Content of the CSET English Test
By: Karen Cunningham,

The CSET English exam has four subtests. Both subtests I and II are multiple-choice, and constructed-response questions are on subtests III and IV.

You are about to learn an important bit of information some publishers call a secret. I can not stress enough how important what I am about to tell you really is. The secret is that subtests III and IV are not essay questions. If you write an essay response you will not pass the CSET English exam. You do not have the time to write an essay response. Instead of writing an essay, you must write a constructed-response answer. 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.

On subtest II, there are a total of 50 language, linguistics, and literacy multiple-choice questions.

There are two constructed-response questions on subtest III. 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.

On subtest IV, there are a total of four constructed-response questions.

Management of Time

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

You are given 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. Knowing this, we can break the time down to a per answer basis.

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

A Passing Score

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

You need to pass all four subtests to pass the exam. Students 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 being strong 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.

The "2 of 4 Rule" for the CSET English Exam

I do not believe in studying ‘method’ over ‘content’. Some students 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 needing to learn all the required material. A competitor of mine that offers a CSET class goes as far to make the claim that even if you are "brain-dead", you can pass the CSET English exam by learning his secret test taking methods. This publisher is attempting to exploit everyone’s wish for a quick fix, a "magic pill" to passing the CSET English exam. My CSET English course is all about content and having students complete memory enhancement exercises like chronology, matching, flash cards, fill-in, unscramble, point and click, and more. Having said that, I am going to share with you a method you may want to consider: the "2 of 4 Rule".

I came up with this method while creating tests for students over the last 10 years as the owner of Confab Publishing. What became obvious, over many years of creating tests like the CSET English exam, was that it is much more difficult to come up with a good but incorrect answer-choice than it is to come up with the correct answer. So usually only two compelling answer-choices are given. One correct; the other either intentionally misleading or only partially right. The other two answer-choices are usually bogus. This makes intelligent guessing on the CSET English exam much more effective. If you can dismiss the two bogus choices, your chance of answering the question successfully will increase from 25% to 50%.

It is important that you do not go into the CSET English exam thinking that you are going to pass by using the "2 of 4 Rule", or any other "method". If you put in the required effort and discipline to pass the CSET English 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 purchase a good CSET English study guide or enroll in an online CSET English course 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.

Maureen Miranda writes for ACE the CSET English prep course which is the better way to prepare for the CSET English exam. Make sure you visit www.acethecset.com for more information on CSET Single Subject English preparation.

 

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