Georgia schools mandate cursive writing in new curriculum standards

ATLANTA — When younger students return to Georgia public schools this fall, they will learn an old-school skill: handwriting.

New changes to the state standards for English Language Arts will require the teaching of cursive writing in elementary school. The state Board of Education approved the standards overhaul two years ago but gave teachers until this fall to prepare.

Georgia is joining other states, from Alabama to Texas, that are resurrecting a skill that had seemingly gone the way of the dodo after the proliferation of laptops and touchscreen devices. Even California, the cradle of computer keyboards, passed a law requiring cursive in schools in 2023.

Compulsory cursive writing has been tucked into dozens of pages that describe the standards for English in elementary school.

The state board approved the revised standards in a 13-1 vote in May 2023.

In third grade, students will have to learn how to read phrases and sentences in cursive, and they will practice forming letters and word connectors. By fifth grade, they will be called on to write whole texts in cursive, “legibly and efficiently,” with appropriate spacing throughout. All along, they will be working on fine motor skills that some feared had gone extinct.

At a state school board meeting last month, Richard Woods, the elected state school superintendent, introduced a new initiative to promote those loopy letters: the John Hancock Award will go to schools that demonstrate excellence in cursive.

“Cursive writing is more than just a skill — it strengthens fine motor development, improves literacy, and connects students to historical documents in their original form,” the award description says.

Woods got big applause when he mentioned the new requirements at the Republican state convention in Dalton in early June.

People clapped when he announced that students would have to learn about personal finances. But the audience erupted when he said cursive writing was back.

“Every student will own their signature. Every student will know how to read our original documents in their original script,” Woods said, adding that children should be able to read the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and other texts handwritten by the nation’s founders.

This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat, an initiative of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.

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