Status of Junior High School Typing Programs in the State of Utah

The following statement was made by Tonne, Popham, and Freeman in 1965: With typewriting being offered in one-third of the junior high schools, with three-fourths of them starting this program within the last ten years, and with almost three-fourth of the schools reporting an increase in enrollment within the past year, it is obvious that a prospective typewriting teacher may well expect to find himself in a junior high school Sanborn stated: Personal-use typewriting belongs to the ninth grade, either in junior high school or in a four-year high school. Placed here, it not only affords the student the opportunity to acquire a skill, . . . but it assures him this usable s kill through all four years of high school. There is agreement among many educators that the. Junior high school is a good level to introduce students to personal-use typewriting But, there is still some disagreement as to how many semesters the course should be taught. Kleindle and Crank wrote, Personal typewriting at the junior high school level is often a one-semester course. Tonne, Popham, and Freeman reported on a survey by the United Business Association (now the National Business Education Association). This survey covered almost half of the country\u27 s separate junior high schools. Of these junior high schools surveyed, 71 percent indicated that they teach two semesters of typing. This same survey revealed that 91 percent of those schools surveyed reported the class was taught in the ninth grade. Blackstone and Smith in 1955 said: It is believed that students of any age from the sixth or seventh grade upward are capable of learning to type to the levels of performance necessary for personal use , for such levels are not high . In personal-use typewriting, there are seldom any actual speed requirements. . .. the point is that the personal use student need not develop the speed and accuracy levels needed for vocational typing. Have all students who want typing, for any purpose, take a semester or two early in the secondary school--as early as the seventh or eighth grade--and make the course primarily personal typing for all concerned . However, Russon and Wanous state relative to a junior high typing course, Personal-use typing should be stressed, but keyboard mastery and fundamental techniques should be developed with the same care and vigor as in vocational typing classes