Methodology & Curriculum

Writing Short

Writing short means typing using as few keystrokes as possible and as many brief forms as you can learn to use. Learning to write short increases your overall speed of writing. Reporters who write everything out phonetically can somewhat make up for the extra strokes by having faster fingers than most, but that is only half of what you need in order to achieve your maximum speed. Using Mark's theory, you reduce the strain on your hands and energy used versus writing out phonetically.

Writing Fast

The second part of the methodology is training your fingers to move faster. This is accomplished by hard, repetitious practice slowly building up your speeds while retaining extremely high accuracy. Reporters who have slower fingers can somewhat make up for it by writing shorter, but that is only one component of what you need to achieve maximum speed.

In summary, the court reporter who writes BOTH very short and with fast fingers will be among the best and most sought out in the profession.

Program Description

This program will teach students how to become a professional court reporter. It will fully prepare them to pass the state and national tests that may be required in certain venues, such as Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR) and Registered Professional Reporter (RPR). The principal occupational skills that will be taught onsite include using machine shorthand to write literary dictation at speeds up to 180 words per minute, jury charge dictation at speeds up to 200 words per minute, and question-and-answer testimony in legal settings at speeds up to 225 words per minute, all at a minimum of 95% accuracy.

Students will learn how to transcribe dictation using CAT software (computer assisted translation), how to create and format official court transcripts, how to mark and index exhibits, how to create mini-transcripts and ASCII disks, how to connect to other computers for providing Realtime and other technologies related to court reporting. They will receive advanced schooling in English vocabulary and usage, punctuation, proofreading and editing skills, current events, as well as law, legal and medical terminology. Students will receive instruction on court reporting procedures and will complete a practical internship. Graduates of the program will be thoroughly prepared to immediately obtain employment in both official and freelance court reporting positions.

Course Catalog and Descriptions

Please note that the specified speeds are the minimum requirements for testing out, not for initial placement.

This course plan is designed for completion of the program within 24 months (2 years), with Theory spanning nine months.

Online non-live students have four months to complete the first three quarters (Theory/Eng/Med), while online-live and onsite students have three months. If an online non-live student takes a full year to finish Theory, as opposed to the nine months required for onsite and online-live students, they must complete Speed Building within the following year to graduate within the two-year timeframe.

All students, regardless of status (onsite, online-live, or online non-live), are required to complete the same courses. The primary distinction is that online non-live students are given four months to complete each quarter of Theory and Academics.

It is important to note that while Theory is divided into three quarters, it constitutes a single comprehensive course with three progress and grade checkpoints to evaluate student advancement and academic standing. If a student withdraws before completing all three quarters of Theory, they will be required to restart from Theory, Quarter 1 upon re-enrollment.