Cursive and world today

Think back to the last time you hand-wrote a letter rather than a text or an e-mail. If you can’t remember the last time, you’re not alone.

As the country uses typed communication over the handwritten word more and more, schools are questioning if it's worthwhile to keep teaching cursive writing – including District 833.

In recent months a national debate has developed over whether or not to continue teaching cursive writing in the classroom.

“It’s something that’s become one of those hot potato items,” said District 833 Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Assessment Rick Spicuzza. “We’re examining it.”




Within District 833, cursive is taught in third grade after students learn printing.

However, some critics have said the time spent teaching cursive could be better spent on reading, math or science subjects, Spicuzza said.

“We’re trying to identify what ways we can still teach students cursive and not have it consume so much of the school day,” he said. “We are looking to improve our curriculum and maximize our instructional minutes.”

A standard cursive lesson in the elementary schools consists of learning the strokes and spacing of cursive while doing exercises out of a workbook.

The pros and cons of cursive

Spicuzza said he feels that cursive still has a place in today’s society, which is why District 833 has decided to continue teaching it for the time being.

“I think students need to have an awareness of cursive,” he said. “They need to be able to read it because that’s part of the expectations to be well rounded.”




District 833 Literacy Coordinator Donita Stepan said she sees the advantages to maintain cursive as well since research shows it greatly contributes to brain development and motor movement.

However, more and more people are questioning cursive’s usefulness.

Once a student completes third grade, cursive often falls by the wayside since it is up to the student whether or not to continue using it.

This is a dramatic shift from how it used to be, Spicuzza said. Students were expected to write in nothing but cursive once they reached a certain age.

“There is a shift in our society where cursive is rarely expected,” he said. “So, when you think about teaching something that is no longer asked of students, does it still have a place?”



Spicuzza and Stepan said cursive has started to disappear because today’s society lives in a digital world.

For example, when students reach middle school, they are increasingly required to hand in typed assignments, rather than handwritten.

“At some point in time, calligraphy was taught in schools too, but that’s no longer the case,” Spicuzza said. “We live in a digital world and things are changing.”

Spicuzza and Stepan said they can’t see cursive being eliminated from District 833 classrooms in the near future.

“There’s still a lot of cursive out there,” Stepan said. “It’s too early to get rid of it – we’re just not ready to let it go yet.”

Even though cursive will remain in the classroom for the time being, Spicuzza said District 833 will continue to look at it and evaluate whether or not to keep it.

“There isn’t going to be an immediate shift,” he said. “But, we’re not naïve enough to say that we shouldn’t be looking at it.”