Running head: MANDATING CURSIVE WRITING
Mandating Cursive Writing:
A Discussion through a Critical Theory Lens
Rebecca N. Reed
University of Northern Colorado
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MANDATING CURSIVE WRITING
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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the implications of mandating a cursive writing
curriculum. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) requires handwriting in Grade 1, but
cursive writing is not included in that grade or any other. The absence of cursive instruction in
the CCSS has created lively debate. The author analyzes the implications of including cursive
instruction in the curriculum through a critical theory lens by reviewing the history, arguments,
and research surrounding cursive writing.
Keywords: Common Core State Standards, critical theory, curriculum, cursive writing
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Mandating Cursive Writing:
A Discussion through a Critical Theory Lens
On April 24, 2014 the Governor of the State of Tennessee signed House Bill 1697. The
new amendment stated, “The course of instruction in all public schools shall include cursive
writing so that students will be able to create readable documents through legible cursive
handwriting by the end of the third grade” (Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part
10). As of June 2014, eleven states had laws mandating cursive writing as part of public school
curriculum (Handwriting in the 21st Century?, 2014). Recent efforts to mandate cursive writing
instruction in schools transpired in response to Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which
does not specify that cursive writing be taught (Cuban, 2014). In July 2014, forty-three states,
the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity
(DoDEA) adopted the CCSS (Common Core State Standards Initiative [Website], 2014).
This paper explores who benefits from learning and using cursive, as well as why there
have been recent attempts to mandate cursive writing as part of public school curricula. A brief
look at the history of cursive or script writing is warranted before exploring the arguments for
and against including cursive writing in the mandatory curriculum. When did cursive writing
first appear? What was the intended purpose of this writing? Were there advantages afforded to
those that could read and write cursive writing?
History
Before discussing the history of cursive writing, definitions of handwriting, printing,
cursive, writing, and typing are in order. For the purposes of this paper, handwriting is referred
to as communication by the written word. Print script is a form of handwriting that uses unique
symbols to depict words that are not joined together. Print script is sometimes called manuscript
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(Saperstein Associates, 2012). Another form of handwriting is cursive or cursive writing, where
the unique letters are joined together. John Hancock’s signature at the bottom of the Declaration
of Independence is an example of cursive writing, and the entire document was written in
cursive. Writing, for the purposes of this paper, will refer to the act of composing text as well as
the product of composing. Typing is what is created by machine and what you see here is an
example. The history and discussion for this paper are focused on cursive writing.
According to Cohan (2012), the Romans were the first to create a script that resembles
current versions of cursive writing. The Romans used this form of writing for transactions and
correspondence. After the Fall of Rome, cursive was used by monks to transcribe Christian and
classical texts. A standardized form of script, Carolingian miniscule, was ordered by
Charlemagne in the late eighth century as part of his educational reform. In the eighteenth
century penmanship schools were created to educate master scribes.
In the United States, professional scribes or penmen were hired to copy documents such
as the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution. Aside from the professional scribes,
signatures of those that could write in cursive “became associated with various professions and
social ranks; women and men were also expected to embrace flourishes unique to their sex”
(Cohan, 2012). Attempts to standardize the style of writing taught in schools, began in the mid1800s with the Spencerian style. Beginning in the 1980s, handwriting instruction took a
backseat to keyboarding or coding (Cohan, 2012; Cuban, 2014).
Because literacy goes hand in hand with writing, it is possible to copy text and not
comprehend the text. This may have been what was required of scribes. According to Houston
(2011),
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Some people could decipher texts, read them aloud and memorise them in a mechanical
or ritual way, though their personal understanding may have been questionable. They
possessed intermediate or semi-literacy. Those with a better education who were more
deeply immersed in printed and written culture could comprehend the text with greater
precision, reading and thinking silently to themselves. They could understand new texts
as well as familiar ones. (p. 2)
In the 1800s, the writing style of John Hancock was substituted by formalized styles
developed by Charles Zaner and Elmer Bloser, a style that dominates instructional writing
materials and is still taught in schools today. In the 1950s and 1960s, emphasis was placed on
handwriting. During the 1980s and 1990s the emphasis switched to composition writing and
handwriting (Blazer, 2010; Cuban, 2014; Gentry, 2012).
The key to whom writing benefitted was found in the amount of education received.
