States Still Requiring Students To Learn Cursive

MARYLAND – Removing cursive handwriting from the curriculum has been one of the most widely cited criticisms of the Common Core State Standards but 21 states are still requiring students to learn it, including Maryland.

The decision is up to each school district. Anne Arundel County and Calvert County still teach it.

Rene Daniels is the Chief of Communications for Calvert County Public Schools. She says they include cursive handwriting instruction as well as manuscript instruction. Cursive is instructed in 2nd grade. Manuscript is instructed Pre-K through 2nd grade.

Those in favor of teaching cursive say students need to learn it to be able to read historical documents, like the U.S. Constitution. Others say cursive helps students write faster than print and they need it to develop a signature.

One of the lead writers of the English/language arts standards, Sue Pimentel, explained that the decision was about priorities and that learning to use technology took precedence.

“We thought that more and more of student communications and adult communications are via technology. And knowing how to use technology to communicate and to write was most critical for students,” says Pimental. She says the decision to exclude cursive was also based on feedback from teachers. She says many teachers said cursive writing takes a lot of instruction time.

Pimentel says states do have the ability to add standards. Tennessee and California have done it and Louisiana mandates that students get instruction in cursive every year from the 3rd grade through 12th grade.

A few years ago, several teachers from Maryland gathered in Baltimore to discuss the most effective ways to teach handwriting.

Crystal Elser is the administrator for Walden International School in North Bethesda. She says research has shown a strong connection between handwork and brain development. She also says kids actually enjoy writing in cursive. “Students often are excited when they learn to write in cursive because most believe only adults can do it. They like to have a signature for their name, and that’s important for them to have,” she said.

Others argue that teaching students how to type is more important now that pencils and paper have been replaced with computers.

Regardless, the Maryland State Department of Education says they will continue to suggest that cursive be taught in schools.

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