GOSHEN — As digital smart boards replace chalk boards and wireless tablets replace textbooks in many classrooms across Indiana, is teaching cursive writing still relevant in today’s increasingly technology-centered schools?
As far as the Indiana Department of Education is concerned, the answer appears to be no, as the IDOE dropped its cursive writing requirement in 2011 after the State Board of Education voted to adopt Common Core State Standards, a system that favors student proficiency in typing over cursive writing as more and more instruction and testing is done via computer.
In light of this recent change, many schools across the state have reduced or completely abandoned cursive writing programs in order to allow teachers more time for instruction in core subjects such as reading and math.
Despite the IDOE’s endorsement of the change, not everyone is happy with cursive’s recent decline. For those concerned with the move away from cursive, much of that concern lies in the fear that a loss of the skill will lead to a generation of handwriting illiterates who are unable to read important historical documents or even sign their own names.
Supporters of the change aren’t concerned, however, noting that many of today’s textbooks and other reading materials, both old and new, are readily available in electronic form, or soon will be. As for the signature argument, many supporters predict some form of retina or fingerprint scan will likely be the preferred signature of the future, rendering the hand-written scrawl obsolete.
According to Tamra Ummel, director of curriculum and instruction for Goshen Community Schools, cursive writing instruction within her corporation has fallen off dramatically since the state stopped requiring school’s to teach it.
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Instruction of cursive writing has tapered off locally
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