Customer Reviews

Beating the CSET! Methods, Strategies, and Multiple Subjects Content for Beating the California Subject Examinations for Teachers (Subtests I-III)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you want a review of subjects you know pretty well, Beating the CSET may be a good choice. If, however, you're rusty or actually need to learn some material for the first time, don't buy this book. Why? Of all the books I have read the last 20 years (over 1,000...I read at least a book a week), this book has the most MISTAKES!

Some of the mistakes are simple, suggesting the publisher relied upon SpellCheck rather than carefully proofing the book: derivations instead of derivational, modifies instead of modifiers, class instead of clause, interaction instead of interjection. Others are of real concern. One table, for example, says that of the 11,000,000 people living in the US South in 1860, 4,000 were slaves. The reality is that approximately 4,000,000 southerners were slaves. Big difference! Another example: in explaining density, the book correctly says it found by dividing mass by volume. Unfortunately, in comparing the density of a brick and a block of balsa wood, it says that each has a volume of one foot by one foot. That's not volume; that's area!

These are just a few easy-to-relay examples. The book averages approximately one irritating typo per page and one significant error per subtopic (like semantics, physical science or plant biology).

I believe you're better off getting a book with practice tests (Beating the CSET has none), taking a test or two to figure out where you're weak, and reviewing a book that addresses each area of weakness (e.g., an SAT II review book).

I bought this book, along with the REA book with the CD and the Cliffs book. This is the best book out of the 3. If you only want to buy one book, I would recommend this one. I read this book last and I feel like it was very good in covering many subjects, and was especially helpful for the History & Social Studies section because it was organized in such a concise, easy manner with tables showing the key concepts. I was really lacking in knowledge in this area, and reading this book is what really helped me feel confident in taking the test. There are tables showing the main concepts such as causes of Civil war, the Constitution compared to Articles of Confederation, comparison of Egyptian geography culture, and scientific advances compared to Rome and Greece. The Human Dev, Art and PE sections were all excellent, and it contained a good explanation on reading music. The math section was good, but I am strong in math so I didn't study math at all. The science section was good with the right amount of detail, I was surprised how easy the science section of the CSET test was. The only thing that lacked was the low quality picture of cell division, but I didn't have any cell division questions on my CSET test. The reading acquisition and Language arts section was thorough but I have to say it was a bit long winded. There was almost too much information presented, so that I didn't absorb it as much as if it were shorter and more concise. I liked the Cliffs version better for language acquisition. There are no sample tests, but there are examples and answers of test questions in the very beginning chapter that are helpful. This book really has the most content included in it, it is long and the font is pretty small compared to the other books.

I'm a CSet trainer in the valley. We use this text exclusively to prepare our candidates. They are very pleased with the book, the thoroughness of the information, and their final results. The author even sent us sample exam info, which was very valuable. Normally, I would not write a review of a test prep book, but its nice to find something of actual value and use out there.

This book was the best of all the books I bought to prepare for CSET Multiple Subjects. It covered all of the content areas from all the subtests in sharp detail and offered lots of information about the test's weaknesses and how to cap on them (way, way, way beyond the process of elimination stuff that I knew already). In all, it's a great book (and heavy) and worth the investment of time and money. I credit this text and my own study skills with helping me to take and pass the exam in one sitting. Good Luck!!!!

I had only five weeks to prepare for the CSET. I purchased this book after reading reviews from other members, and I also purchased the Cliffs Test Prep book. I found that the content covered in "Beating the CSET" was very comprehensive. While there are not actual practice tests, there are numerous examples of test and essay questions. If you want sampe practice tests, the Cliffs Test Prep book would be good to use in conjunction with "Beating the CSET."

The suggested strategies worked very well for me. I took all three subtests on the same day, and the time management strategies were very effective in my case. The book is also very helpful because it tells you exactly how many questions you need to get right on each subtest in order to pass.

There may be some minor errors and mistakes in "Beating the CSET", but I would still recommed it. I just got my results back, and I passed all three subtests on the first try. I believe this book was a big part of my success.

This book gives a more extensive, thorough review of the material that's on the test than the other big-named review books (e.g., Testware, Cliff's notes). However, as other reviewers have stated, I found that the book has quite a bit of typos, mispellings, and at times contradictory information. This was espeically frustrating and confusing, since preparing for a test that draws on such a wide pool of information is trying enough. The book is well-written and accessible, for the most part, but I question how much editing took place before the book was published.

One feature of the book that was tremendously helpful were the charts and tables. For sections that are especially dense and detailed, the authors organize the information into summary charts and tables that are easier to digest & remember.

Another downside of the book is that, at times, you can clearly distinguish that one author stopped writing and another author picked up. This is especially true in the History section. One section (about 4 pages on the Renaissance) is written in a style that is very flighty, opinionated, and difficult to follow (important facts are blurred in the poetics). Other history sections were written by an author who is a compulsive enumerator. I've never seen a human so hellbent on organizing the world into numbered lists. This is an unpleasant break from the organic, story-like style that most of the history section is written in. Again, I attribute this to poor editing. However, despite these 2 stylistic breaks, I'd say about 90% of the history section (and 95% of the book) is written in a clear and comprehensible style.

Even though the lack of proper editing is frustrating, the shifts in style are annoying, and there are few examples and no practice questions/tests, this book is still the best existing review of the content that is presently on the market. I'd suggest getting this book for the content, and another review book that has practice exams to get accustomed to the types of questions asked, to hone your multiple choice eliminating/guessing skills, and to get a feel for the pace at which you have to move to complete the test.

I purchased 4 books to prepare for the CSET and this one was by far the most comprehensive. If you know the info in this book, you will ACE the test. That is one of the problems, however. This book is SOOOOOO detailed that sometimes it's frustrating. However this book, in my opinion was KEY to me passing the test. The other books helped with practice tests, but I mainly studied from this one. Took all 3 tests the same day and passed them all on the first try. Good luck!!

This book contains nearly all of the required topics on the CSET, but it doesn't have any practice tests. I find that practice tests are helpful, so I was disappointed that there were none. Of all the CSET books available, I have found the Kaplan book to be most helpful. The material is condensed and written in a language that flows better than the others. It has practice sets and sample tests, and the questions seem to mirror the actual test material more accurately. There are also less typos and incorrect answers supplied by the Kaplan book, which unfortunately proved to be an obstacle with the others.

I would say that this book is more complete than Cliffs, REA, or Barrons. Although I wasn't impressed by the cell division picture either, there was still plenty of information for all the subtest, so it really is to your advantage to purchase this study guide. The only major drawback that I found was that there were no tests or questions. Its a little nerve-racking not knowing what type of questions you'll get so I was left pretty much in the dark. Your best bet is to work with the tests from NES, and to work on improving any weak areas. Also, don't bother with any of the overnight, quick-fix, online softwares, like Teaching Solutions, Mo Media, and Ace the CSET. They do more harm than good when testing, and oh, did I forget to mention that they will leave a sizeable dent in your wallet?

I just took the CSET today, so I don't know how well I did. However, I can review this book for what it is. It's well organized, clear, and I found it helpful when I took the CSET. There were two questions on the CSET that I didn't read ANYTHING about in this book. However, there is too much information to cover in just one book anyway.

There are a LOT of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in this book. I also found one math problem that was performed incorrectly. They really need a better editor. Overall, though, if I did actually pass the CSET, I'd have this book to thank. Will check back in next month and let ya know!

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I passed the CSET -- all 3 subtests -- on the first try, thanks to this book! I HIGHLY recommend it!