By GARRETT BERGQUIST
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
A state lawmaker said she will again push for mandatory cursive writing instruction following a new report that shows large numbers of Indiana schoolchildren never learn it.
This year, in response to legislation authored by Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, the Indiana Department of Education surveyed schools that teach grades K through 6 to find out if they teach cursive writing. In a report published Dec. 1, 42 percent of schools said they did not teach the skill, and 48 percent of traditional public schools and 55 percent of charter schools said they did not include cursive writing in their curriculum. By comparison, a little more than 8 percent of private schools told the department they do not teach it.
Leising said a lack of cursive writing instruction puts Indiana students at a disadvantage, especially when comparing public and private school pupils. She said many of her colleagues already have noticed a generation gap in cursive skills.
“I’ve had legislators tell me that they’ve written their out-of-state grandkids a note in cursive and then they actually find that the grandkid couldn’t read it, that their parent had to read it,” Leising said. “And these are kids that are healthy kids.”
Leising said she will file legislation this session to require every school in the state to teach elementary-age children both print and cursive handwriting. She said her most immediate concern has long been the ability of Indiana children to form a legal signature. She also said she views handwriting instruction as one way to reverse Indiana’s poor reading scores. A 2020 study in Norway found physical handwriting led to greater brain activity in children than keyboarding. Leising said the cognitive development benefits plus the action of forming words could help students learn to read more effectively.
Additionally, Leising said the ability to read cursive is key to understanding the nation’s past. Legal documents created prior to the widespread adoption of typewriters or computers, such as the Declaration of Independence, typically were written in some form of cursive.
Leising has proposed similar legislation in previous sessions without success. Since the 2024 session is only scheduled to last about two months, she said getting it through in time will be challenging.