Kids today are digital natives, but that doesn’t mean they’re fully prepared for the digital demands of school.
Having a device in hand is one thing; knowing how to type quickly and navigate online tests with confidence is another. With more high-stakes assessments moving online every year, many students aren't prepared with the proper skills or familiarity with the question types on these tests. The result : Stress, slower performance, and test scores that don’t reflect what these young learners really know.
Strong typing abilities and confidence navigating digital assessments are essential. And Keyboarding Without Tears can help your students get there. Let’s dig into the assessments available in the program that were designed to support you and your students.
Keyboarding Without Tears offers Spot Checks for Speed & Accuracy embedded throughout each grade level’s 36-week curriculum at specific intervals. Students have a maximum of 3 opportunities to do each Spot Check Challenge, where they’ll receive their score after each. Don’t let them miss the Try Again button so they have an opportunity to increase their speed or receive a higher accuracy percentage.
In terms of speed, where do you think your students should be in their Words Per Minute (WPM) score by the end of the school year? You’ll want to motivate them, provide feedback and goals or even engage in friendly competitions around speed and accuracy.
When no formal standard exists, educators often turn to a widely accepted benchmark for words per minute (WPM) by grade level. This guideline—validated by our own data and adopted globally—sets a simple expectation: students should type at a rate of 5 WPM multiplied by their grade level by the end of the year. That means 5 WPM for kindergarten and first grade, 10 WPM for second grade, 15 WPM for third grade, and so on.
Look for Spot Check data in your +Live Insights Reports section.
Your Guide to Assessment Accelerator
Keyboarding Without Tears provides an Assessment Accelerator to support 3rd-5th grade students with the most common online testing question types and the skills needed.
From your +Live Insights dashboard in the Teaching Resources section, you will find an Assessment Accelerator which provides a teacher’s resource with instructions on how to schedule these modules for your class, as well as information about preparing students for online assessments, plus how to interpret the reports after students have completed the testing modules in Math, ELA and combined Math and ELA.
As an educator you will receive Assessment Accelerator data at a high level for your class with the average amount of time to complete each module and the average number of questions answered in one try. Continue to scroll down to the Assessment Accelerator section of the Reports to find data broken out by Module, Question Type and by individual student.
Encourage students to boost their speed, accuracy, and Assessment Accelerator scores by reviewing their data together and setting meaningful goals for the end of the school year. As typing proficiency grows, students gain skills that support not only their academic success but also their future beyond the classroom.
Educators can track progress along the way, creating class-wide or individual goals to keep momentum strong. In today’s learning environment, mastering proper, efficient typing is an essential 21st-century skill.