| Scoping Made Affordable (SMA) |
| Scoping Made Affordable (SMA) Home-Study Training Courses |
Step One in the Training Process - Steno Language - $350
(25% of the training process)
Steno Training
Learning the basics of steno language based upon StenEd Theory will give you proficiency in your ability
to read the steno notes and to easily work with the dictionaries which are the spine of the CAT programs.
(25% of the training process)
Steno Training
Learning the basics of steno language based upon StenEd Theory will give you proficiency in your ability
to read the steno notes and to easily work with the dictionaries which are the spine of the CAT programs.
Step Two in the Training Process - Editing - $630
(45% of the training process)
1. Punctuation/Grammar for Scoping
Purchase and complete study of LMEG is required before purchasing this training material. Challenging
sentence formatting samples will be given for you to practice and check.
Punctuation is the majority of our work.
2. Homonym or Soundalike Words Practice and Challenging Word Usage
Practice in understanding and usage of soundalike words will be covered which is important to our work.
3. Contextual Reading Practice
Reading contextually will hone your skills when your eyes need to detect a transposition of words or missing
words in which our brain tries to trick us into thinking the words are correct. Refer to the information to the right.
This is a skill that needs to be taught to most new scopists. This part will continue into the Ready to Work phase
of your training.
4. Formatting Numbers
Depending on the context, numbers are formatted many different ways. This material will help you to be
comfortable with those different formatting styles. This will cover dates, measurements, Bates numbers, guns,
citing references and more!!
5. Formatting Documents & Terminology
Recognizing the differences between different parts of a criminal trial versus a deposition will be provided,
understanding the difference between colloquy and Q and A, and how to transition between the two will be
provided. The scoping, court reporter and legal terminology provided will give you a strong foundation to work
within this field.
6. Practice Editing Files
Files will be provided for you to practice your editing skills on. These files will be followed by the completely
edited files so that you can see where your mistakes are at. This helps us to focus in on areas that are more
challenging. Everyone will likely struggle with different aspects of the editing process. Mastering this
process is an essential tool for scoping.
7. Conference Calls through Skype
Two conference calls will be held each week (and are recorded if you can't make it) to really
give you the personal instruction and guidance on the intricacies of scoping. These conference calls
can be attended repeatedly, even after you've finished your training.
(45% of the training process)
1. Punctuation/Grammar for Scoping
Purchase and complete study of LMEG is required before purchasing this training material. Challenging
sentence formatting samples will be given for you to practice and check.
Punctuation is the majority of our work.
2. Homonym or Soundalike Words Practice and Challenging Word Usage
Practice in understanding and usage of soundalike words will be covered which is important to our work.
3. Contextual Reading Practice
Reading contextually will hone your skills when your eyes need to detect a transposition of words or missing
words in which our brain tries to trick us into thinking the words are correct. Refer to the information to the right.
This is a skill that needs to be taught to most new scopists. This part will continue into the Ready to Work phase
of your training.
4. Formatting Numbers
Depending on the context, numbers are formatted many different ways. This material will help you to be
comfortable with those different formatting styles. This will cover dates, measurements, Bates numbers, guns,
citing references and more!!
5. Formatting Documents & Terminology
Recognizing the differences between different parts of a criminal trial versus a deposition will be provided,
understanding the difference between colloquy and Q and A, and how to transition between the two will be
provided. The scoping, court reporter and legal terminology provided will give you a strong foundation to work
within this field.
6. Practice Editing Files
Files will be provided for you to practice your editing skills on. These files will be followed by the completely
edited files so that you can see where your mistakes are at. This helps us to focus in on areas that are more
challenging. Everyone will likely struggle with different aspects of the editing process. Mastering this
process is an essential tool for scoping.
7. Conference Calls through Skype
Two conference calls will be held each week (and are recorded if you can't make it) to really
give you the personal instruction and guidance on the intricacies of scoping. These conference calls
can be attended repeatedly, even after you've finished your training.
All Training packages The Entire Scoping Training Course (at a reduced cost) Purchase the entire course at one time or in two separate payments to save you money. Refresher Course (Former court reporting students) MT Package Senior Package |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Simply click on each step of the course which will take you to the page describing those specific courses and you may purchase it there. Once payment is received, you will receive the link to the registration form. |
| **************************************** This is a completely self-paced training program to best meet the needs of your busy lifestyle. All coursework will be sent to you via email. **************************************** |
Step Three in the Training Process - Getting ready to work - $420
(30% of the training process.)
1. File-Transfer Information
Information on transferring files will be covered so that you can easily download and upload the files to court reporters.
Sometimes we have to help court reporters learn how to do this process.
2. CAT Programs - SMA has put together a chart of the top four used CAT programs that compares their
editing features side by side. This information helps you decide which one you want to work with and can be used as
a training tool which is why SMA put it together. Purchase the chart separately here:
Training via both written material and phone conversations will help you learn these
programs easily.
3. Marketing Yourself, Determining Your Rates and Working with Your First Court Reporter.
The main areas of putting your marketing letter together to promote your scoping skills to court reporters and how to
promote yourself will be covered. (Please note: You must be willing to assert yourself into the scoping field . If you are
looking for the work to simply be handed to you, you will not be successful in scoping.)
