Typing Proficiency Test

Abstract

The Typewriting Proficiency Test, developed by West, Leonard J. and Bolanovich, D. J. in 1963, is a specialized assessment instrument designed to measure practical typing skills. Primarily utilized for industrial training evaluations and large-scale employment testing, the test comprehensively scores proficiency across various real-world tasks. These tasks include handling standard business correspondence, manipulating columnar material, transcribing rough drafts, and evaluating straight copy speed and accuracy.

Keywords

Speed, Errors, Typewriting Proficiency Test, Employment Tests, Industrial Training Assessment, Business Letters, Rough Drafts, Vocational Education

Authors

West, Leonard J., Bolanovich, D. J.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Typewriting Proficiency Test is to provide a standardized, objective measure of an individual’s practical typing skills. This assessment is critical for determining readiness and capability within vocational and business environments.

Specifically, the test is intended for use in evaluating the effectiveness of industrial training programs and for screening candidates during employment testing processes, ensuring that applicants possess the necessary proficiency for secretarial or clerical roles.

Construct

The scale measures the construct of Typewriting Proficiency. This construct encompasses not only raw speed (words per minute) but also accuracy, the ability to follow complex instructions, and the skill required to produce professionally formatted documents from various sources (e.g., longhand notes, unarranged letters, or rough drafts).

Validity

The validity of the Typewriting Proficiency Test was primarily established through measures of Criterion Validity. The correlation between test scores and external criteria of typing performance demonstrated a strong relationship.

Reported validity coefficients ranged robustly from .56 to .80. Furthermore, evidence supporting the generalizability of the results was provided by cross-validity coefficients, which were found to be between .55 and .67.

Reliability

The scale demonstrated acceptable to high levels of internal consistency across its various components, reflecting the stability and precision of the measurements. Reliability was assessed separately for production tasks (requiring formatting and interpretation) and straight copy work (focused purely on speed and error rate).

For the production tasks, internal consistency reliabilities for two test forms were reported as .77 for speed and .88 for errors. For the straight copy section, speed demonstrated exceptional reliability (.97), while the reliability for errors was .73.

Factor Analysis

Factor analytical studies regarding the underlying latent structure of the Typewriting Proficiency Test were not indicated in the original documentation provided by West and Bolanovich (1963).

Instrument

Test Type: Test

Format: The test is a practical, performance-based assessment. Items include two unarranged business letters, two longhand tables, two rough drafts, and two pieces of prose used for a 3-minute straight copy timed writing segment. Scoring focuses on both speed and errors. The typical administration time ranged from 16 to 72 minutes, with a mean completion time of 42 minutes (Standard Deviation = 9 minutes).

Language Available: English (Based on publication location and context)

Population Group: Humans; College Students; Business Teachers

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older)

Population Details: The scale was standardized and validated in the United States using a sample consisting of college students and experienced business teachers, ensuring relevance across both academic and professional contexts.

Test Methodology: The methodology involves timed practical exercises requiring transcription, arrangement, and correction. Performance is quantitatively scored based on speed (time taken or WPM) and accuracy (number of errors).

Keywords

Speed Assessment, Clerical Skills, Vocational Testing, Accuracy Measurement, Business Skills, Production Typing, Vocational Education

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source documentation.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in the source documentation. West was affiliated with Southern Illinois University; Bolanovich was affiliated with Perceptual Development Laboratories.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in the source documentation.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Typewriting Proficiency Test was developed and published in 1963. Test items are not generally available in the public domain; interested parties must contact the original publisher or authors for details regarding permissions, associated fees, and access to the instrument items.

Reference’s

• West, L. J., & Bolanovich, D. J. (1963). Typewriting Proficiency Test. United States.

Items of the Typewriting Proficiency Test

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Test items are generally unavailable to the public. The test battery includes the following components used for scoring:

• Two unarranged business letters.
• Two longhand tables.
• Two rough drafts.
• Two pieces of prose for 3-minute straight copy timed writing.