Survey Says Teachers Support Mandatory Cursive Writing Lessons

Indiana required elementary schools to teach cursive writing to students until 2010, when it switched to the federal Common Core curriculum.  Those standards have now been dropped in favor of state-written standards.  But cursive is not mandatory, despite bills to require it again.

Now a new survey of educators shows major support for cursive writing in elementary schools.  As Indiana Public Broadcasting’s Drew Daudelin reports, one lawmaker says she’ll again push for it to be mandatory.

The survey went out to teachers, superintendents, principals and governing board members. It was prompted by legislation from Republican Senator Jean Leising. The survey asked if the person supports or opposes the mandatory instruction of cursive writing.

Out of about 3,500 teachers surveyed, 72 percent say they support it. Support from superintendents, a much smaller but more influential group, came in at 33 percent.

Leising says she’ll introduce a bill during the 2018 session that would require cursive lessons across the state. But it isn’t the first time – Leising has introduced a similar bill every year for the last six years, and it’s never gotten through the General Assembly.

This year she says she’ll use the overall positive survey results as leverage.

Leising says cursive is important because people use it to make purchases, validate drivers’ licenses and sign agreements.