EXCET TIPS

 

  1. The 72 questions---no, that’s $72.00 and 64 questions---and essay took me (Dr. Clay Daniel, former EXCET Coordinator, English) about 3 hours to complete. The testing people suggest allotting yourself at least 90 minutes for the essay.
  2. According to the ExCET Preparation Manual, there are four types of multiple-choice items: 1) Single items, 2) Correct Response Set items, 3) Items with Stimulus Material, 4) Clustered items. For more information, click the link to Texas Women’s University (#5, under OTHER LINKS, below).
  3. The questions are provocative, interesting, and difficult. Many of the answers---and questions---are heavily nuanced: there are not right and wrong answers so much as there are several right answers and you are asked to choose the best answer(s).
  4. The questions are primarily pedagogical ("how would you teach this?") rather than content-based.
  5. The example test at the NES site (#2, under OTHER LINKS, below) is a very good indicator of what to expect on the test.
  6. Typical questions with passages as "stimulus material" asked the following 1) how should a student respond to another student's paper/essay (make negative and positive comments? Only comment negatively when prepared with a suggestion on how to remedy the problem?) 2) How would you (as teacher) correct a paper/essay (especially in terms of grammar/punctuation/wordiness)? 3) How would you (as teacher) correct a student's essay/paper at a particular stage in the writing process (an editorial, in the last stage of writing)? 4) How would you (as a teacher) respond to a student's essay/paper in terms of audience?
  7. The test site was crowded. There was even a policeman/guard directing traffic. Inside the building there were numbers, numbers, numbers, directing test-takers to the appropriate room. Inside the right room, there were more procedures (such as leaving your identification on the desk). Fortunately, the supervisors at Edinburg North High School were very helpful. But be prepared that, with bad supervision, the physical process of test taking---finding the building, finding the room, finding the desk---can be stressful.