4. How to Research
How to use the most of your time in researching terminology, formatting, and ways to build your research resources is a
must to know as you work in the scoping field.
5. Working with Preference Sheets
What is a preference sheet and how do we use them is covered thoroughly. It is also an excellent learning tool.
6. Proofreading Your Work/Scoping Internship - A working internship is in the process of evolving.
As a part of your training, SMA will proofread your scoping work before you go out into the field. This is vitally important
because scopists need to listen for the tiniest details and utterances. This is not the easiest thing to pick up on either.
This takes practice and excellent listening skills. SMA will be assisting you while you start working through your first
scoping jobs. At least three files will be given to each student throughout the training process. The last file
will be a videotape file.
7. Taxes, Billing and Invoices
SMA will provide you with the basic tips of owning and operating your own business, how to bill your customers and will
also provide you with sample invoices.
8. Take and pass the final scoping exam
This way both SMA and you will know that you have all the skills needed to be a successful scopist.
SMA is the only scoping training program requiring its students to scope a transcript with audio and pass it in order to
determine that you have the skills necessary.
(30% of the training process.)
1. File-Transfer Information
Information on transferring files will be covered so that you can easily download and upload the files to court reporters.
Sometimes we have to help court reporters learn how to do this process.
2. CAT Programs - SMA has put together a chart of the top four used CAT programs that compares their
editing features side by side. This information helps you decide which one you want to work with and can be used as
a training tool which is why SMA put it together. Purchase the chart separately here:
Training via both written material and phone conversations will help you learn these
programs easily.
3. Marketing Yourself, Determining Your Rates and Working with Your First Court Reporter.
The main areas of putting your marketing letter together to promote your scoping skills to court reporters and how to
promote yourself will be covered. (Please note: You must be willing to assert yourself into the scoping field . If you are
looking for the work to simply be handed to you, you will not be successful in scoping.)
4. How to Research
How to use the most of your time in researching terminology, formatting, and ways to build your research resources is a
must to know as you work in the scoping field.
5. Working with Preference Sheets
What is a preference sheet and how do we use them is covered thoroughly. It is also an excellent learning tool.
6. Proofreading Your Work/Scoping Internship - A working internship is in the process of evolving.
As a part of your training, SMA will proofread your scoping work before you go out into the field. This is vitally important
because scopists need to listen for the tiniest details and utterances. This is not the easiest thing to pick up on either.
This takes practice and excellent listening skills. SMA will be assisting you while you start working through your first
scoping jobs. At least three files will be given to each student throughout the training process. The last file
will be a videotape file.
7. Taxes, Billing and Invoices
SMA will provide you with the basic tips of owning and operating your own business, how to bill your customers and will
also provide you with sample invoices.
8. Take and pass the final scoping exam
This way both SMA and you will know that you have all the skills needed to be a successful scopist.
SMA is the only scoping training program requiring its students to scope a transcript with audio and pass it in order to
determine that you have the skills necessary.
| Cash Payments Send an email for the cash payment form and SMA will send that to you. |
| Exit Exam & Certificate An exit exam will be given to SMA graduates so that both the scopist and court reporters will know that SMA scopists are prepared to tackle the work at hand. Upon graduation, each graduate will receive a Certificate of Completion from SMA. |
Options of Payment
available on all packages and SIP
|
All SMA students will have a FREE lifetime subscription to Joyful Leads. |
| All of the packaged courses now give you the option to pay over two months up to six months. |
| Take a look at the job security for court reporters compared to the U.S. Job market. Job Trends for Court Reporters (Ranks for federal, state, county, city, local, & government.) http://www.simplyhired.com/a/jobtrends/home |
SMA is providing training on Eclipse, Case CATalyst, and DigitalCAT. |
| Current Data for SMA and SIP (As of March 2010) SMA/SIP will no longer update this information because of the number of enrollments, graduates and total business it is receiving. Feel free to visit the graduates page to see who has graduated and who you may contact directly for feedback about the SMA/SIP training experience. To the best of my knowledge, all graduates have scoping work. And at least two interns have gotten work before they have finished their training. |
| Tuition Fees Step 1 - $350 Step 2 - $630 Step 3 - $420 Total $1400 Package Programs save you money. The order buttons are already set: Complete Course first payment: $200 Refresher Course first payment: $120 Retirement Course first payment: $150 MT Course first payment: $150 And SIP three-month payment plan, first payment is only: $90 |
Six-Month Payment Plan is available Because it takes a little while for most people to practice and acquire the contextual reading skill and punctuation skills in order to be a qualified scopist, SMA is now providing a six-month payment plan option. If you miss a payment, you will stop receiving material. It's that simple. Send an email to drscoping@gmail.com to receive the information on this payment plan. |
| All SMA graduates will receive a Certificate of Completion upon passing the final exam. |
SMA Hours of Availability for its students: Monday - Thursday, all day Friday & Saturday, 9 - 5 p.m. Sundays - Off Students may still contact SMA during off hours, but responses will be restricted to the hours listed above. |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |