Thumbprinting at the CBEST Test Site and Other Rules

The California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) is divided into three sections, Reading, Writing, and Mathematics and was designed to test these skills in those hoping to find employment as an educator. As such there are some stringent regulations surrounding the CBEST test, and these measures include tightened security to ensure the CBEST exam is held under only the best circumstances. These measures are not meant to imply that the respondents who take the test are in any way trying to give inaccurate or misleading information. This latest technique implemented is to help the new thumb printing procedure ensure that the people who have taken the time to prepare for the test get to the proper locations.

In addition, there are other things the hopefuls should bring to the test site to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Among these items are your admission ticket and at least two sharpened No. 2 pencils since these will not be supplied at the test site. Each respondent will also need to bring the proper identification to the site to help speed in the intake process along. It is extremely important that the respondents bring the proper identification because not doing so could slow the process down and even result in a shortened testing time.

This is where the thumbprint comes into play. Anyone who wishes to take the CBEST test will be required at this point to provide a thumb print and those who do not will be restricted from taking the CBEST exam and unfortunately no refund will be given. Along with the thumbprint, all applicants will need to submit one piece of current government issued documentation that bears a photograph and signature.

It should also be noted that some kinds of government issued documents are not acceptable. These include student and employee identification cards and draft classification and credit cards. The CBEST exam takes every precaution to ensure that these documents are not used as identification at the test site due to the possibility of misuse.

Still, some people don’t always have the necessary documentation. There’s a procedure for that as well. Bring an accurate photograph of yourself and go to the Information Table where you will complete an identification form. After that, you have nine days to present the proper identification and your test results will be held so you won’t be able to access your scores online.

These procedures and requirements have been designed with the best environment possible for all those taking the CBEST test in mind. The strict nature of these precautions at each test site ensures that all the participants are processed through the procedure efficiently. Everyone planning on taking the CBEST exam should become well acquainted with the procedures and rules that you’ll need to follow on and during the test to ensure there are no costly time delays that could result in a shortened testing time that could adversely affect your test scores.

California Court Rules Home School Parents Must Be Credentialed

An editorial in the Los Angeles Daily News reports that a California appeals court ruled on February 28 that California parents may not home school their children unless those parents are credentialed teachers.

The editorial suggest that it would make more sense to have prospective teachers take the GRE rather than the CBEST.

The Los Angeles Times‘ article suggests, “It’s unclear if the ruling will be enforced, given the likely appeals. Typically, these rulings take effect 30 days after they are issued.”

Lunch-time Club Encourages Students to Become Teachers

The Weekend Pinnacle Online ran an interesting story about Club Ed, a program that pairs up elementary, middle school or high school kids with a peer tutor. While the main component is tutoring, another goal is to help get students interested in going to college and studying to be a teacher. “With some of the left over grant money, Rachel [Flores-Zepeda, a Spanish teacher at San Benito High School] is able to pay for graduating seniors to take the CBEST, a state test required to be a substitute teacher.”

Flores-Zepeda said some of the Club Ed members who have graduated have gone on to tutoring in college. “It’s how I got started, as a volunteer tutor,” Flores-Zepeda said.

CBEST Test Site Rules

Of course, those applying to take the CBEST exam and hopefully move on to a career in the teaching field will be no strangers to rules. In fact, if they are successful in becoming teachers themselves, adherence to a set of rules will be something they will undoubtedly expect from their students. So the test site rules for the CBEST test are understandably strict to ensure that everyone taking the test starts out and remains on a level playing field in a safe comfortable environment.

The first of these rules is one most of us are already used to. In fact the prohibition of smoking and the use of all tobacco products during the CBEST exam has become so commonplace in all other areas of society that it should come as no surprise at all that they’re banned at the test site.

Visitors are also restricted from entering to visit subjects as they take the CBEST exam and there are several obvious reasons for this. Relatives, children and friends at the site could very well cause a distraction to the others who are taking the CBEST exam even if they are attempting to be well behaved and quiet. Children especially can cause a lot of noise in an otherwise quiet environment without even meaning to. There is also the concern that some of the less trustworthy applicants might have some relative or friend try and sneak some manner of information in for them.

There are also a variety of electronic devices that are prohibited from use at the CBEST test site and these are banned for fairly obvious reasons. Perhaps because some applicants would do almost anything to pass the CBEST exam and feel they lack the proper credentials to do it on their own, calculators are prohibited as are cell phones and a host of other electronic media that includes pagers, computers, removable storage devices and any photographic or recording devices.

Along these same lines, there are a host of printed materials that are prohibited from the CBEST test site. These include dictionaries, textbooks, notebooks and any kind of scratch paper. It should be easy to see why these materials would be banned as they possibly constitute another method of cheating on the CBEST exam.

For less nefarious reasons food and drink are also strictly controlled at the CBEST exam site. Water bottles may be allowed in the testing room, provided they are clear, do not have a label, have a secure lid, and are stored under your seat, not on your desk, during testing.

Finally, there are to be no aids brought into the CBEST exam. The type of items suggested here include devices to aid in translation and slide rules and such. The administrators don’t want the applicants to have any artificial advantages when they take the CBEST test.

For the official “Test Site Rules” visit the official California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) Web Site.

Helpful CBEST Hints

If you’re planning on becoming a teacher in the state of California, the CBEST exam is something you’ll need to face head on. It’s a series of tests designed to test your fluency on subjects like math and reading, and it gives a clear indication of how well you’ll do in communicating the ideas involved with these disciplines to students at the public education level. These are extremely important as they represent a major cross roads on the path to becoming a teacher in the California educational system. The CBEST exam became a mandatory part of the entrance process for teachers after it was discovered some needed help in several key areas.

However, while many people may possess the knowledge and have the ability to communicate well in the classroom setting, taking a test might not be their strong suit. There are several hints the experts suggest for people who might not be the best at taking these tests. These are little tricks to memorizing the important information you’ll need to have to pass the critical set of tests.

One of the first ideas that a prospect for the CBEST exam should look into is prioritizing themselves. There is only so much time allocated for those taking the CBEST tests, and not everyone is strong in every subject. It’s very important therefore that you spend more time brushing up on your weaker CBEST areas than your stronger ones and that you can quickly identify which of these areas needs the most work.

Of course memory is another very important factor that will come into play during your CBEST preparation. Experts in the field have developed a number of ways to ensure that the things you learn stick in your head. First off, the experts suggest that you break up what you need to learn into small chunks that will be more easily stored. Most people’s short term memory can handle little chunks much better than bigger pieces. The larger amounts of information don’t process as well.

They suggest that if you turn the things you need to learn into a little tune, those musical notes will help you to keep the important information stored in your head a little longer. There appears to be something about music that helps us remember things we need to. Of course you won’t be able to sing that tune back during the CBEST exam, but humming it beforehand or singing in the shower will certainly help the memory process.

As well, turning the things you need to remember into nonsensical sentences that contain the patterns you need to memorize. You can create these types of sentences for any set of facts that you’ll need to memorize for the CBEST exams. Experts suggest that it’s best to make these little sentenced rhyme like poems or little ditties that will stay with you. Little memory tricks make all the difference in passing the CBEST tests and starting a career as a teacher in California.