literary text like a book.

Four constructed-response questions are on subtest IV.

Management of Time

You must complete the entire CSET exam within 5 hours (300 minutes). If you break up your CSET English exam on different test days, then you have more time although this is a more expensive choice than taking all four subtests at once.

You will have one hour to complete subtest I, one hour to complete subtest II, two hours to complete subtest III, and one hour to complete subtest IV. Now that we know this, we can break the time down to a per question basis.

On subtest I, you must take no more than 1-minute per question. On subtest II, you must take no more than 1-minute per question. For subtest III, no more than 1-hour per constructed-response question. On subtest IV no more than 15 minutes per constructed-response question.

What is a Passing Score?

You need a 220 to pass the CSET English exam which means you need to get about 72% of the questions correct.

You need to pass all four subtests to pass the exam. Teachers have failed the CSET English exam because they erroneously thought that their knowledge on one subtest would make up for the lack of knowledge on another subtest. Do not think that your knowledge on one subtest will make up for weakness on another subtest. You must pass all four subtests to pass the CSET Single Subject English exam.

Method Versus Content

Please do not put method over content when studying for your CSET exam. A few people believe, and some publishers are more than willing to to take advantage of this belief, that methods exist that will help you pass the CSET English exam without having to learn all the required material. One of my competitors who offers a CSET course goes as far to make the claim that even if you are "brain-dead", you can pass the CSET exam by learning his secret test taking methods. This publisher is attempting to exploit student's wish for a quick fix, a "magic pill" to passing the CSET exam. My online CSET English study guide and course is all about content over method and having students complete memory improvement exercises like chronology, matching, flash cards, fill-in, unscramble, point and click, and more. Having said this, I will reveal to you a method you may want to consider: the "2 of 4 Rule".

I came upon this method while creating tests for teachers over the last 10 years as the owner of Confab Publishing. What became apparent, over many years of creating tests like the CSET exam, was that it is significantly harder to come up with a good but incorrect answer-choice than it is to come up with the correct answer. Therefore usually only two attractive answer-choices are offered. One correct; the other either intentionally misleading or only partially correct. The other two answer-choices are usually fluff. This makes intelligent guessing on the CSET exam immensely effective. If you can dismiss the two fluff choices, your probability of answering the question correctly will increase from 25% to 50%.

Remember, do not go into the CSET exam thinking that you are going to pass by using this, or any other "method". If you put in the required effort and discipline to pass the CSET exam, you will know. If you put in the required studying, and you come to a question you simply do not know, only then should you consider using the "2 of 4 Rule". If you buy a good CSET English study guide or enroll in an online CSET English class like the one I teach, you will not need to rely heavily on methods like the "2 of 4 Rule", instead, the content you will learn in my course will carry you through.

Article Source: http://articlekarma.com

Terri Adams writes for ACE the CSET English class which is the best way to prepare for the CSET English exam. Make sure you visit www.acethecset.com for more information on CSET English preparation.

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