Cursive comeback? Some Kentucky lawmakers want to see it returned to public schools
FRANKFORT — Cursive writing lessons could soon be making a reappearance in Kentucky schools.
Common Core, the federal education initiative adopted in 2010, dropped cursive education, but the Kentucky legislature is considering a bill to reverse that.
Senate Bill 167 would require cursive writing to be taught in elementary schools starting in the 2025-26 academic year.
Students would become proficient in cursive by fifth grade.
The bill, whose primary sponsor is Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, passed the Senate last week on a 37-1 vote.
During discussion about the bill on the Senate floor, Tichenor said cursive has been proven to improve communication skills and stimulate creativity and learning.
"We are producing students currently who are cursively illiterate in their own language and are not able to read a card from grandma or from primary source documents," Tichenor said.
There was some controversy when Common Core cut cursive out of its standards, and it's been a debate ever since for K-12 schools.
Some say cursive is a thing of the past. Others say cursive learning is still important because it can affect literacy skills, school performance and provide other benefits.
So, why did Common Core decide to make the cut? With paper being traded more and more for laptops and tablets, learning how to type became more important for students.
While the Kentucky Education Association, Kentucky School Counselors Association and National Education Association have neutral stances on the bill, there's still national debate on whether schools should still teach cursive writing.
About 20 states include cursive in public school curriculum.
Drew Faust, president emerita of Harvard University and the Arthur Kingsley Porter University Research professor, said learning cursive is important because it allows people to understand the past, especially for those who research and study primary documents.
She wrote a piece for The Atlantic about encountering the absence of cursive instruction when she discovered her undergraduate students couldn’t read manuscripts in her Civil War History class.
Faust said when most of her students couldn’t write or read cursive, she would have to choose research projects that were based on printed materials.
She said she doesn't believe cursive is important solely for understanding the past. It also has benefits for the mind and body, she said.
“Cursive is a way of embodying your thoughts and stimulating some kinds of mental engagement through the physical act of writing,” Faust said.
Should kids learn cursive writing? Submit your letter to the editor here.
Brenda Rapp, a professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University, said handwriting in general lets people learn new letters faster compared to just visually seeing them or typing them on a keyboard.
"Writing by hand will activate a different set of brain areas than typing, and probably more brain areas than typing or just visually seeing, and that may be some of the basis for why you get some of the benefits," Rapp said.
Rapp said, although she isn't against cursive, requiring its instruction could leave some kids behind who struggle with motor skills.
"I think that consideration needs to be given or thought needs to be given for children for whom this will be a challenge, even if overall it might be helpful," Rapp said.
Reach reporter Hannah Pinski at @hpinski@courier-journal.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @hannahpinski.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Cursive writing lessons could be returned to Kentucky public schools
