Customer Reviews

WEST-B (REA) - The Best Test Prep for the Washington Educator Skills Test--Basic (Test Preps)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book reviews each section (reading, math, writing) and has an excellent full-length practice test. I just took the West-B test and I would not have been nearly as prepared without this book. I knew just what to expect. The questions are very similar to those of the actual test.

Contrary to another review, there were plenty of strategies. At the end of the test, I almost ran out of time for the two writing asignments, but I was able to focus on the writing strategies and complete them.

I found the actual test slightly easier than the book's practice test which is helpful for effective preparation as well. I also found a few errors in the book, but still think the book is worth every penny and every minute spent studying. It is well laid out, easy to follow, and only takes a few days of intensive effort - it allows you to use your time efficiently. Highly recommended.

I was very excited with the book until I came to the practice test section. I found that many ideas not covered in the review sections were included. I also discovered many typos in the practice questions and the answer key. I found this frustrating because I am trying to hone my skills before the test, and many of the questions and the answer key contain serious errors. I feel like I am better prepared for having read this book, but I really think they should have spent a LOT more time proofreading.

The book was fine. The practice tests were nice so I guess it was worth it for that but the study tips weren't much more than "studying is a good idea". Later I learned that pretty much everything in the book is online at the west-E/B website...

This book is full of typos. It gives you a full practice test but many of the questions make no sense. When looking up the explaination of the answers, I found the book offered explainations for the wrong questions. I have spent hours taking a practice test, and I honestly can't assess how well I've done. This book is USELESS AND CONFUSING!!! If only no stars were an option.

I found many, many errors in the practice test section of this book. It is difficult to get a true idea of how you will do on the actual test.

This was my 2nd favorite study guide for preping for West B exam. The style in which it was written and organized was not easy for my "scientifice" brain to "digest"---which actually turned out to help me prepare for the actual test! I found that about 85% of the "Reading subtest" was easier or equal to the practice questions in this guide. I found the "Writing" tips and stradgies were helpful. Worth the money to me! Not sure I would have done so well on the exam without it.

I passed all three West-B exams, but I am not sure it was thanks to this study guide. While the guide does provide a generous overview of reading and writing expectations, it doesn't cover as many math areas as the actual exam requires testers to know, so if you aren't a math wiz you will need an additional guide through pre-algebra.

The worst part about the study guide is that the answer keys to practice tests are more than a little confusing. It is obvious that for this new addition the publishers did not bother editing the answer key because answer explanations refer to incorrect question numbers (it seems they simply switched the questions around in the new guide) and several questions do not have an entry in the answer key. Some math answers suggest an accurate answer that conflicts with a calculator's answer, and, unfortunately, the real answer is listed as a multiple choice option. My advice: buy it if you must, but know that there are problems you'll need to sift through.

This book contains a lot of typos and material that isn't even covered on the real test. The math and multiple-choice writing sections are the worst: the math section has some concepts that are actually too advanced to be on a basic skills test, so you end up wasting your time re-learning things you don't even need, and the writing section seems to ask the same generic question over and over again. I wouldn't buy it.

This study guide gives a pretty good framework of what the test will look like and of the types of questions that are asked. However, there are several errors (especially in the practice test section)so be aware. I suggest just finding a middle-school textbook to study from if you need good practice (especially in the math section).

The first half of this book is pretty good. It provides a concise, focused review of format and subject matter for the three WEST-B sub exams. But the practice sub exams are really why I wanted this prep book rather than the others available on the market. Unfortunately, several of the practice test questions are poorly constructed, and there are a few questions that make no sense at all. The answer key is also not great... while "detailed" answers are provided, the rationale for some of the "correct" answers seemed faulty. And for a few questions, the answer provided in the key is clearly wrong and the rationale erroneously refers to content/questions from a previous version of the book. I haven't looked at the other available prep books, but I would certainly recommend checking them out before buying this one.