Kaplan CSET: California Subject Examination for Teachers,   ISBN:9781419552816

Customer Rating: 

At first I absolutely loved this book. It gave just the amount of depth and breadth to subjects - it was a great refresher for the things I've forgotten, and provided an easy tool to tell me what I needed to do some extra studying on.

There were minor typos and grammatical errors throughout, but they didn't really throw me off until I got to Part 2, subtest 1: science. Then in one sentence my confidence in this book fell apart. When the human eye focuses on something close up, it tightens the muscles to bend the lens for more focusing power. This book said it slackens the muscles. Very small error, but considering that I don't have detailed knowledge about all of the subjects this book covers, it made me wonder what other errors I'm overlooking and accepting as true.

The "detailed answers" are mostly very helpful, but one a few occasions I really wanted an explanation for my error and it either restated the answer choice, listed the wrong answer as the correct one or didn't give much to go on.

It's an interesting, easy read, and I love the practice tests after each section, but I am nervous using this to prepare me for a test for my future career! Considering the obvious lack of editing, the somewhat helpful answer keys and that one glaring error I don't know that I would buy another Kaplan test prep book in the future.

Customer Rating: 

Seeing as how it has been over a decade since I first learned the material covered on the CSET, this book serves as a good tool for brushing up on certain subject areas. I learn better by doing rather than simply reading/listening; so in my case, I found the practice tests the most useful. Based on the results of the practice tests, I kind of got an idea of what needed more review.

The problem, however, is that there are more than just a few typos within the answers and explanations for the practice tests. For example, I marked one of my answers wrong (on subtest 1) and flipped to the back to understand why. The explanation read:


16. C

The order of the writing process is prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. The other three possibilities (A), (C), and (D) are incorrectly ordered.


Not only was the explanation in direct contradiction to the "correct" answer provided, but also the one answer left out, (B), if one logically assumes that must be the correct answer, doesn't even list the process in the right order -- the correct answer was (D), what I had marked initially. Granted, this is a fairly straightforward question that, even despite the confusion, can easily be figured out; this was only one example of the several typos I've come across.


Continuing on with the practice tests, I've come across some answers that are just flat-out wrong. One question asks to simplify the equation:

(x^2 - 5x +1) - (x^2 + 4x +7)

By the distributive property of the minus, the equation simplifies out to -9x - 6. The book, however, completely ignores this property and explains "x^2 - x^2 combine to get 0; -5x and 4x combine to get -x; and 1 + 7 = 8. What you're left with is -x + 8."


The book's overall usefulness still outweighs these errors, but it's still frustrating (and counterproductive, especially if you don't know any better) when you come across wrong answers in a book all about getting the right ones. I can't say I would honestly recommend this if you're looking for a sole study guide to depend on.

Customer Rating: 

I was able to pass all segments of the cset the first time after pouring over the material. It had been many, many years since I'd studied this stuff so I needed more than a reminder. I felt well prepared to do the multiple choice and the guide guided me on how to structure essay responses but all of the essay questions took me by surprise. Still, I knew enough to be able to formulate responses that allowed me to pass. Spend the time with the guide and you should do fine on the tests.

Customer Rating: 

Yippee! I just got my scores about ten minutes ago and I passed!! I took all three sections at once and passed them all! The only study guide I used was this book!

Here's the deal; we've all learned this stuff before. We all recognize the word "isotope." But when is the last time you actually sat there and thought about what an isotope was? When was the last time you divided fractions? You don't need to be doing that for the first time in 5 years on the day of the test - you need to think about this stuff for the first time in 5 years a couple months BEFORE the test.

I checked this book out of the library 2 months before my CSET. I read all the review sections and took notes, and finished in a month. That left one month until the test - and I didn't review my notes again until the week before the test. The book has "tips" and "tricks" in every section about how to pass, followed by large sections of review. I only read the review sections.

I did feel a bit overwhelmed upon getting the book. It is about 500 pages. But just divide and concur. Take the practice online test from the actual CSET website and you'll begin to see what types of questions are asked. (FYI: I took the practice test from the CSET website and FAILED MISERABLY. Then I studied, and passed the real test! So this book DOES help!!! Don't be discouraged!) Anyway, the practice test will clue you in as to what subjects you really need to review. (For me, it was all of them except English!) The book is just so broad, but that is because the test is. I mean, it is as if there are 100 topics the, say, History subtest will tell you that you need to know, but it will only test you on 20 of them. That is overwhelming! But this book covers just about all 100 of those topics! Immediately after taking the test I felt like I had studied "too hard" and "too much" for the small number of topics actually covered. But since there was no way of knowing what those topics would be beforehand, it is a good thing I did!

I would definitely recommend this book. It worked for me!

Customer Rating: 

I worked my way through this book prior to taking the CSET. By combining the information from the book with information found from a variety of online informational resources, I passed all three tests, the first time, with little worry.