I bought this book and the XAM CSET English test prep book to study for the English CSET. I was a journalism major in college and was able to pass all 4 sub-tests the first time!

If you buy a CSET study book purchase this one. The Cliffs book is far more reflective of the actual test. The questions and the layout are extremely similar--which is helpful when studying. It is accurate, clear, and concise.

If you get the XAM book I would only use it as a supplement and for the additional test questions. XAM was ridden with errors. I was afraid to rely too much for studying because of the obvious errors.

I am planning to keep the Cliffs book for a teaching tool. The XAM book I am selling back.

Haven't really had a chance to use it yet...and hoping to this summer! I'm sure it is sufficient as i have bought others like it that were.

I am unfortunately not able to review this product for it's quality, since I have not used it yet. However, in reviewing the service by amazon, regarding my purchase, etc, i can say that i have no complaints whatsoever. From the initial purchase on line through the timely delivery, the service provided by Amazon was 'good'!
i would be happy to give you a 'product review' at such time that i begin my study program with it, if you want; pls send me a reminder in a few months.
thanks!
dcl

I just received this book and also have the XAM CSET: English study guide. Because the Cliff's Notes one just came out, I used the XAM book to study for the first three parts of the CSET (which I took and passed!). I now am going to take the fourth subtest.

In comparing the two books, I found that the XAM guide provides a LOT more information to study regarding the content. For example, the Cliff's version has two pages (essentially just a list) of major works of literature and the periods in which they were written. The XAM guide lists many of these same works, but also will provide a short synopsis of what the story is about. It also explains features of the different periods. The Cliff's version says that Dryden wrote during the Neoclassic period, but doesn't say what Neoclassism is or who Dryden was. The XAM guide does describe what Neoclassism means and when it was. It also tells you more information about Dryden.

In the Cliff's guide, out of 234 pages, only 23 cover content. 27 pages are on test-taking strategies. The remainder is two practice tests.

The practice tests are very good and, I think, very representative of what the actual tests are like. The answers to the questions are very well-written and are full of useful information. To continue using Neoclassism as an example, an answer to one question defines the period very nicely. If you have the patience and the organizational skills to dig through the answers to weed out the bits of useful information, then I think the practice tests will help you very much. But I prefer to have the information all in one place to begin with, and then use the answers to fill in what's missing. (The XAM version also had a very good answer key.)

The Cliff's version explicitly says that it is not meant to be a complete resource and the XAM version is not complete either. (I needed to supplement my studies with additional information from internet sources.) But I feel that, in terms of content and ease of study, the XAM study guide is a better source. I would probably buy both, however, use the XAM as a base for studying, and take the practice tests in both books because they ask for different skills (especially for subtest IV).