A survey conducted in 1974 in the Little Rock area revealed there was a demand for office personnel who could take shorthand. There was a definite need for the initiation and implementation of a program at McClellan High School to boost enrollment in shorthand courses. The purpose of this study was to determine if students could acquire a proficiency level in transcription for employment in a one-year period that exceeds the level now achieved in the traditional shorthand classes. A comparative study was conducted to ascertain whether students could achieve a higher level of skill through the use of machines or by the traditional approach. All students had one hour of instruction daily. The machine method of teaching shorthand appeared to be a superior method. Forty-four percent of the students in the experimental machine shorthand groups had reached a job-entry skill level by the end of the school year. This compared to 6 percent in the control groups of traditional Gregg Shorthand. (VA)