CAHSEE Prep

CAHSEE Preparation Tips-Effective Time Management Strategies

2010-03-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

One of the most important factors to keep in mind when taking the CAHSEE is knowing how to properly manage your time. You do not get extra credit for finishing the exam first. Likewise, you can significantly hurt your score by not finishing on time. Finding a balance between these two scenarios is crucial.

Take Your Time

There are no bonus points for speed. Rushing through the test will typically only lead to simple mistakes being made, questions being misunderstood, and wrong answers being given. Instead, take your time and make sure you are reading all of the questions, as well as the instructions in each section, completely and accurately. If you don't understand something you read, take a few moments to reread the passage in question again.

Don't Dwell Too Long

If you get stuck on a particular question, place a mark by it and go back to it later. You are better off having time to answer ten easy questions than you would be dwelling on one difficult question and running out of time without being able to finish the test. Once you have completed all of the other questions, if time allows, you can go back and review the questions you did skip over. Since you have the majority of the test questions answered already, you can afford to spend time working on the few difficult questions remaining.

Use Your Remaining Time Wisely

If you do complete the test with time remaining, use the time to review your answers. Make sure that any written passages are neat and legible and that your punctuation is correct. Double check your math, where possible, to ensure your calculations are correct. Also, check to make sure you haven't missed any questions that you may have passed over earlier. If it comes down to it and you still can't determine the answer to a question, then just take your best guess. If you can eliminate one or two answers that are definitely not the correct ones, you can increase your odds of being able to guess the correct answer.

CAHSEE Information

2010-03-09T22:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are looking for more information on the CAHSEE, I would highly suggest checking out Ace Your Exit Exam. This website has lots of information about the CAHSEE and how to prepare for the exam. This site has free video lessons and lots of sample questions. I would definitely recommend reviewing some of their free material prior to taking the actual exam. If you are looking for more information you may want to check out subscribing to their CAHSEE prep service. While I have never actually seen their paid material, based on the free stuff, I would probably recommend giving it a shot. It is definitely worthwhile for those of you who are struggling to pass. Good luck and let me know if you need any more assistance.

CAHSEE Feedback

2010-02-16T08:22:00.001-08:00

Many of the students who have come across this blog have now taken the CAHSEE in the month of February. So how did you all do? Feel free to leave a comment and share your experience on test day. Was the exam easier than you expected or was it more difficult than you though it would be? Was there any particular parts of the exam that gave you trouble? What did you think of the essay topics that were given? Since this blog is designed to help it would be great to know what some of the ares are that students need extra help in. This is part of the feedback process and I think it is critical to making this blog the very best that it can be. OK drop an email or a comment when you have a moment.

CAHSEE Study Material

2010-02-05T18:33:00.000-08:00

With the CAHSEE coming up very soon for many students all across the state of California, many students are scrambling to get ready. Study material for the CAHSEE is widely available but I would like to take a moment and point out some great resources that students can use to study in the upcoming weeks. One great resource is the California Department of Education website. They offer lots of study material and there are a few links on the right hand side of this page that will take you directly to many of these resources. Using the state content is the very best way to prepare for the CAHSEE. Study hard and you are sure to do well.

CAHSEE Preparation Tip

2010-01-26T10:33:00.001-08:00

We've gone through a few of these tips now and we will give you another tip here that relates the the English-language Arts section of the exam. Now the English section consists of both multiple choice questions as well as an essay question. The essay question will ask you to write one of four types of essay. Today's tip will help you in your preparation for the English-language Arts writing portion of the CAHSEE.

Tip: Create an essay template.

Having an essay template makes it much easier for you to approach writing the essay the day of the actual exam. Since the essay topics will all lend themselves to be structured in a similar way, you will be able to use a template on any of the essays. When you take the time to create a template and practice writing essays using that template you will inherently improve your essays structure and readability. We will go into detail on how to create an effective template in future posts.

Another CAHSEE Preparation Tip

2010-01-22T06:35:00.001-08:00

Continuing with the CAHSEE prep tip series today's tip is going to help students build confidence with one area of the exam at a time. This is really an extension of the last CAHSEE tip, which said that you should do at least 5 problems from the same content standard in each of your study sessions. Here is today's tip:

Today's Tip: Focus on studying one content area at a time.

This extends directly from the idea that studying one standard at a time is the best way to gain confidence. Once you feel comfortable with one standard in a particular content area, you are much more likely to feel comfortable with the other standards in that same area. Remember that many of the standards are related and build on one another so the stronger your foundation becomes then the more likely you are to be successful on the day of the exam. So to recap if you are studying one standard in the Number Sense strand then you should study all of the standards in the Number Sense strand prior to moving on to any of the other math content areas. Mathematics is cumulative and doing this type of CAHSEE preparation is sure to boost both your confidence and your score.

Today's CAHSEE Tip

2010-01-19T08:12:00.001-08:00

Now that the holidays are officially over and school is back in full swing many students find themselves fretting over the upcoming administration of the California High School Exit Exam. Fear not young minds of California, today we will start our CAHSEE study tip series. We will try to post study tips at least once a week and more frequently whenever we can. Now whether you are currently studying for the mathematics section, the English section, or both, today's tip should be hugely beneficial to your efforts.

Tip: Do at least 5 practice problems from the same content standard in each study session.

This is a big one. If you have only 20 or 30 minutes to study a day then you can maximize that time by studying just one standard during that session. If you do that for both math and English you will have covered all of the standards in just a few short months! Focusing on one standard at at time will make it a lot easier for you to master that standard rather than just having a general idea on how to do those types of problems. 5 problems is enough for any student to master a standard. If you are looking for places to find good practice problems check out a few of the links on the right. Happy studying!