Legible handwriting had been an informal indicator of whether a person was literate or not
(Associated Press, 2012). Therefore, the art and knowledge of cursive writing was granted to
those who were educated. The English Language Arts portion of the CCSS does not specify that
handwriting is to be part of the framework, except in first grade. This omission caused concern
that cursive was to be excluded from curriculum, assessment and instruction. Legislation to
mandate cursive writing was introduced in many states. At least 10 states legislated that public
schools were to teach reading and writing cursive (Amos, 2013). What are the arguments for and
against mandating cursive writing?
Arguments For and Against Cursive Writing
Although the CCSS is a national standard-based framework, states have been given the leeway to
determine the curriculum required to the standards. Two camps have emerged with different
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viewpoints on whether cursive writing should become part of the mandatory curriculum.
Advocates for including cursive writing as part of the curriculum in elementary school have
given reasons that are based on the physical, cultural, and academic advantages. Opponents of a
mandated cursive curriculum referenced advanced technology, an over-burdened curriculum, and
relevancy to adult work.
Reasons Given for Mandating Cursive Writing in Schools
Brain function. Some advocates claimed that handwriting in general helps develop fine motor
skills. A case for cursive writing was made by William Klemm (2013) of the Neurological
Department at Texas A&M stated, “Cursive writing helps train the brain to integrate visual, and
tactile information, and fine motor dexterity.” In testimony before the Indiana State Senate by
Neuroscientist Karin Harman James of Indiana University claimed that brain imaging technology
has been used to determine whether there were changes in the brain when children were printing
and typing. Preliminary results from her research indicated that there was “something really
important about printing and potentially also about cursive…These are both fine motor skills, so
they might be equally important in understanding cognitive development in children" (Indiana
University, 2012, p. 1). Common in web logs and commentaries that supported a mandatory
cursive curriculum were statements about a study by Reza Shadmehr and Henry H. Holcomb of
Johns Hopkins University first published in Science. The comments claimed that activities like
writing in cursive helped to improve brain function (Beer & Meyer, n.d.; Harmal, F. B., 2012;
Sortino, 2011). However the cited study was focused on repetition of motor skills and how the
brain stored the information, and never explicitly stated that this is true of writing in cursive
(Shadmehr & Holcomb, 1997).
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Studies have shown that the effects of dysgraphia and alexia, writing and reading
impairments respectfully, may be lessened through reading and writing in cursive (Hanover
Research, 2012; Konnikova, 2014). With dyslexia, the motor functions of writing are impaired
and the continuous connection of letters may help a person to overcome the reversal and
inversion of letters associated with this disability. With alexia, persons that are unable to process
print can read cursive, “suggesting that the two writing modes activate separate brain networks
and engage more cognitive resources than would be the case with a single approach”
(Konnikova, 2014).
Cultural aspects. Some advocates proclaimed that if children are not able to read and write in
cursive then a connection to our nation’s history will be lost. Kitty Nichols, retire conservator at
the National Public Archives stated,
If you have seen elegant writing from the 18th century, elegant writing of many of the
great, significant documents in the National Archives, other places, to lose that elegance,
that sense of elegance, is — it feels like losing a bit of civilization. (as cited in PBS
NewsHour, 2014, p. 2)
Included in the CCSS is an appendix of exemplars and seminal papers that students
should be able to read in order to be college and career ready, but the new standards have not
stated that the documents must be read in the original, but instead referenced the transcriptions of
those documents (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief
State School Officers, 2010).
Steve Graham of Vanderbilt University stated, “There is a reader effect that is insidious.
People judge the quality of your ideas based on your handwriting" (as cited in Bounds, 2010).
How legibly someone writes may be associated with intelligence (Rebora, 2011). Scorers of
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Advance Placement exams have discounted submissions that are difficult to read (C. McLean,
personal communication, July 2014).
Higher test scores. Another reason given for mandating that cursive be taught in the public
schools is that students who write in cursive for the writing portion of the SAT score higher than
those that do not. Higher SAT scores are often reported by advocates of mandatory cursive and
handwriting curricula (Pressler, 2006). What isn’t shared is that only 15% of all students wrote
in cursive for the written portion of the SAT, and that the scores were only .2 points (on a 10
point scale) higher than those that print (College Board, 2006).
