Office of Academic Support
 CPE Prep-Steps Overview

CPE Prep-Steps is a test preparation course consisting of two seminars designed to help CSI students prepare for the CUNY Proficiency Examination.  Prep Steps consists of a Task 1 Study Group and a Task 2 Workshop. Both seminars are offered on a variety of dates and may be attended in either order.  Students are encouraged to attend both seminars to provide the best possible preparation for the exam. 
The following is a description of both seminars:

Task 1 Study Group (three hours):

Introduction:

• The presenter begins with a general overview of Task 1. 
• The instructions and the sample writing assignment in the CPE Information Booklet are closely reviewed. 
• The three directives of the writing assignment are identified (summarizing specified points from Selection A, drawing a relationship to Selection B, discussing your own views on the topic). 
• Emphasis is placed on the importance of identifying and explaining the relationship between the two reading passages, which is often the most difficult part of Task 1.  Examples from old sample tests are used to illustrate textual relationships (i.e. relating theoretical ideas to practical ideas and identifying similar ideas in varying contexts).

Approximate time: 45 minutes

Discussion of Essay Format:

• The instructor discusses strategies for effective essay writing with emphasis on organization, coherence and clarity.
• Two general essay formats are presented as options for effective organization of ideas (Subject by Subject method and Point by Point method).
• Methods of citation are reviewed (quoting and paraphrasing).
• Sample student responses are reviewed.

Approximate time: 30 minutes

Reading and Discussion Groups:

• The class is divided into small reading and discussion groups (usually 2-4 students per group depending on the number of participants) with each group assigned a portion of the reading selection to read, discuss and annotate. 
• The instructor discusses methods of effective annotation, emphasizing the importance of efficiently working with the long reading passage on the day of the exam.
• Students are reminded that they are responsible for analyzing the text as well as engaging each other in discussion and forming their own conclusions about the passage. The presenter will organize the groups and facilitate the general course of the discussion, but the format is a discussion group rather than a lecture, which means student participation, is essential.  Disagreement is expected and provides grounds for livelier discussion.
• While the groups are in discussion, the presenter circulates around the room and helps to ensure that all of the students are participating in the discussion.
• After the groups have had sufficient time to read and discuss their assigned text, a full discussion of the reading passage ensues, in which members of each group report to the class, discussing the main idea of the overall passage and identifying important supporting points in their assigned portion of the text.
• In addition to identifying important points, the students will also be asked to evaluate and make critical judgments about the arguments presented in the reading selection.

Approximate time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Task 2 Workshop (three hours):

• The instructor begins with a careful review of the sample instructions and scoring guidelines.
• Students are presented with data represented in figures and in text format. The presenter suggests strategies for reading and correctly interpreting data represented in a variety of visual formats including bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, scatter plots and maps.
• The presenter emphasizes the importance of incorporating data from both figures and relating them to separate claims from the reading selection.
• Not all of the data in the figures and the text need to be discussed in the student’s response. The importance of determining which data from the figures are relevant to the claims in the reading passage is emphasized.
• The presenter discusses strategies for referencing textual data (quoting/paraphrasing) and using specific relevant details to explain the relationship of textual data to figured data.  Students are encouraged to quote directly from the reading passage.
• Materials include sample tests as well as outside materials provided by the presenter.
• Sample student responses are reviewed.