Bill to require cursive writing lessons passes Indiana Senate

Senate Bill 8 would require each Indiana school corporation, charter school and accredited nonpublic elementary school to include cursive writing in their curriculum.

While the likelihood of passage in the House is not strong, cursive writing instruction will continue in Vigo County schools, says Janet Brosmer, the district’s language arts curriculum coordinator.

“Whether it’s mandated or not, it doesn’t affect us,” she said. “We still have it. ... We’ve never changed from having cursive writing in our district.”

The district uses Zaner Bloser for its handwriting curriculum. First- and second-graders learn manuscript, or printing, while third-graders learn cursive, she said. There are many practical reasons why students learn cursive, she said, whether it’s to sign something or read a handwritten note or instructions.

Theresa Ortega, a handwriting analyst and certified cursive coach, supports the bill and believes students should learn cursive. Cursive handwriting helps children in their cognitive development, “and there are certain age ranges at which those things are impactful,” she said.

One concern “is that the public school children are the ones being left behind,” she said. “If you take a look at private schools, almost all of them continue to teach handwriting.”

Ortega noted that studies of college-aged students show that writing by hand is a big benefit over typing notes into a laptop. On Tuesday, she had a table at Indiana State University’s Cunningham Memorial Library as part of National Handwriting Day.

In a news release, Leising pointed out, “Cursive writing was not made a Common Core standard in the past, so many schools stopped teaching the skill. Now, we are starting to see the effects. For example, some teenagers are unable to sign their name to validate their driver’s license or sign agreements. It’s a simple, yet necessary skill we still use in society today, and it needs to be a part of our children’s educational foundation.”

This is the seventh year Leising has filed a cursive writing bill. While the bill passed the Senate each year, it did not receive a hearing in the House.

In 2017, Leising co-authored Senate Enrolled Act 29, which required the Indiana Department of Education to conduct a voluntary survey asking Indiana elementary and secondary school teachers, principals, superintendents and members of governing bodies whether they support mandating cursive writing in schools.

The results, which were released in October 2017, showed 70 percent of those surveyed supported a cursive writing requirement, but only 20 percent of schools teach cursive, according to the Indiana Senate Republicans news release.

Michael Brown, legislative affairs director with the Indiana Department of Education, said DOE believes it should be up to local districts to determine if they want to teach cursive writing.

According to an Indiana Public Media article, Brown stated earlier this month that with a shift toward preparing Hoosiers with skills in computer science and other STEM fields, cursive just isn’t a priority the way it used to be.