(AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
The California Subject Examinations for Teachers (CSET) exams are subject area tests required for teacher credentialing. In a move to support teachers attempting to fill the critical shortage area of mathematics instruction, UC Irvine is providing free test preparation services. UCI was the first University of California campus—and West Coast University—to join the OCW Consortium as part of its desire to play a significant role in contributing to the social welfare of the state, the nation and the world. Through the OCW Movement, UC Irvine provides university-quality courses and learning opportunities to populations that are underserved and in many cases, unable to participate in formal education at a university.
“It is essential that California’s teachers receive the education, tools and support they need to better educate our state’s K-12 mathematics students,” said Gary W. Matkin, Ph.D., dean of continuing education at UC Irvine in a recent press release. “Given that a significant number of teachers do not pass the CSET on their first attempt due to a lack of familiarity with the content and/or the format of the exams, our new Math CSET preparation courses will help teachers identify areas requiring further study, or serve as a content refresher, in an effort to help them pass the examination on the first attempt.”
The no-cost, test prep resource includes preparation courses for the following exams: CSET Mathematics Subtest I, CSET Mathematics Subtest II and CSET Mathematics III. Each lesson corresponds to a California Subject Matter Requirement and each topic corresponds to an individual or group of California K-12 Content Standards for Mathematics. The CSET exam is itself is tied to these standards. Each lesson follows the same pattern:
Diagnostic Questions - Diagnostic questions allow teachers to rapidly gauge their level of comfort with the subject matter. This allows teachers to spend time only on areas where they need to strengthen their understanding.
Guided Examples - If the diagnostic questions are answered correctly, but teachers still have doubts as to the depth of their understanding, these step-by-step examples can help. Following this example, teachers are able to answer a new diagnostic question.
Content "Refresher" - The "refresher" is designed to provide just-in-time instruction to reinforce understanding, particularly if teachers have struggled with the diagnostic questions. These refreshers are intended for teachers who have some familiarity with the subject matter and are not intended to be a complete course in the subject matter for those without formal education in the subject. However, it may be enough for someone who previously learned the material through coursework and needs to brush up before taking the CSET exam.
Visit the course page for more information regarding the course.
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Janelle Jalbert is the founder of Edusistance and the creator of the Race to College Success program. She has been an educator and advisor for more than a decade. You can reach Janelle, who welcomes suggestions for topics of interest for future articles, via email.
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