Debate on whether cursive writing should still be taught

As someone whose children did not learn cursive in MCPS elementary schools, I found this interesting. Did your child learn cursive? Is your child's handwriting legible? In-class college exams are usually handwritten. The SAT essay is handwritten. At what point did MCPS teachers decide cursive is of no relevance to an educated person?

From The Baltimore Sun:
By Liz Bowie
November 26, 2011

Darius Riley displays the concentration of a tightrope walker as he fastens his eyes on the lined paper in front of him and grips his No. 2 yellow pencil down to its point to make his most perfect curly letters.

"I would rather do it in print because it is faster," Darius, a fifth-grader at Highlandtown Elementary School near Patterson Park, said of his cursive writing. Even his typing would probably be quicker, he says.

Cursive is not included in the so-called common core standards, which will govern teaching and lesson plans in 46 states including Maryland beginning next year, leaving states free to shift away from a subject taught for centuries. Hawaii and Indiana have already dropped it.

With technology pervasive in society and fewer documents that need a cursive signature, some educators say there is no need to bother kids with the tedious, time-consuming lessons on cursive. They argue that we soon may no longer need to sign our names on legal documents or credit card receipts; a scan of our eyeballs or a thumbprint may be all that is needed to identify us.

But there's more than just necessity that should be considered, historians say.

"Cursive writing is a matter of discipline and training in our culture. Is it necessary to the future of sustaining our culture and our understanding of our past? I believe it is," said Maryland State Archivist Edward C. Papenfuse. He believes children should learn it "not only as a means of sustaining communication with the past, but also an exercise in maintaining small motor control."

And he's the first to admit: "As one who has very messy handwriting and nearly illegible script, I have always preferred typing."

The Maryland State Department of Education will continue to suggest that cursive be taught in schools. Mary Cary, assistant state superintendent for instruction, said that every school district is given flexibility to make its own decision. Baltimore City schools leave the choice of whether to teach cursive up to each school principal, as does Anne Arundel County. Baltimore and Howard counties still require students to use cursive in elementary grades.

and:

Research on the importance of cursive writing is mixed. Because not all students have access to computers at school, kids do most work there in handwriting, according to Steve Graham, an education professor at Vanderbilt University. Studies show that legibility makes a difference.

When researchers had student work graded in both typed and written form, the paper's legibility affected the grade."If your handwriting is not legible then you will pay a price," Graham said.

To read the entire story go here.