A request for a plan to ensure that cursive handwriting is taught in elementary school was approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.
Board member Richard Vladovic introduced the motion asking for a plan to be developed in the next 90 days.
"All the research cited over the last decades says that cursive instruction is conducive to word and letter association, and can be helpful to students in their language instruction," Vladovic said. "We owe it to them to teach the fundamentals that can help build lifelong learners, because the bottom line is that this is good for kids."
The proposal received the support of LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner.
"Even in today's high-tech world, learning to read and write cursive remains an important skill for our students," Beutner said. "Research tells us that many children learn best when they put pen or pencil to paper. Let's make sure we help every student reach their full potential."
Board member Nick Melvoin cited increased brain development for students as the reason he'll support the proposal while George McKenna said the potential for higher literacy rates and scores on "the writing portion of the Smarter Balance and SAT" is what he looks forward to seeing.
