Customer Reviews

Beating Them All! Thirty Days to a Magic Score on Any Elementary Literacy Instruction Exam for Teacher Certification

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2 star:		(1)
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I aced the Foundations of Reading exam the first time I took it. Here's my advice:

1.) Take the computer-based test. It is worth the extra money. You'll take the test in a small, quiet room where you will be given your own private cubicle and a sound-proof head set. It is SO much easier to concentrate without distractions. Also, it's easier to type in the essays (you don't have to write rough drafts and then rewrite final copies -or- worry about handwriting neatness) and you have "copy/paste" features to use during editing. It was very easy to navigate on the computer - and I'm far from being "computer savvy." The best part is you can schedule it for a day/time that works best for you. If you are not a "morning person" schedule yourself an afternoon test.

2.) Use the practice test on the MTEL website to guide your studying!!! It was the most helpful source I found. It will give you a very good idea of what to expect on the exam. Memorize the "strong" example responses (on MTEL website) for both essay questions. You will have 1 question that has to do with miscue analysis and 1 question that has to do with comprehension on your exam. All you have to do to get 4/4 points on both is memorize and understand the reading comprehension terminology + the miscue analysis terminology. Know the terms and definitions associated with both by heart. Also, memorize the "wording" of

the "strong" sample responses. Go into the exam with a very good understanding of reading comprehension (inferential vs. literal) and the ability to analyze the miscues made during an oral reading assessment.

3.) As for the multiple choice questions: they cover a lot of material. I strongly suggest buying the book "Beating Them All!" by Chris Nicholas Boosalis. Make sure you have a very good understanding of ALL the terms/material in chapter 2. Memorize the sequences for phonics instruction and phonemic awareness instruction too.

The MTEL subtest-Foundations of Reading, felt like it was impossible to pass. I had missed passing by two points more than once! I contacted Chris Boosalis who gave me tips and strategies on how to pass the test and what exactly the people who scored these tests were looking for. I am now a certified teacher and I could not have done it without his help or his book!

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This test was the last obstacle towards getting my teaching license. I took the test once before and failed. My friend told me that she used this and passed so I figured...might as well give it a shot. So glad I did because I know I passed because of this book! I studied a month before...reading the whole book and paying close attention to the tables and essay format. I made sure that I knew the order of all the tables and how to write my essays. I also jumped around on my test doing the easy read questions first...so as to not waste any time..just like the book says. I'm telling you...if you are taking this test, please,please,please don't waste money on courses...read this book and you WILL PASS!! I'm actually waiting for the official score in the mail today to see how much I improved from the last test. I read my email from MTEL saying that I met the qualifying score.

Prepping for the MTEL foundations of reading exam and bought this book to help me with that, using it as my main study guide. It is very thorough in terms of knowledge covered, but it has a distracting vagueness to it, in terms of its layout and flow. It lacks a cohesiveness and clarity that made the whole process more difficult than it had to be. It would work better if it was organized in a simpler more obvious step by step format. It reads more like a scientific paper than a "let me help you understand this so you can cut through the excess and pass your exam" type of book. It is really factual, but not in a "nuts and bolts" simple way. As I plowed through the tiny print, I found myself having to really focus to link concepts and maintain a clear overview of what the author was discussing. More like reading a math textbook, than a "math for dummies" textbook... Didn't seem like much of a shortcut to me to gain clarity for this exam. Read like a condensed textbook. There are lots of examples and it seems like everything you need to know is there, but not represented in a particularly user friendly way. A bit of a slog.

I used this book to study before taking the Foundations of Reading MTEL. It was an excellent resource. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who needs some help in preparing for any Literacy Instruction exam.

This book was my one & only source of study for the MTEL F.O.R test. I had heard nothing but horror stories from people who had taken this exam. I have been out of college for 18 years and therfore out of practice taking exams. I used this for the F.O.R and not only passed but did very well. I also bought MTEL (the yellow & black book) for the Communications & Literacy and passed with flying colors. Good Luck!!

I highly recommend Dr. Boosalsis Book to anyone who wants to pass the RICA. I had completed all my classes, and studied a lot, but I felt totally unprepared for the RICA test. I just had no idea how to prepare.

I learned important strategies, including time management, that helped me with the test. Most importantly, it instilled confidence in me by assuring me I would pass.

And I did! It made me feel a lot more confident going into the test, and I think all future teachers should read this book.

This book is an absolute lifesaver. If you have taken and FAILED the MTEL Foundations of Reading, buy this book and pass it once and for all. The book breaks things down that I hadn't understood in the past. I took the test 4 times and failed each time (once by 1 point, and various other scores following that). The point is, this book combined with review questions from the MTEL website gave me the necessary information to pass this test. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

I passed the Foundations of Reading MTEL on the first try. This book provides strong test taking strategies, and that makes up chapters 3 through 6. However, chapter 2 (only one chapter, mind you) focuses on the content of the exam. The MTEL, and I'd imagine most other foundations of reading exams, is 100 multiple choice questions and two essays. You need to know A LOT of content, and this book gives you one chapter worth of material. It's the longest chapter of the book, and it's not bad material to peruse, or to start with...but you will absolutely need at least one other resource the delves much deeper into the content. I used Gail Tompkins' Literacy for the 21st Century. It's a lot of reading, but if you aim at reading one chapter a day (very do able), it should take you about two weeks, give or take, to get through. That coupled with the good strategies that Beating Them All gives you, will yield about three weeks of intense studying. I also took a class in undergrad that focused on passing the MTEL, and Tompkins book was our required text. Anyway, don't rely on Beating Them All, you will need to know a lot more content than what this book provides!!!

I bought this book to study for the mtel foundations of reading exam. I was satisfied with the basic content of the book. However, the book is 7 years old and the website is out of date. The content in the book that talks about what the test is made up of (multiple choice and essay) is inaccurate. So, don't go by it as totally right and make sure you have the current study guide from MTEL. It also was a lot to ask to do all of the 4 week study plan. I just made my own. It would be nice to see an updated version that was current. Not my only study guide. I used one from XAM Online to supplement what this book did not provide such as a practice test.