Study Guide Social Studies and Citizenship Education: Content Knowledge

by Educational Testing Service

Combining preparatory exercises and practice tests for studying in the months or weeks before the exam, this guide provides chapters on US history, world history, political science, economics, and the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0886853818
• ISBN13: 9780886853815
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Educational Testing Service
• Length: 151 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.8" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

excellent condition

excellent condition, this book arrived ontime and has aperfect guideline to prepare you for this test, it is thorough without being overwhelming. love this book, hopefully it will help me pass the test

Great Study Tool

The study guides are great for studying before the Praxis exams. But be sure to buy the extra practice tests as the real thing is MUCH harder than the study guides' practice tests.

Like any tool: Useful if used correctly.

So, I just want to echo some of the reviews here by saying that this guide is most definitely useful. That being said, it does not provide you with all the information you need to pass the test. The title of the thing is most apt: It's a study guide...it guides you about what to study. You choose where/how you will study. But it's nice to have some kind of guideline so that you don't have to waste your time studying things that won't be on the test. Still, at only 150 pages including a practice test, this is not a world history, US history, geography, social science, economics or government text, but it will specify, by these categories, the exact areas you need to focus on. Ideally, I'd recommend buying this at least a month before the test, that way you're guaranteed at least a couple weeks to cover some of the major content areas. I only had a week, and I was scrambling to look everything up that I wanted to learn/refresh. Using this guide in conjunction with some library research (or even wikipedia, which is what I used) is a great way to increase your score. The practice test also gives you a good place to start; it functions as a reliable diagnostic tool that provides instant feedback about the areas that need the most focus for study. Finally, it's produced by the Praxis people themselves, while this does not make it perfect, it proved very reliable in that I studied nothing that wasn't worth my time, and, in fact, I can say that I answered at least 30 questions correctly that I would not have were it not for this guide. On a 130 question exam, I can say without a doubt, I wouldn't have passed were it not for this guide.

Unfortunately, this study guide is a necessary evil

I recently took the Praxis II Secondary Social Studies test in late April of 2008, and found this study guide to be of central importance to my ability to go into the test feeling like I had done as much meaningful prep as was possible given the time I had to study. In the month prior to taking the test, I did some online research (including reading these reviews about THIS study guide), and came away not particularly impressed that I would need the guide. I bought several books and created study regimens for myself on world and us history, psychology, economics, geography etc. that are included in the test. However, after nearly 3 weeks of studying, I realized that the spectrum of possible subject topics was just too overwhelming, and that I needed help to refine what I was going to spend my time on. This particular subject test covers so much stuff, why would you leave it to your own assumptions or guesswork which topics, prominent figures, or general ideas you would look to learn rather than get a simple, comprehensive list of what you should study. I found, for instance, in the psychology/sociology section, I simply researched every person or idea they had listed through google and wikipedia - and I scored a perfect 13 our of 13 on that particular section. Had I not had that list, I would have likely studied twice as much for not as much return on my studying investment. Moreover, the study guide included some rather specific ideas that in my B.A. and M.A. of political science would not have thought to include in my study of psychology - I consider that valuable information. Having said that, this is not a comprehensive study guide. You will get general ideas and names that you are left to go gather info on. It is just as easy to google a name and search wikipedia than it is to read it from in a book. I think people are somewhat misguided to expect ETS to literally hand them a complete answer sheet to the test they need to make an effort to learn the information for in order to pass. That is what this study guide is for - to help you prevent studying things that are not going to be on the test - and help you concentrate your efforts on the areas that are included to help you score better. In that regard, I am 100% satisfied that I purchased this study guide. If you're like me, you are going into teaching to do as good as you can. So you can be a stingy know-it-all and save your $20, but I think the time and effort this guide will save you is well worth the money, and difficult to think of doing without.

test is great, study guide is so-so

Works great, however... it's very general knowledge stuff- it basically could have said, when you're studying make sure you know everything. The practice test was nice because it was really long and gave me an idea of what the test would be like, and the test was very close to identical to the practice test. (Different questions, but exact same style)