New Jersey Legislator Introduces Bill That Would Require Students to Learn Cursive

December 4, 2019by Ellie Rushing
New Jersey Legislator Introduces Bill That Would Require Students to Learn Cursive

PHILADELPHIA — New Jersey’s elementary school students would be required to learn, read and write cursive by the end of third grade, under a bill now in the state Assembly.

“In some cases, children are entering middle school without knowing how to sign their own name in cursive,” said Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, a Democrat who represents parts of Hudson County. “We are doing our children a disservice by not teaching them a vital skill they will need for the rest of their lives.”

McKnight introduced the bill last week.

A news release from McKnight’s office cites data from Scholastic that learning cursive helps children become better spellers, and stronger readers and writers.

Cursive instruction became a rarity in public elementary classrooms after the Common Core dropped its requirement in 2010. However, since then, many states, including Illinois, Ohio and Texas, have made efforts to reintroduce cursive requirements.

The efforts come as more students use keyboards and screens for learning and taking notes. Studies show that drawing a letter by hand activates a child’s neurological centers as reading and writing does for adults, while using a keyboard produces little effect. It’s also been shown that students who hand-write their notes better retain information.

The revival also comes as an international exam shows that American 15-year-olds’ reading and math abilities have stagnated since 2000. The results of the Program for International Student Assessment were announced Tuesday, about a month after the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that the average eighth-grade reading scores declined in more than half of the states compared with 2017.

“Our world has indeed become increasingly dependent on technology, but how will our students ever know how to read a scripted font on a word document, or even sign the back of a check, if they never learn to read and write in cursive?” McKnight said.

The bill now heads to the Assembly Education Committee for review. If enacted, the requirement would begin the following school year.

———

©2019 The Philadelphia Inquirer

Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A+
a-
  • cursive
  • Education
  • New Jersesy
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    State News

    Great Basin Tribes Want Bahsahwahbee Massacre Site in Nevada Named National Monument

    ELY, Nev. (AP) — White attackers turned a lush, high desert oasis in eastern Nevada, with its bubbling springs and... Read More

    ELY, Nev. (AP) — White attackers turned a lush, high desert oasis in eastern Nevada, with its bubbling springs and a rare stand of Rocky Mountain junipers, into killing fields. They massacred hundreds of Native people there in the 1800s — a horrific history once retold... Read More

    In Milwaukee, Biden Looks to Highlight Progress for Black-Owned Small Businesses

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is aiming to use a visit to the battleground state of Wisconsin on Wednesday... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is aiming to use a visit to the battleground state of Wisconsin on Wednesday to spotlight a surge in federal government support for Black-owned small businesses during his White House tenure and to highlight his administration's efforts to ramp up... Read More

    Why More Women Live in Major East Coast Counties While Men Outnumber Them in West

    Anyone who has suspected that there are more women than men where they live, or vice versa, will find fodder... Read More

    Anyone who has suspected that there are more women than men where they live, or vice versa, will find fodder for their suspicions in new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Whether it refutes or confirms their suspicions likely depends on where they live. Women outnumber... Read More

    Ranked Choice Voting Bill Moves to Hearing in Front of Wis. Senate Elections Committee

    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A bipartisan bill that would dramatically change how Wisconsin residents choose congressional candidates by asking them... Read More

    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A bipartisan bill that would dramatically change how Wisconsin residents choose congressional candidates by asking them to rank their top choices instead of voting for one of two candidates is headed for its first public hearing. The state Senate's election committee was... Read More

    Democrats Eye Wisconsin High Court's Liberal Majority to Win Abortion, Redistricting Rulings

    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's Supreme Court will flip from majority conservative to liberal control in August and Democrats have... Read More

    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's Supreme Court will flip from majority conservative to liberal control in August and Democrats have high hopes the change will lead to the state's abortion ban being overturned and its maps redrawn to weaken GOP control of the Legislature and congressional districts. Democrats... Read More

    States Confront Medical Debt That's Bankrupting Millions

    DENVER (AP) — Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations. Medical debt started stacking up for... Read More

    DENVER (AP) — Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations. Medical debt started stacking up for Lindsey Vance after she crashed her skateboard and had to get nine stitches in her chin. And for Misty Castaneda, open heart surgery for a disease... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top