Cursive writing lessons will be back in Pennsylvania classrooms after state lawmakers passed legislation requiring its reintroduction this month.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the bill into law Wednesday. It adds printing, joined italics and cursive to the writing curriculum in the commonwealth鈥檚 school code and takes effect April 12.

Sponsored by Rep. Dane Watro (R-Schuylkill) and Sen. Wayne Langerholc (R-Clearfield), the bill passed in the House in June and received final approval Feb. 3 in the Senate.

Act 2 of 2026 requires cursive handwriting to be taught at Pennsylvania public and private schools. Pennsylvania will join 18 other states requiring cursive to be taught in school.

It is at least the second attempt to resurrect the flowing, formal style of penmanship, as lawmakers have decried the lack of cursive skills among younger adults. They note many older legal documents were handwritten in cursive and a signature in cursive is more secure than printing.

鈥淏y reintegrating cursive into the curriculum, we are not simply teaching handwriting, we are investing in our students鈥� cognitive development, strengthening their legal preparedness and preserving their connection to historical literacy,鈥� said Langerholc.

Most聽 states, including Pennsylvania, dropped their cursive writing requirements after switching to the Common Core standards, an initiative launched in 2010 to improve consistency in education requirements between the states.

Spokesperson Erin James said with Act 2 now law, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is developing guidance for schools across Pennsylvania.

鈥淢any schools have continued to include cursive writing in their curriculum, while others will need time and support to incorporate it into their schedules. Our priority is to provide practical assistance and clear expectations so teachers can focus on students and learning,鈥� James said.

Watro noted after House passage of his bill that historical documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, are written in cursive script. People who have the skills to read and write cursive are better able to access and comprehend historical sources, which Watro said is vital for an informed and engaged citizenry.

鈥淎t least 24 states have laws requiring cursive instruction because those states understand cursive provides students another way to learn, express themselves and be better prepared for their future academic, professional and personal lives,鈥� said Watro.

In a House Education Committee meeting where the bill was approved for consideration by the full chamber, Chairman Peter Schweyer (D-Lehigh) said that while he learned cursive during his Catholic school education, his own daughter lacked the skill.

鈥淲atching her try to endorse her first paycheck was quite the interesting experience on a human level,鈥� Schweyer said. 鈥淚 just think that a part of education is actually teaching human skills, not knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but actually preparing people for real life. And this is perfectly reasonable and a smart way to go about it.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com.

A recent study, 鈥�,鈥� reinforces this, showing that the physical act of forming letters strengthens memory and accelerates learning. Far from being a relic of the past, handwriting is a powerful tool that prepares young students for reading, improves their cognitive abilities and builds the groundwork for becoming confident, capable writers.

The power of handwriting comes from the way it engages multiple senses at once. Unlike typing, which relies on a single, repetitive motion, handwriting activates multiple areas of the brain by combining visual, auditory and kinesthetic input. When children form a letter, they鈥檙e engaging in a dynamic process that solidifies its identity in their mind. This graphomotor movement 鈥� the coordination of hand and eye to produce letters 鈥� is key to remembering them.Explicitly teaching children to form letters by hand, even through simple methods like having them copy words from a correctly written letter, word or sentence, and better retain letter and word structures.

This practice has a powerful ripple effect. Once letter formation becomes automatic, a child’s brain is freed to focus on higher-level thinking. Instead of struggling to recall how to write a letter, a child can concentrate on building sentences, expressing thoughts and ideas, and crafting coherent narratives. This is how fluent writing develops. And the benefits extend well beyond childhood: found college students who took notes by hand remembered more than those who typed, likely because writing by hand forces the brain to process and summarize information, not just copy it.

The key to effective handwriting instruction is structured, straightforward direct teaching, explicit modeling, guided practice and immediate feedback. Just as important, handwriting should be woven into the natural rhythm of the day and made part of all subjects. Students can practice numbers in math, label diagrams in science or write vocabulary words in social studies. Treating handwriting as a universal skill reinforces its importance and makes it feel natural in students鈥� academic lives. This approach builds stronger readers and more confident writers across every subject.

One common challenge in handwriting instruction is pushing students into writing before they鈥檙e developmentally ready. For younger learners, a developmentally appropriate approach means starting with gross motor activities that strengthen the shoulder and core, followed by fine motor practice using multisensory tools like clay, sand or chalk. These activities prepare the hand and brain for writing long before a pencil ever touches paper. By allowing students to master these foundational movements, teachers can prevent bad habits from forming and build the confidence necessary to successfully transition to paper-and-pencil tasks, setting students up for fluent, legible writing.

