Customer Reviews

The Best Test Prep for the MTEL (Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure): Communication and Literacy Skills Test

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am trying to make a mid-career change and enter teaching. In order to become a teacher in Massachusetts, you must pass the MTEL Communications and Literacy Skills test. This test requires very recent knowledge of comprehensive English grammar/reading/comprehension skills. The last formal English grammar class I had was more than 25 years ago and I did not know how I was going to prepare for this test. Then I found this book! It was a very accurate representation of the test material. I would not take the test without using this to review-whether you graduated from college 1 year ago or 25 years ago.

This is a great book for those planning to take the MTEL. I have heard horror stories of people taking the exam 2 and 3 times before they passed. Many of us don't have the time or money to do so. The book has an organized guideline of study. The sections are well organized and informative. You can tailor the study guide to suit your time allowance for study. I passed the exam on the first try. Overall, this is an excellent resource for anyone planning to take the MTEL.

I, too, am looking to make a mid-career change into education. I bought this book & worked with another "study buddy", who also took a 3-session MTEL prep course at a local university. But I used the book only & used all the practice tests, studied & reviewed definitions, parts of speech, wrote the practice essays, etc. It was well worth it - we both passed on the first try!

I purchased this book about a month or so ago because I was taking the MTEL at the beginning of March. This book was so helpful to me for this test. It's perfect. The practice tests were very accurate, and it was a great opportunity to find where your weaknesses are for this test. I was able to identify where I needed extra practice, and used the 3 practice tests to help me out a lot. I highly recommend this book if you are taking the MTEL. It helped so much.

PS. Don't stress over the test, just relax and you'll do fine.

Despite the 2005 copyright, this book has outdated test information, particularly for the writing subtest. It refers to a no-longer included dictation section and has other inconsistencies with the current test. If you use this book, make very sure to read the test bulletin provided online very carefully to make sure you are studying for the test you will actually take. I found this book to be no help at all studying for the test.

This was an outstanding review guide. The practice drills were very helpful in identifying areas of weakness. The book provides a lot of practical advice for success on this most unusual test. The explanations provided with the practice tests were as good a review as the content of the book. It is well written and concise in its presentation of the material.

I had taken this test twice before I bought this book and failed by a few points. I found this book helpful because it gave you the content information and also tips on how to take the test!!

I bought this to study for my MTELs and the promise of the latest, most up to date help sounded great. After taking (and passing) my tests I realized that not only was much of what the book said was going to be on the test was not, but the style of questions in the book were not consistent with the actual test as well. The MA Dept of Ed website has a FREE sample test and a description of what the day is like along with study info that was extremely helpful and accurate (and did I say FREE). The test questions offered in the book were often ambiguous and in a few instances wrong. Poor proofing - letter choice (A,B,C,D) on multiple choice questions wrong in the answer section, but the explanation revealed choice was correct - Question then remains - Was I get right the ones I marked right? Not very comforting. Overall I did get a decent quick grammar review, but the confidence I was hoping for was dashed with poorly written questions and proofing. They still say you need to bring photocopies of your IDs which have not been required for some time, just adding another wasted 50¢ to cost of this book.

It is a shame that in this day and age,that no one has been able to create a viable resource to supplement one's preparation for the MTEL examination. I purchased the book to facilitate my tutoring of a young woman who has grave anxiety regarding the test. I chose this book because it had three sample tests. Unfortunately, the tests did not parallel the MTEL formats and contained many errors and omissions. Often, prompts were not written clearly or had overt editorial errors. In some cases, due to improper editing, it was impossible to decipher the intent of a paragraph.If the purpose of the text is to make the student comfortable with the testing vehicle, then the vehicle must be free from error. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The errors create increased anxiety regarding the test and impede the student's ability to pass. This book is not just insufficient, it it a travesty inflicted upon an already vulnerable group of test takers.

This book confused me more than it helped! Some of the questions on the booklet had Nothing to do with what was on the exam. A whole chapter was dedicated to how to formulate sounds, which would be perfect if you were going for speech pathology but of no help if your aim is to teach ESL. The practice test is nothing like the actual test. Some of the theory information is helpful and if you focus on that portion and the assessment guide it should be good for a few points but this book CANNOT be used as your only study guide because you will fail the test.