Kansas State Board of Education members want public school students to continue to learn how to write in cursive even in the age of keyboarding and text messaging.
The 10-member board unanimously approved new handwriting standards for public schools Tuesday, saying that students are expected to learn to write in cursive in the third grade and write legibly in cursive by the fifth grade.
Multistate academic standards adopted by Kansas in 2010 don't require schools to teach cursive, and some educators question whether it's still a necessary skill and whether they have time to teach it.
Also, because Kansas doesn't have annual, statewide tests on handwriting, the board's standards have little teeth. But board members said they're hoping the strong language in the standards mean they won't be ignored.