For students with learning differences such as dyslexia or dysgraphia, handwriting can be particularly helpful. Cursive, with its fluid, connected strokes, can help reduce letter reversals and provides a rhythmic pattern that helps children process words as whole units rather than a series of disconnected letters. For students with dysgraphia, the continuous motion of cursive can ease the fine-motor demands of repeatedly lifting and placing the pencil, making writing feel more manageable and less fragmented. The continuous movement can engage the brain’s reading circuits and help improve memory and fluency. The sense of accomplishment gained from mastering this skill can be transformative. 

Handwriting isn鈥檛 an old-fashioned skill; it鈥檚 central to reading, writing and cognitive development. Prioritizing evidence-based handwriting instruction in pre-K through fifth grade lays the foundation for spelling, sentence-building and clear written communication. Strong handwriting skills support literacy and can enhance learning across other academic areas by building focus, confidence and cognitive connections.

Administrators and teachers can have a lasting impact by ensuring handwriting instruction is explicit, structured and prioritized in the early grades. By providing educators with the knowledge, tools and time they need, schools can ensure that every child has the opportunity to develop this essential skill. It is a small investment that can pay off for a lifetime, helping students feel capable and successful in their learning.

Recently, my 8-year-old son received a birthday card from his grandmother. He opened the card, looked at it and said, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 read cursive yet.鈥�

FRANKFORT 鈥� A Republican senator wants to ensure that students become proficient in cursive handwriting in Kentucky鈥檚 public elementary schools.

Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, of Smithfield, presented , which would require cursive writing to be taught 鈥渁s a course of study鈥� in elementary schools, to the House Education Committee Tuesday. The Senate has already passed the bill.

Tichenor said she filed it as a response to the handwriting style not being part of , which began in 2010 as a way to bring cohesion to the way states taught English and math.  More than 20 states, including , have adopted directives to require teaching cursive writing.

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Kentucky鈥檚 standards for elementary education already include instruction in cursive and print handwriting.

Under the cursive writing is taught to second- and third-graders, and print letters to kindergarteners and first graders.

State law gives school superintendents authority over instructional resources and assessments for meeting goals. School councils are also required to adopt a program consistent with policies from their local boards of education. Principals are required to ensure the implementation of the program in school curriculum.

Tichenor鈥檚 bill says that beginning in the 2025-26 school year, 鈥渃ursive writing shall be included as a course of study in all elementary schools and shall be designed to ensure proficiency in cursive writing by the end of grade five.鈥�

Tichenor said that learning cursive can improve literacy skills. A found that writing in cursive activates different electrical activity in the brain for students compared to when they type.

鈥淓very grandma out there who sends a birthday card is going to be so happy that their grandkids can read their birthday cards,鈥� Tichenor said.

While Tichenor received a lot of positive feedback, some representatives raised concerns about implementing the requirement in schools.

Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, said that she was often contacted as a former school board member about requests to teach cursive. She did raise concerns about the requirement becoming another burden for teachers, especially those who might not feel comfortable teaching the material and as Kentucky faces a shortage of teachers in classrooms.

McKee Republican Rep. Timmy Truett, a school principal, said he sees education trending toward technology over written assignments. He gave an example of a statewide writing test that is now submitted on a computer.

鈥淚 almost think that typing in the world we live (in) would be more important than the cursive writing,鈥� Truett said.

Tichenor responded that cursive writing encourages students to use motor skills. She also said she has not had a lot of teachers reach out to her with Willner鈥檚 concerns.

Both Willner and Truett ultimately voted for the bill. The House Education Committee forwarded the bill to the full House with 15 yes votes, one no and a pass vote.

Tichenor鈥檚 legislation must now be approved by  the House before it can be considered by Gov. Andy Beshear for signature.

A spokesperson for the Kentucky Department of Education said it does not have a comment on the legislation at this time.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on and .

In 2016, California Democratic state Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva sat with then-California Gov. Jerry Brown at an event where he signed baseball-type cards featuring the image of his dog, Colusa.

But many of the recipients of the cards couldn鈥檛 read his cursive signature, Quirk-Silva recalled, much to the Democratic governor鈥檚 dismay. 鈥淭he governor asked me what I did鈥� before becoming a legislator, she remembered. 鈥淚 said I was a teacher, and he said, 鈥榊ou have to bring back cursive writing.鈥欌��

After seven years of trying, she finally succeeded.

Last month, the California legislature unanimously passed and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring the teaching of cursive or 鈥渏oined italics鈥� handwriting in grades one through six.

