Barron's NYSTCE, 4th Edition: EAS / ALST / CSTs / edTPA (Barron's Test Prep NY)

This book is just OK in my opinion with regard to prepping for the EAS exam. If you purchase the sample EAS exam from Pearson, you will see that the question formatting is very different from what appears in this book - for that reason, it gets 3 stars from me. What's good about it is that is has 2 practice exams - at the very least, it will give you a chance to get into the rhythm of taking the exam and practice with writing the essays. I recommend that you purchase the sample exam directly from Pearson ($20 - it also provides a score at the end and tells you what you got wrong) in conjunction with this book to give you the best overview of the actual exam.

I have now taken the ALST, EAS and Multi-Subject CST and used this book as a study guide. I found it very helpful and passed all of the tests. It's really important to take the practice tests and read through all of the explanations of the answers. Even if the questions on the actual test differ, you will notice a pattern and be able to predict what the answer will be on the test (especially for the EAS). Hope this helps!

Update. I included pictures so you can see just how inaccurate and incorrect even the test are. In the answer for the explanation (question 7) it gives you word for word the answer to C, but they put the answer as D. How can you trust a practice test like this?

I consider myself to be very competent when it comes to literacy. However, when taking these practice tests I've found that perhaps literacy exams have become a joke. The EAS section, although some of the questions reflect some introductory information given, I have found to be incredibly impossible to try to standardize. When working with children there isn't a one size fits all solution to their problems, and these questions and answers just emphasize that. Some explanations for answers will even tell you that the other choices are all great solutions. But you have to choose the best one. How do you do that, if there is no study guide that says when this happens in a classroom, you do this??

The ALST practice exam... to give you an idea of how useless and frustrating it is. There is a reading about Dr. Heideggers experiment. A doctor who tries to convince his friends that he has the water from the fountain of youth. A questions asks to analyze a paragraph where the doctor explains how he got the water and whether it is fact or fiction. The answer is that his explanation is fiction because the water would have been widely distributed. In the explanation it says "if the water was sent to him, it would have been sent to others as well." There is nothing NOTHING in the passage that even remotely suggests this AT ALL. How can you, as a reader infer that just because he had received the water (which he got from an acquaintance" that this acquaintance sent it to several other people??? How can you even infer that???

I dont think tests should be easy. But they should be credible and gave validity, in they are testing with a particular purpose. How can you take a test where there is no correct answer, seemingly more than one correct answer or answers that have nothing to do with what you read.

To be fair, I am going to complete the entire book. However before I can even think about altaring this review I am going to utilize two other books focusing on the same tests and compare. If they are like this and the material covered are a true reflection of whats on the exam, the exams themselves need to be changed.

Also the introductory information for the EAS has no background information. They present you with theories and concepts you may not be familiar with or even understand in a very choppy manner. Either that or their explanations of concepts are terrible.

This prep book is very outdated and wasn’t very helpful in taking the exam in 2020. Don’t waste your time purchasing this and rather purchase the practice test from NYSTCE. Their resources are very updates and helped me pass. Furthermore, the most explanations in this book are the worse. Please don’t purchase this and spend your money on the practice test on the official website.

A useful text for the EAS. I wish there was more information and practice tests for the CST. The test are helpful with detailed explanations that support your ability to take the test. Definitely one of the best study tools I was able to find. It could include more practice opportunities with a greater focus on each test part.

This book is not very helpful if your looking for support on the EDTPA. It only includes a one page overview.

I liked this Barron practice book alot! It explains the material that will be covered on the tests very well, and gives a couple of example tests to help you know where you are at in terms of mastering the material. If you get a question wrong it explains why, and that is good in that you know why and how to do better next time. I passed both my EAS and ALST certification exams first time around after studying with this book for about 3 weeks, and I passed well over the 520 pass mark. So yes, this is a great book to study with!

Registered for my EAS giving myself only 2 days to prepare. I read through this book and took the practice tests. Then I bought the practice test from the nystce website. The book was definitely helpful I scored way above passing! I am taking my CSTs (b-2 and 1-6) next week. I am nervous because there is not as much information in the book for those tests. I’ll update my review when I receive those results but definitely worth it for the EAS.

I was freaking out when I was told I had to take the new CST. It had been so long since I was in school and I was worried about taking the (now 3) exams in order to keep my certification. I believe this is the only book with information on the new CST. Inside, there was helpful information on all the tests as well as practice examples. I like how there was a little prep guide for each section of the CST exams and sample test for each. After the sample test, there were explanations for each answer. I also liked that the constructed response questions were very similar to what you would see on the exam.

I also used practice tests from a company online, but I didn't like that the constructed responses weren't similar to the actual CST. Nor did I like the fact that they mix some of the subjects around. If you practice the math, try doing so while timing yourself. I thought I'd have so much time and I almost didn't get to finish.

I passed my exams and hope I don't have to do this again! Good luck.

OUTDATED!!!
The EAS is drastically different from the practice book, do NOT use for EAS studying. Was incredibly disappointed.

I am happy to report that after using this book as a study guide I passed my ALST test! This book makes the test seem really hard with very high vocabulary! However, when I took the test it was much easier! This book really help prepare me for the worst it could possibly be ha ha Ha