Handwriting on wall for cursive.

• Author: Thatcher, Dan
• Position: Cursive instruction bills - Trends

When the Common Core education standards were issued in 2010 and made no mention of handwriting, cursive or manuscript printing, advocates of longhand took notice. Currently, 43 states and the District of Columbia are members of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. The Common Core is a set of guidelines for what every student, from kindergarten through 12th grade, should know and be able to do in math and English language arts. The goal of the standards is to ensure that students graduate from high school with the fundamental skills needed to succeed in college or the workforce.

Why isn't handwriting in the standards? "The Common Core Initiative admits that the [standards] 'do not describe all that can or should be taught,'" as Ohio's fact sheet on the guidelines states. "Handwriting is one of these skills that 'can or should be taught.'" The fact that cursive instruction isn't listed doesn't prevent teachers, schools or districts from requiring it. That decision is made at the state and local levels.

Advocates of cursive instruction make a cultural and cognitive argument. "You definitely need to teach typing and keyboarding and all of that, but kids do need to be able to sign their names, they do need to be able to read the Founding Fathers' documents," New Hampshire Senator Nancy Stiles (R) told the Boston Globe. Stiles sponsored a bill that passed after the wording was amended from...