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While grandparents鈥� sprawling handwriting on birthday cards or treasured family recipes may spring to mind when many younger people think of cursive, some educators today think it鈥檚 a skill worth reviving even 鈥� or maybe especially 鈥� in an age when most kids spend hours every day on their smartphones. But others think students already have too many subjects to master and that their fingers belong on keyboards.

Some California teachers already were teaching cursive, but not usually in underresourced schools, Quirk-Silva said in an interview.

She argued cursive is valuable to read historical documents, increases writing speed and has become a popular way for teachers to make sure students are not using artificial intelligence to craft their written work.

Teaching cursive in public schools waned after the Common Core standards, which most states adopted, didn鈥檛 include cursive in the recommended curriculum. Critics of cursive requirements say time in the classroom could be better spent on new skills such as coding and keyboarding. And Quirk-Silva recalled that some younger lawmakers called the looping writing style 鈥渙ld-fashioned.鈥�

Supporters recently have had some success in bringing it back, pointing to studies that show a link between cursive and cognitive abilities, including helping with reading and writing disabilities such as dyslexia and dysgraphia.

In May, New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bill requiring schools to teach cursive and multiplication tables.

More than 20 states have implemented state directives to teach cursive in the past decade or so, according to Connie Slone, founder of MyCursive.com, a company that provides cursive learning materials to teachers and schools.

A few others don鈥檛 require cursive, but instead encourage it without specific mandates, according to the Zaner-Bloser company, another cursive instructional vendor.

But critics of teaching cursive remain skeptical. There鈥檚 鈥渘ot much evidence that cursive matters,鈥� said Morgan Polikoff, an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California.

鈥淚f you are going to spend time on some indication of written communication, keyboarding skills are more important,鈥� Polikoff said. 鈥淚n the scheme of educational policies, I鈥檓 not sure there鈥檚 a single topic I care less about. We鈥檝e fallen behind during COVID, we鈥檙e dealing with chronic absenteeism, student mental health is in crisis, and we鈥檙e spending time on cursive? That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e mandating?鈥�

The Indiana legislature and governor this year changed a bill that would have required cursive, amending it so that it now only requires a study of the use of cursive in public schools. An education department report is due Dec. 1.

Over the past few years, cursive bills have been introduced but not taken up in several states, Slone said, including Colorado, Minnesota and Washington.

The late William Klemm, a neuroscience professor at Texas A&M University, is widely cited by advocates for his article a decade ago in Psychology Today maintaining that learning cursive 鈥渋s an important tool for cognitive development.鈥� Cursive helps to train 鈥渢he brain to learn 鈥榝unctional specialization鈥� 鈥� that is, the capacity for optimal efficiency,鈥� he wrote.

A 2019 published by PLOS One and listed in the National Library of Medicine, found that 鈥渢here is increasing evidence that mastering handwriting skills play an important role on academic achievement.鈥�

And a 2020 from researchers in Norway made the direct connection between 鈥渨riting by hand鈥� and 鈥渟ynchronized activity鈥� in a particular part of the brain 鈥渋mportant for memory and for the encoding of new information and, therefore, provides the brain with optimal conditions for learning.鈥� The study recommended that all forms of writing 鈥� printing, cursive and typing 鈥� be taught to strengthen 鈥渂oth cognitive development and learning efficiency.鈥�

Suzanne McLeod, coordinator of educational leadership at Binghamton University, a state university of New York, said cursive developed into wide use during the quill pen-and-ink era before the 1800s. It was largely because quill pens tended to blot when they were lifted off the page, she said. That means centuries of historical documents are written in cursive, and historians have to be able to read it to do original research.

鈥淣ot to have an underpinning in basic cursive where the letters connect would mean that you would need remediation in that area,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou would find it absolutely unapproachable.鈥�

In Michigan, Democratic state Rep. Brenda Carter this year succeeded in getting a bill through the state House that encouraged 鈥� though didn鈥檛 require 鈥� teaching cursive. There was virtually no opposition, she said. But the state Senate never took up the bill before adjourning.

Carter said she is seeking GOP backing for the measure and is encouraged because the state Department of Education supports it.

鈥淥ur young people are missing out on so much,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ll of the founding documents are written in cursive. Where is our history if we can鈥檛 read this? Are we depriving future generations of our history?鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on and .

A new statewide survey shows that although most Hoosier kids attending private schools are continuing to learn cursive, far fewer Indiana public schools currently teach the writing style to younger students.

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) surveyed 1,770 schools across Indiana this fall. Of the 1,386 respondents, 91% of state-accredited non-public schools are teaching cursive writing, but only 52% of public schools reported teaching it.