Reasons Given for Not Mandating Cursive Writing in Schools
Tests are typed. Test items from Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC), the state-led
assessment development consortia, will be administered electronically to students in grades 3
through 8 and grade 10 using standard type fonts. In preparation for these assessment, students
should read both fiction and informational texts, most of which are typed texts. When students
were confronted with a question showing a graphic written in cursive, the sample responses
indicated that they responded in print script as opposed to mimicking the cursive (see NAEP test
item: 1994, US History, 8th grade, Block H4, Question 14). Those opposed to mandating
cursive writing suggested that students should receive instructional materials in the same format
as the assessments. Morgan Polikoff (2013) stated, “teachers would be better off focusing on the
skills and knowledge that will impact student success in the future. These include printing and
typing, but not cursive.”
No time for cursive instruction. Given the emphasis on Reading and Mathematics due to
standardized testing, many subjects were given less scheduled time during the school day. Larry
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Cuban stated, “ teaching handwriting takes up valuable time in the second and third grades that
could be better spent on acquiring Common Core content and skills and preparing for high-stakes
standardized tests” (Cuban, 2014). Even if time were to be allotted for cursive instruction, few
teacher education programs have included handwriting and consequently fewer teachers know
how to write cursive (Blazer, 2010, p. 2).
Not realistic. If a goal of education is to prepare children for adult life, then learning to write in
cursive should not be given priority over other knowledge and skills. Current students have
access to computers and smart phones that require typing and texting in print, not cursive.
Morgan Polikoff, assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California stated,
“Cursive should be allowed to die. In fact, it's already dying, despite having been taught for
decades” (as cited in Lallanilla, 2013). Even signatures have become a thing of the past, with
the acceptance of electronic signatures. Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) for debit cards,
and scanned fingerprints for legal identification have become commonplace and used as a
substitution for handwritten signatures (Bowie, 2011). A survey of participants at a summit for
handwriting indicated that when writing with a pen or pencil, 35% of the respondents wrote
exclusively in cursive (Gentry, 2012). Even those interested in handwriting did not use cursive
as a preferred style (Ravitch, 2013).
Discussion
Few resources have been found that focused on the cursive writing debate through a
sociological lens. But that does not mean that this perspective should be ignored. Several
aspects of cursive writing warrant a discussion of critical theory, cultural capital, and economic
gain. Apple stated, “…policies often have strikingly unforeseen consequences. Reforms that are
instituted with good intentions may have hidden effects that are more than a little problematic”
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(Apple, 2008, p. 243). Including or excluding cursive writing as part of the curriculum has
unintended consequences that directly affect an individual’s cultural, social, and economic
capital.
Critical Theory
The ability to read and write in cursive can be examined through a critical theory lens,
especially when viewed through a Weberian approach. Ballantine and Spade (2009) described
that Weber believed “within the school there are “insiders” whose status culture…is reinforced
through the school experience, and “outsiders” who face barriers to success in school” (p. 13).
Of Weber, Saha (2008) stated, “Credentials that reflected the possession of knowledge were one
way in which individuals could make a legitimate claim for membership in particular class,
status, or power groups” (p. 300). These definitions are complements so that the ability to read
and write in cursive can be considered an “insider” credential that secures a person’s status.
Weber also argued that education had a dual character. One character is that of selection
and advancement to higher status and the other character is exclusion from higher status (Arum,
Beattie, & Ford, 2011). Shapiro (2013, April 4) described Catholic school education as “one of
the last bastions” of cursive writing. Assuming that attendance in a private school is an indicator
of status due to the annual tuition paid and because private schools have included cursive in the
curriculum, it follows that cursive writing is reserved for those of a higher economic status.
Results from the 2014 Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest, revealed that four of the nine
Grand National winners of $1000 were from Catholic schools (Zane-Bloser, 2014). The third
grade Grand National winner was from The Kirk of the Hills Christian Day School in Missouri
where the 2014-2015 elementary tuition is $7550.00 per year (Kirk Day School, 2014).
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The ability to read and write in cursive may have had an exclusionary effect in the world
of higher education. College students, especially history majors, have been required to analyze
and evaluate original documents which may have been written in cursive. Rob Baker, who
maintains a web log about history and education, has written that his students cannot read cursive
comments made on their papers and have been at a disadvantage when it came to research.
Baker stated,
Students of History, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Geology, Biology,
Chemistry, etc. need to able to read and understand the first hand accounts and journal
notes of those that came before them. It is not a matter of intellectual superiority but of
practicality. (Baker, 2012)
This notion that only those of higher status can read cursive is reminiscent of the 1700s
when only those who could read cursive were privy to the literary and biblical works.