Why CAHSEE Prep is Important

2010-01-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

Many people wonder whether or not it is really necessary to spend extra time preparing specifically for the CAHSEE. My answer to this question is a resounding YES! In fact, I think it is critical. Now I'm not saying that it is critical for all students; if you are in a high-level math class or are an extremely strong student in general then you can probably get by without much CAHSEE prepartion. However, for most students, spending time studying specifically for the CAHSEE can make a huge difference. Students who are unable to pass the CAHSEE will often have to look for an adult internship in order to break into the job market. Clearly adults without a high school diploma are at a significant disadvantage. If you are interested in learning the best way to study for the CAHSEE, then check out this article that helps students who are studying for the CASHEE. Here is another nice resource that students can use if they are looking for CAHSEE help. My personal opinions are echoed in those articles and students should definitely take some time to develop a personal study plan. One of the main reasons that CAHSEE prep is so important is that the CAHSEE is extremely intimidating to most students. Not only is the magnitude of the test intimidating but the fact that the exam covers such a large range of material. From probability and statistics to reading comprehension and everything in between. It is really no wonder that many students are as fearful as they are. This fear can be eliminated with some solid preparation. Whether it is an after-school or weekend class offered at school or an online CAHSEE preparation class, the help is there for students who want it.

Teachers Offering CAHSEE Prep

2010-01-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

One great resource that students can use to help improve their performance on the CAHSEE is local teachers. These don't have to necessarily be the teachers who teach the subjects tested on the CAHSEE either. The vast majority of quality teachers should be able to help any student pass the CAHSEE. Since the concepts in both math and English are really fundamental underlying concepts, most teachers should be able to help any student who is struggling to meet the 55% passage requirement. So for those students out there who hate their math or English teacher and feel helpless there is a better way! If you loved your 8th grade science teacher them give him or her a call and ask if they would be willing to help you pass the California High School Exit Exam. Chances are very good that they will say yes. I know as a former teacher that I always get very excited whenever I am contacted by former students and I can never turn anyone down who asks for help. So few students actually take the initiative to seek out help on their own that most teachers are more than willing to go out of their way to help. This is what we do! We educate and most of us have a true passion for education. We could have chosen professions that pay more or are more prestigious but we didn't. We chose to teach! Why? Because its not just what we do it is who we are. Now I know that most students have at least one teacher who they really liked. Visit him or her and ask if they can help, if the answer is no, leave me a comment and I will find a teacher to help you myself! Enough reading now, hit the books!

Resource from the CDE

2010-01-05T06:35:00.001-08:00

The California Department of Education(CDE) is one of the best free resources available anywhere for students preparing to take the California High School Exit Exam(CAHSEE). In this post we will go over where students can find specific resources and how they can make the most use of these resources while studying. First and foremost the central location for all study material can be found by clicking here. This is really the hub for the majority of the government's study material. Not everything is available here but this is a great starting point. Specifically students can start by checking out the "Program Resources" section which has an overview of much of the study material. You can go directly to the "Program Resources" section by clicking here. Once you are at the "Program Resources" section, you can start by downloading several of the pdf's that are available. Here are the best resources:

Mathematics Study Guide: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/mathguide.asp
English Study Guide: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/elaguide.asp

Sample Math Test Questions: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/documents/math08rtq.pdf
Sample English-Language Arts Test Questions: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/documents/ela08rtq.pdf

Math Exam Blueprint: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/documents/bpmath03.pdf
English-Language Arts Exam Blueprint: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/hs/documents/bplangarts03.pdf

Those are the primary government resources that students should use when preparing for the CAHSEE, best of all they are all available free of charge! Good Luck!

Online CAHSEE Prep

2010-01-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

There are a variety of popular ways for students to use online resources to prepare for the California High School Exit Exam(CAHSEE). Not only are there many books by major test preparation companies, but there are also online classes available to help students prepare for the CAHSEE. One such program offered online features on-demand video lessons, hundreds of practice problems that all have video solutions, and lots of step-by-step video help. The program has received lots of positive feedback in various academic publications and is a promising option for many struggling students. Here is a link to that CAHSEE prep website http://www.aceyourexitexam.com/. This is not the only CAHSEE test prep product on the market but it is certainly one of the most innovative.
This site offers several sample lessons and sample questions free of charge on their website.
Another great option for students who need extra help is school-based prep classes. These classes are generally offered during summer sessions or for year-round schools they are offered during the intersession time frame. Students who are interested in one of these free CAHSEE prep options should see their local guidance counselor. Many students all over the state of California have used programs like these to help improve their performance on the CAHSEE. While these programs usually lack an online component, many of the resources that are referenced in the class are available online. For example, most of these classroom courses use the study guide provided at the California Department of Education(CDE) website. Students can download the material on their own and use the supplemental exercises as additional practice. There is also a huge bank of former CAHSEE questions that students can examine in order to see the types of things that have been asked in the past. Since the standards covered on each exam are identical, these old questions are very likely to be similar to the questions on the upcoming CAHSEE's. Students should definitely take advantage of the fact that these old questions have been released and are available free of charge on the CDE's website.
Another great online CAHSEE prep option for students are video sharing websites like teachertube.com or youtube.com These websites offer video help that many students can access free of charge. While these are not as organized as the previous two options, they are a viable supplement for either. Since there is usually a large assortment of videos on any given topic, a student can listen to multiple different teachers explaining the same concept. Hearing a topic explained in more than one way is a great way for students to understand concepts that they may be having difficulty with. Since some students may prefer one teacher's style over another, having a variety of different teachers to choose from makes sure that each student can follow the teacher who they learn from best.