Ready for RICA: A Test Preparation Guide for California's Reading Instruction Competence Assessment

Rating:
Summary: Helpful as an organizational tool.
Review: This book is an excellent organizational tool to prepare you for the RICA multiple choice section. However, this book can no way replace an elementary literacy course at the university. I used this book, my information from my 2 semester literacy course and the Tompkins "Literacy for the 21st century" to pass the test. Good luck. Remember that the information for this test will be useful in your classroom and you can't just cram in all this information to pass the test. You REALLY need to know this stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful as an organizational tool.
Review: This book is an excellent organizational tool to prepare you for the RICA multiple choice section. However, this book can no way replace an elementary literacy course at the university. I used this book, my information from my 2 semester literacy course and the Tompkins "Literacy for the 21st century" to pass the test. Good luck. Remember that the information for this test will be useful in your classroom and you can't just cram in all this information to pass the test. You REALLY need to know this stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Ready for RICA: A Test Preparation Guide for California's Re
Review: This book is not worth the paper it was written on. I read it from beginning to end and thought I was well prepared for the Rica after scoring very well on the pre-test. Needless to say I was badly mistaken. The pre-test was nothing like the actual test in anything except its structure. I would avoid this book and purchase something that has questions modeled after the actual RICA.

Rating:
Summary: Must have
Review: This book was instrumental in my passing the RICA at first try. The author has the unique ability to organize a rather complex subject matter into an easy to comprehend format. The book is invaluable in its matching of strategies to the varying tasks in literacy instruction. Further, Zarrillo familiarizes one with the terminology needed for the taking of the RICA.
Beyond the lucid presentation of content, the test taking tips were extremely helpful. For instance, the book contains a plan as to how to budget your time on the test. It helped me to know wether I was within the prescribed limit and did much to lessen my stress during the actual test.
Most notable to me was that a vast majority of people were standing outside the test site, holding Zarrillo's book, and looking it over once more before they had to put it away for the actual test. I knew then I had purchased the right study guide.
Right now, I plan to utilize the book for my teaching career since it helps me to quickly locate the strategies I need for the different objectives.
I believe that this book is a must have for any elementary school teacher.