A modern day example of how minority children of poverty are not privileged by
learning to read and write cursive has come from the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman trial
in June of 2013. George Zimmerman, a white male, was accused of second-degree murder of
Trayvon Martin, a black male youth. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer, who
shot and killed Martin as he walked back from a convenience store. During the confrontation,
Martin called his friend, Rachel Jeantel, a 17 year old black female (Thompson and Parker,
2014). After the incident Jeantel dictated what she remembered about the phone call to a friend.
Jeantel became a key witness in the case. When the dictated letter was produced in court, Jeantel
was asked by the defense attorney to read the letter in order to identify it as evidence (CBS
Radio, 2013; Wynn 2013). Jeantel replied, “I don’t understand…um…cursive. I don’t read
cursive” (Witness Rachel Jeantel [Video file], 2013). This incident raised several questions. Did
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Jeantel ask her friend to transcribe what she remembered in cursive in an attempt to elevate her
perceived cultural status? Did the recollection, now written in cursive, somehow give the
account more credibility? Those questions go unanswered, but speculation on the effect of the
letter was discussed by court pundits (Wemple, 2013).
Lamont and Lareau (1988) defined cultural capital as, “institutionalized, i.e., widely
shared, high status cultural signals… used for social and cultural exclusion, the former referring
to exclusion from jobs and resources, and the latter, to exclusion from high status groups
(emphasis original, p. 156). Abigail Walthausen (2013), in writing for The Atlantic claimed,
“Even among kids for whom achievement is hardly “cool”, students recognize the pedigree that
the knowledge of the cursive alphabet and the ability to write it fluently represent. Cursive has
become a status marker”. Handwritten thank you notes, not necessarily written in cursive, may
have played a part in awarding employment. Employers have been known to eliminate
candidates for a position based on whether they sent a handwritten thank you note or not after an
interview (Kleiman, 2013; Lublin, 2008). If cursive writing is associated with higher status and
if employment is awarded on handwritten notes, one can conclude that a note written cursive is
the “blue ribbon” of post interview notes.
Another example of social capital gained was described in an article in TIME from 1950.
The author described a calligraphy competition between two elite British boys’ school, Eton and
Harrow. The competitors rewrote the same manuscript and the examples were judged on the
appearance of the calligraphic writing. The magazine article described the samples as “evidence
that the Commonwealth's future leaders would continue to write a clear and handsome hand”
(TIME, 1950). Aesthetically pleasing handwriting has a direct connection to social status. This
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may account for studies that have shown that students are interested in learning how to write in
cursive (O’Neill, 2008).
Even elementary students have weighed in on the debate. A 2013 online survey of
students in grades one through six, indicated that 47 percent of all students surveyed believed
that kids should learn cursive. Within the survey the majority of fourth graders, 55 percent, were
not in favor of students learning cursive and those fourth grade students made up 94 percent of
all that participated in the survey. At every other grade level, grades one through six, the
students responded positively to learning cursive (Scholastic News, 2013). Although the results
of this online survey are not inclusive, the message received was that students want to learn
cursive. The question of why students want to learn cursive is not revealed. A survey of
students’ perceptions of cursive writing may be an investigation for the future.
Economic Gain
Though economic or money income involve the obtainment of physical resources
(Becker, 1975), who benefits when a curriculum becomes mandatory is warranted in the
discussion of including cursive writing in the curriculum. During legislative debates in both
North Carolina and South Carolina, information was cited in support of mandating cursive in
schools in an article from the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
(see Berninger, 2012). The NAESP article cited several references. One reference was a white
paper published by Saperstein Associates, who claim on their website are “ a full-service,
opinion research company helping public- and private-sector clients manage risk by providing
accurate reliable information, coupled with insight” (Saperstein Associates, 2014). Saperstein
Associates published another white paper for a summit on handwriting that was “sponsored by
Zaner-Bloser in partnership with the American Association of School Administrators”
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(Saperstein, 2012, p.8). Zaner-Bloser is a commercial educational materials company that
started in 1895. Zaner-Bloser or its parent company, Highlights for Children, Inc. are not listed
as one of the 56 top publishing companies in the world for 2014 (PWxyz, LLC., 2014).
