CBEST Essays: Things You Need to Know Before Passing the Exam

The California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST) acts as a gateway to applicants who want to join the teaching career in California. The candidates are tested on their ability to read, write and do the math. The test is not about the candidate’s teaching ability, but about their knowledge to read, write and do the math. 

Your aim should be to prove that you are proficient in these three areas. In the first two sections; -reading and math, you will be given fifty questions per section and in the third section, you will be required to write two essays. 

Each of the three sections in this test is important and you should get ready to answer all the fifty questions in each of the first two sections before you attempt the essays section. The scores you get in each will be consolidated to determine your overall score. 

The essays section is the most feared by most candidates but it should not be an issue if you have been used to writing essays in college. However, since the two essays will be preparing you for a career as an educator in California, you should study the CBEST writing prompts because the essays might be different compared to college essays. 

The CBEST essay is different from college in several ways. A college essay mainly tests your level of understanding of certain concepts or philosophies taught in a certain subject or module. The lecturer aims to test your progress in college and several college essays add to the final grades. 

CBEST essay’s goal is different because it’s testing an individual ready to join the job market as an educator. The main goal of the essays is to test your ability to write content that clearly and logically brings out information in the best way possible. 

Use credible study information 

Preparing for the test is good, but you should prepare yourself using the right information. There is a lot of information available in libraries and online. Still, most of it is substandard and will not give you the latest quality information to help you write the best quality essays. 

The Wonderlic Test Prep contains all sorts of credible qualification examinations, such as the CBEST, and it has a section devoted to prep tools. You can take a written test for the CBEST essays section on this page. Completing this sample exam is one approach to get a feel for the sorts of tests that might appear in the CBEST essay section. 

Divide your essay into five sections 

One of the essays will be expository and the other one will be an expressive essay. The essay's structure should be attractive and easy to follow if you want to get the best scores. Remember, these are essays for a job application and are different from college essays. The structure might be closely related to college essays, but you need to make it unique. 

For the best results, divide each essay into five sections and have the first one as the introductory section, then give an example in the next. Give your supporting evidence in the third section and the fourth, write your strongest supporting point before concluding in the final section. 

You want your two essays to be the best essays you have ever written because they will be used to determine if you will work as an educator in California or try your luck in another state. Once you have professionally written all the five sections, scan your essays for errors and correct mistakes thoroughly. 

You will get many spelling and grammar apps online that you can use to scan your essays and use the correction tips you get from the apps. Another essential online app is the plagiarism checker app that will help you scan your essay's originality. 

Given that the essays will help you get a job as an educator, grammar correctness cannot be overlooked in the CBEST essays. You must write your essays eloquently and expressively and you must avoid using junk words. Paragraph clarity will be important and your examples must make sense to the person reading your essays.