Format of the CSET English Exam

The CSET English test has four subtests each containing unique content. There are multiple-choice questions on subtest I and subtest II, and constructed-response questions are on subtests III and IV.

I have information on the CSET English exam for subtests III and IV that can prevent you from failing the exam. What I am about to tell you is very important. Subtests III and IV are not essay response 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 the English CSET prep class I teach, you will learn a fantastic method for answering constructed-response questions.

There are 10 composition and rhetoric questions and 40 literature and textual analysis questions for a total of 50 multiple-choice questions on subtest I.

Subtest II has 50 language, linguistics, and literacy multiple-choice questions.

Subtest III has 2 long constructed-response questions. One constructed-response question will be on a literary text such as a book, and the other constructed-response question will be on a nonliterary text such as a speech.

Four constructed-response questions are on subtest IV.

Time Management

You have 5 hours, or 300 minutes to complete all four subtests on the CSET English exam. If you break up your CSET English exam 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. Now that we know this, we will divide the time down to a per question basis.

On subtest I, you should use no more than a single minute per question. For subtest II, you should use no more than a single minute per question. For subtest III, no more than an hour per constructed-response question. For subtest IV, no more than 15 minutes per constructed-response question.

What is a Passing Score?

You must score a 220 to pass the CSET Single Subject English exam which means you need to get about 72% of the questions correct.

You need to pass all four subtests to pass the exam. People have not passed the CSET Single Subject English exam because they mistakenly thought that their knowledge on one subtest would make up for the lack of knowledge on another subtest. Do not think that your knowledge on one subtest will make up for weakness on another subtest. You must pass all four subtests to pass the CSET English exam.

The Quick Fix

I do not teach 'method' over 'content'. A few people believe, and some publishers are more than willing to exploit this belief, that methods exist that will help you pass the CSET English exam without having to learn all the required material. One of my competitors who offers a CSET course goes as far to make the statement that even if you are "brain-dead", you can pass the CSET exam by learning his super duper secret test taking methods. This publisher is trying to exploit student's desire for a quick fix, a "magic pill" to passing the CSET exam. My CSET English course is all about content and having students complete memory enhancement exercises like flash cards, chronology, fill-in, matching, point and click, unscramble, quizzes, and even crossword puzzles. Having said this, I will reveal to you a strategy you may want to consider: the "2 of 4 Rule".

I stumbled on this strategy while creating tests for students over the last 10 years as the president of Confab Publishing. What became obvious, over many years of creating tests like the CSET exam, was that it is significantly harder to produce a good but incorrect answer-choice than it is to produce the correct answer. So usually only two compelling answer-choices are given. One correct; the other either intentionally misleading or only partly correct. The other two answer-choices are usually garbage. This makes intelligent guessing on the CSET exam much more effective. If you can dismiss the two garbage choices, your chance of answering the question correctly will increase from 25% to 50%.

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

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Mark Buckingway writes for ACE the CSET English class which is the better way to ace the CSET English exam. Go to www.acethecset.com for more information on CSET test preparation.

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