However educational materials contracts have been awarded in large amounts (Davis, 2013).
Economic gains as profits are another way to view the issue of power bestowed when
educational reforms are implemented, but it is the cultural and social capital as described by
Lamont and Lareau (1988) that should be considered when conclusions are drawn about the
merits of installing new curricula programs.
Conclusion
The unsubstantiated arguments for and against mandating cursive writing: time,
aesthetics, and relevancy, are weak at best. This is not to say that handwriting shouldn’t be
taught. The scientific evidence for brain function and assistance in learning to read from
handwriting are solid. Cursive writing is a specific form of handwriting and the decision to
remove something from the curriculum in order to schedule time for cursive instruction is not an
easy decision to make. Cursive should be an addition and not a substitution. A survey of 91
participants from the Handwriting in the 21st Century? summit in 2012 recommended teaching a
combination of cursive and manuscript (Hanover Research, 2012).
When contemplating the elimination of cursive writing from the classroom, educators
would be wise to consider alternative scheduling options. Among the alternatives are computer
applications that guide students in learning to write in cursive.
There are computer
applications for learning to write Spanish is cursive as well (Cerezo, 2013). Curvy Cursive is a
free online application for electronic tablets from which students can learn how to write words in
cursive independently. Cursive clubs are another way for educators to teach cursive without
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taking away from the already overburdened short school day (Miller, 2013). Zaner-Bloser
adapted its writing program so that the time needed to implement the program requires ten to
fifteen minutes per school day (Pressler, 2006). Blazer (2010) found that “The majority of
teachers report spending 12-15 minutes per day teaching cursive handwriting” (p. 6). Kate
Gladstone (2013), a handwriting remediation consultant stated, “Reading cursive can be taught in
just 30 to 60 minutes -- even to five- or six-year-olds, once they read ordinary print” (p. 1).
All
of these alternatives can be conducted without over burdening a compact and busy school day.
Academic advantages are another benefit of cursive writing. Although the difference in
SAT writing scores between those students who wrote in cursive and those that did not is not
significant, it does exist. Students who can write legibly in cursive should do so. Graham found
that when adults score the same composition, one written with good handwriting and the other of
poor handwriting, the adults, “give lower grades for ideation and quality of writing if the text is
less legible” (as cited in Pressler, 2006).
The most convincing evidence on why cursive writing should be taught in schools has
come from scientific research. Studies that looked at the effects cursive writing has had on
dyslexia and alexia are encouraging (Bounds, 2010; Gentry, 2012; Klemm, 2013; Sortino, 2011).
Perhaps the best reason for teaching cursive came from a friend with young children. She
said that she would want her children to learn cursive if it gave her children an advantage (J.
Albers, personal communication, June 2013). The idea that writing in cursive creates social and
cultural status is difficult to dismiss, especially when considering one’s own children. Her
daughters attended public school in Pennsylvania where they were taught cursive beginning in
the third grade. According to a 2013 survey of 612 kindergarten through fifth grade teachers in
48 states by Really Good Stuff, a school supplies company, the majority of those surveyed do
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teach cursive writing in their classrooms (Shapiro, 2013, May 7). One can conclude that
although the CCSS does not explicitly state that handwriting or cursive should be taught,
teachers have included it in their curriculum.
The CCSS has not included statements of required curriculum in the framework. Not
only has handwriting been excluded, but grammar, writing methods and other instructional
strategies have also been excluded. The following is stated on the CCSS website:
By emphasizing required achievements, the Standards leave room for teachers,
curriculum developers, and states to determine how those goals should be reached and
what additional topics should be addressed. Thus, the Standards do not mandate such
things as a particular writing process or the full range of metacognitive strategies that
students may need to monitor and direct their thinking and learning. Teachers are thus
free to provide students with whatever tools and knowledge their professional judgment
and experience identify as most helpful for meeting the goals set out in the Standards.
(see www.corestandards.org)
Educators that are required to meet the CCSS framework objectives should consider what
programs and strategies are in the best interest of their students and create curriculum in the
democracy tradition of making all information available to students. John Dewey (1922) stated,
“Any experience, however, trivial in its first appearance, is capable of assuming an indefinite
richness of significance by extending its range of perceived connections” (p. 254). Students
should be exposed to all modes of written communication: print, cursive, and type. To refuse
students access is to deny all forms of growth: cultural, social, economic, and educational.
The End
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