Feature
July
14
Cursive Writing in Jeopardy
by Terry Trahan, Jr.
Sweeping pen strokes may become technology’s latest victims as state education departments seek to establish classroom standards in U.S. schools.
The Indiana Department of Education has removed lessons on cursive writing from the state’s required curriculum, but educators retain the option to continue teaching the traditional writing technique in their classrooms.
The decision reflects students’ increased use of keyboards and word processors to complete assignments. Educators in other states are moving toward keyboarding in the classroom to boost computer literacy.
Indiana’s removal of cursive writing follows guidelines established by the Common Core State Standards, a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of State Chief School Officers. The Common Core curriculum includes input from K-12 administrators and teachers on how to establish a consistent learning curriculum in the nation’s schools.
Indiana isn’t the only state following the Common Core curriculum. Louisiana adopted the standards on July 1, 2010, joining 42 other states that have done the same. Louisiana plans to implement the standards by the 2013-2014 school year.
Though the Common Core curriculum leaves out cursive writing, local educators consider the writing style essential to elementary students’ writing foundations.
“It’s part of the reading process and language arts,” said Elizabeth Scurto, principal at St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic School. A self-proclaimed “traditional” teacher, Scurto values the concrete lesson learned by putting a pen to paper. “It’s writing to see how the letters are formed.”
Educators cite taking notes as a primary reason for keeping the slants and curves in writing. College lessons move quickly, and the note-taking techniques students learn in their early years help them to jot down the essential information during detailed lectures. Some standardized tests also include written assessments.
“The LEAP test has a written part on it,” said Mary Aucoin, principal at Mulberry Elementary School. “It saves them time. They know they are being graded, and they have to do it right. It has to be legible.”
Philip Martin, Terrebonne Parish school superintendent, considers the effect eliminating cursive writing may have on a student’s ability to understand and explore other subjects, such as history.
“If you’re trying to read the Declaration of Independence, you wouldn’t be able to read it because it’s written in cursive,” Martin said.
The superintendent said he has never considered taking cursive writing out of the public school curriculum, which instructs handwriting lessons in second and third grades.
Rhonda Lusco, a homeschool parent, believes children will be able to write just as effectively without script in their mental toolbox. Though she did teach her son, Davey, how to write script, she understands why some educators would take it out of the required curriculum.
“What do we use script for when we become adults?” Rhonda asks, noting that cursive is no longer required to fill out most forms. “I think it’s a preference, but most applications now ask to print.”
Online message boards have also become a popular medium for voicing opinions on the issue.
“Cursive has been on its way out for years,” said a commenter on The Blaze, an online news blog. “Teaching kids how to print allows them to communicate through analog writing just fine. So in the highly unlikely event of the world reverting to a pretechnology state, kids who didn’t learn cursive will still be able to communicate through writing.”
Whether yay or nay, local educators remain comfortable blending traditional techniques with technology to give students a view from both perspectives. They realize not every student has access to a computer at home, but they also believe learning the fundamentals of technology at an early age keeps the students in touch with significant developments in the world around them.
At St. Gregory, each classroom has a Smart Board for visuals, and students learn how to use office programs like Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint to create spreadsheets and presentations.
Students at Mulberry begin attending a computer lab in kindergarten to learn basic keyboarding skills.
“They want to learn how to text, so they pay attention,” Aucoin said.
Signatures may look more like numerals or digital barcodes elsewhere in the not-so-distant future, but names will continue to slant in second-grade classrooms if local educators have their say.
