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 The trend around the United States is to emphasize keyboarding - a
skill that is included in the Common Core education standards
adopted by most states.
But Tennessee lawmakers, concerned that some children do not have a
signature and struggle to read their teachers' handwriting,
overwhelmingly passed a bill making cursive a mandatory subject in
grades two through four.
Schools are expected to start bringing back the declining art of
cursive in 2015-2016 under the new rules, signed into law this year
by Governor Bill Haslam.
Keyboarding and print writing will still have their place, but
legible penmanship will be required by third grade.
"I am surprised we have stopped teaching it in some places," said
Gary Nixon, executive director of the Tennessee School Board. "It's
an art that is losing its form because of the keyboard."
For millennials, cursive is quaint and not much more.
"It's kind of like hopping on a Pogo stick. If you can do it, great,
but if not, it doesn't matter," said Cory Woodroof, 21, a student at
Lipscomb University in Nashville who felt grade school handwriting
classes were wasted time.
Also at Lipscomb, 20-year-old Janice Ng of Singapore said she took
immersion studies in English back home but "they didn't mention
cursive. It's not used."
The benefits of cursive teaching standards are questionable,
according to one national literacy expert.
"I don't think it's bad, but I don't think there's much of a point
to it," said Sandra Wilde, chair of the National Council of Teacher
of English Elementary Section Steering Committee.
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Dedicating teaching time to cursive could take time away from
touch-typing, a more important skill these days, she said.
Wilde said the cursive requirements in Tennessee echo moves in other
conservative states where lawmakers have tried to put their own
stamp on the school system in a reaction to Common Core.
The academic requirements under the Common Core State Standards
adopted by most U.S. states and territories over the last few years
aim to better prepare high school graduates for college and for the
demands of employers.
Common Core does not ban cursive writing teaching, said Melissa
McGrath, spokeswoman for the Council of Chief State School Officers,
which helped develop the standards.
She said it is up to teachers and communities to decide whether they
want to teach it.
(Editing by Fiona Ortiz)
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