The survey was part of an ongoing, yearslong push to bring cursive writing back to Hoosier schools, spearheaded by Republican Sen. Jean Leising. She said the new survey data indicates that many Hoosier students attending public schools are at a 鈥渃lear disadvantage,鈥� and vowed to renew her legislative efforts to require cursive instruction.

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鈥淚 have been an unwavering proponent of cursive writing in the Indiana General Assembly for more than a decade. My concerns originally centered around making sure our children could sign their names on legal documents and read historical texts, but it is now much larger than that,鈥� Leising said in a statement Monday. 鈥淭hey need to have the necessary motor skills and strong cognitive ability to succeed academically and professionally, and learning cursive writing can only further support their development.鈥�

鈥淥pponents of cursive writing say schools should focus more on teaching typewriting skills in an evolving age of technology and online work,鈥� she continued. 鈥淚 argue, cursive is equally important, and we risk limiting development of student鈥檚 learning abilities by moving away from essential handwriting curriculum.鈥�

Writing on the walls?

The 鈥淐ursive Writing Survey鈥� was sent out in August and September to all schools and corporations teaching grades K-6. Local administrators had until Oct. 1 to submit their responses.

About 78% of all schools participated in the IDOE survey. Of the 1,386 schools that reported, 80.4% were traditional public schools, 16.7% were state accredited non-public schools, and 2.9% were charter schools.

Of those schools that responded to the survey, 58.4% 鈥� equal to 809 schools 鈥� reported that cursive writing instruction is taking place in their classrooms. In the majority of schools where cursive is taught, instruction is primarily administered to students in grades two through four. A majority of the instruction takes place in grade three, according to the IDOE analysis.

Cursive is more commonly taught in private schools, though.

Of the 230 non-public schools that responded to the survey, 210 reported that cursive writing instruction is taking place. To compare, 580 out of the 1,110 traditional public schools that responded to the survey reported current cursive instruction.

Still, the survey is not totally conclusive, given that 384 K-6 schools across Indiana did not respond. The public report also doesn鈥檛 indicate which schools participates 鈥� leaving it unclear how many students are represented in the study.

Leising wants cursive back

Cursive writing hasn鈥檛 been required in Indiana鈥檚 public schools since 2010 鈥� something Leising, R-Oldenburg, has been working to change for years.

During the 2023 legislative session, her originally required traditional public and charter elementary schools to include some form of cursive writing curriculum for the state鈥檚 younger students.

Leising 鈥� who has filed similar bills in the last decade to no avail 鈥� pared down the final version of the measure to instead require schools to report to the state education department about whether cursive writing is part of the curriculum there. The IDOE was tasked with creating a report with that information.

Leising maintained during the session that many private schools in Indiana are teaching the writing style, but the majority of public schools are not.

This week, the senator again pointed to showing that writing in cursive heightens activity in certain parts of the brain tied to memory and encoding new information, which she reiterated鈥� is integral to early childhood learning.鈥� Other cited by Leising show children who wrote in cursive had better reading and writing skills compared to those who didn鈥檛.

鈥淲hile lawmakers look to tackle literacy during the 2024 legislative session, I plan to join this initiative by also advocating for cursive writing curriculum, since various studies show knowing how to write in cursive helps improve information retention and comprehension abilities 鈥� supporting the successful development of reading and writing skills,鈥� Leising said. 鈥淚t is clear our students need support 鈥� now more than ever 鈥� to build foundational reading, comprehension and writing skills for their future success.鈥�

Critics of mandatory cursive instruction say students already have too many subjects to master and that they鈥檙e better off focusing on typing and coding.

Teaching cursive in public schools waned after the Common Core standards, which most states adopted, didn鈥檛 include cursive in the recommended curriculum. , pointing to studies that show a link between cursive and cognitive abilities, including helping with reading and writing disabilities such as dyslexia and dysgraphia.

Indiana isn鈥檛 the only state seeking to bring back cursive writing, however.

At least 22 states currently require cursive to be taught as part of the public school curriculum, according to the National Education Association. And the list is growing.

In October, the California legislature unanimously passed 鈥� and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 鈥� a law requiring the teaching of cursive or 鈥渏oined italics鈥� handwriting in grades one through six.

Earlier this year, New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu additionally signed a bill requiring schools to teach cursive and multiplication tables.

Indiana lawmakers return to the Statehouse next month for a non-budget session. Legislative leaders have not included cursive instruction in their 2024 priorities, but literacy-focused initiatives 鈥� especially those affecting grade three 鈥� are expected to top education policy efforts.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .