When the Common Core State Standards were released in 2010, cursive handwriting was omitted from required English Language Arts benchmarks in favor of digital keyboarding. Over the past decade—and accelerating through recent legislative sessions across the country—state legislatures have enacted decisive statutes restoring mandatory cursive penmanship.
Today, 24 states require cursive handwriting instruction by state statute, with an additional 8 states mandating it through state board of education academic standards, bringing the total to 32 states (64% of the U.S.) where cursive is actively taught.
Interactive map tracking state statutes, academic standards, and local school board policies.
Below is the complete, up-to-date legal classification, statutory code/bill citation, and target instructional grade bands for all 50 states.
| State | Mandate Classification | Statutory Code / Bill | Instructional Grade Band | Curriculum & Legal Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Mandatory by Statute | Ala. Code § 16-40-10 (Lexi’s Law) | Grades 2–3 | Mandates cursive proficiency by end of 3rd grade. |
| Alaska | Local Option | Alaska Admin. Code tit. 4 | District Discretion | Curriculum determined by local school boards. |
| Arizona | State Standard | R7-2-301 / ELA Standards | Grades 3–5 | State academic standards mandate cursive by Grade 5. |
| Arkansas | Mandatory by Statute | Ark. Code Ann. § 6-16-149 | Grades 3–5 | Public schools must teach cursive by end of 5th grade. |
| California | Mandatory by Statute | Cal. Educ. Code § 51210 (AB 446) | Grades 1–6 | Requires handwriting instruction (including cursive) for grades 1–6. |
| Colorado | Local Option | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-7-1005 | District Discretion | Standards recommend handwriting; district option for cursive. |
| Connecticut | Local Option | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-16b | District Discretion | Encouraged in elementary literacy guides; no statutory mandate. |
| Delaware | Mandatory by Statute | Del. Code Ann. tit. 14, § 4141 | Grades 3–4 | Mandatory instruction across public and charter schools. |
| Florida | State Standard | Fla. Admin. Code r. 6A-1.09401 | Grades 2–5 | Florida’s B.E.S.T. Standards require cursive starting in Grade 2. |
| Georgia | State Standard | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 160-4-2 | Grades 3–4 | Georgia Standards of Excellence mandate cursive in 3rd grade. |
| Hawaii | No Requirement | Haw. Dept. of Ed Guidelines | None | Focuses on keyboarding and digital literacy. |
| Idaho | State Standard | Idaho Admin. Code r. 08.02.03.004 | Grades 3–4 | State Content Standards include legible cursive handwriting benchmarks. |
| Illinois | Mandatory by Statute | 105 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/27-22.4 | Grades 3–5 | Mandated in public elementary curricula by legislation. |
| Indiana | Mandatory by Statute | Ind. Code § 20-30-5-7.5 | Grades 2–4 | Requires cursive instruction to support document signing fluency. |
| Iowa | State Standard | Iowa Core ELA Standards | Grades 2–3 | State standards mandate cursive introduced in 2nd and mastered in 3rd. |
| Kansas | Recommended | Kansas State Board Resolution | Grades 3–4 | State Board adopted formal recommendation for cursive. |
| Kentucky | Mandatory by Statute | Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 158.6453 | Grades 2–5 | Requires cursive handwriting proficiency by Grade 5 (SB 167). |
| Louisiana | Mandatory by Statute | La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17:266 | Grades 3–12 | Requires ongoing cursive practice through Grade 12. |
| Maine | Local Option | Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 20-A | Grades 3–5 | Handwriting curriculum guidelines established locally. |
| Maryland | State Standard | Md. Code Regs. 13A.04.14 | Grades 2–5 | College and Career-Ready Standards include cursive writing targets. |
| Massachusetts | State Standard | 603 Mass. Code Regs. 2.00 | Grades 3–4 | Curriculum Frameworks include legible cursive requirements. |
| Michigan | Recommended | Mich. Comp. Laws § 380.1278 | District Discretion | Cursive standards supported by state board guidance. |
| Minnesota | No Requirement | Minn. Stat. § 120B.021 | District Discretion | Districts choose whether to include cursive instruction. |
| Mississippi | Mandatory by Statute | Miss. Code Ann. § 37-13-10 | Grades 2–5 | Mandates students write a complete passage in cursive. |
| Missouri | State Standard | Mo. Code Regs. tit. 5, § 20-100 | Grades 2–4 | Missouri Learning Standards require cursive by Grade 3. |
| Montana | No Requirement | Mont. Admin. R. 10.53.101 | District Discretion | Content standards do not require cursive handwriting. |
| Nebraska | Local Option | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 79-701 | District Discretion | School boards determine elementary handwriting policies. |
| Nevada | Local Option | Nev. Admin. Code § 389.245 | District Discretion | Keyboarding prioritized; cursive offered at district option. |
| New Hampshire | Mandatory by Statute | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 189:11-a | Grades 3–5 | Requires cursive and multiplication table instruction (HB 170). |
| New Jersey | Mandatory by Statute | N.J. Stat. Ann. § 18A:35-4.34 | Grades 2–5 | Incorporated into elementary core literacy curriculum (A4033). |
| New Mexico | Local Option | N.M. Admin. Code 6.29.1 | District Discretion | Handwriting curriculum left to local charter and district boards. |
| New York | Recommended | N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. | Grades 2–4 | State guidance encourages cursive; mandatory in NYC public schools. |
| North Carolina | Mandatory by Statute | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-81.40 | Grades 3–5 | “Back to Basics” statute mandates cursive penmanship. |
| North Dakota | No Requirement | N.D. Cent. Code § 15.1-21 | District Discretion | No statutory cursive requirement in elementary standards. |
| Ohio | Mandatory by Statute | Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3301.0726 | Grades K–5 | State Department of Education provides K–5 cursive materials (HB 58). |
| Oklahoma | Mandatory by Statute | Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 11-103.6h | Grades 3–5 | Mandatory instruction until students write legibly by Grade 5 (HB 1617). |
| Oregon | Local Option | Or. Admin. R. 581-022-2000 | District Discretion | Standards focus on keyboarding and print; cursive decided locally. |
| Pennsylvania | Mandatory by Statute | 22 Pa. Code § 4.12 / Act 2 | Grades 3–5 | Academic standards mandate cursive handwriting & primary document literacy. |
| Rhode Island | Recommended | R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-22 | District Discretion | Department of Education encourages cursive handwriting. |
| South Carolina | Mandatory by Statute | S.C. Code Ann. § 59-29-230 | Grades 2–5 | Requires reading and writing cursive by end of elementary school. |
| South Dakota | No Requirement | S.D. Codified Laws § 13-33 | District Discretion | Digital literacy prioritized; cursive is an optional local elective. |
| Tennessee | Mandatory by Statute | Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-1019 | Grades 2–4 | Requires cursive to ensure legible signature capabilities. |
| Texas | Mandatory by Statute | 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 110.13 | Grades 2–4 | TEKS curriculum mandates cursive writing starting in Grade 2. |
| Utah | State Standard | Utah Admin. Code R277-700 | Grades 3–5 | State Core Standards require legible cursive production. |
| Vermont | No Requirement | Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 16 | District Discretion | Follows Common Core guidelines without state handwriting mandate. |
| Virginia | State Standard | 8 Va. Admin. Code § 20-131-70 | Grades 2–4 | Standards of Learning (SOL) mandate cursive starting in Grade 2. |
| Washington | Local Option | Wash. Admin. Code § 392-410 | District Discretion | Keyboarding emphasized; cursive taught at district discretion. |
| West Virginia | Mandatory by Statute | W. Va. Code § 18-2-9 | Grades 2–4 | Mandates elementary school instruction in cursive penmanship. |
| Wisconsin | Local Option | Wis. Stat. § 118.01 | District Discretion | State standards encourage cursive; local school board decision. |
| Wyoming | No Requirement | Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-9-101 | District Discretion | No statewide cursive mandate in performance standards. |
Beyond historical tradition and signature literacy, cognitive neuroscientists and pediatric occupational specialists emphasize that handwriting trains critical neural pathways that keyboarding cannot replicate.
fMRI neuroimaging trials from Indiana University reveal that forming connected letters by hand activates key areas in the brain’s reading network (such as the fusiform gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus) far more intensely than typing or tracing on a screen.
Because cursive letters flow continuously with distinct starting positions, occupational therapists recommend cursive to eliminate directional letter reversal errors (such as confusing b and d or p and q).
Use these free tools to support handwriting instruction in the classroom or at home.
Step-by-step master tutorial with stroke videos and interactive drawing canvas.
Compare D’Nealian, Zaner-Bloser, Spencerian, and Palmer methods.
Create custom 3-line printable tracing sheets for any text or sentence.
Search and download personalized handwriting sheets for over 1,000 names.
The Common Core State Standards omitted cursive from required English Language Arts benchmarks in favor of digital keyboarding. This omission prompted individual state legislatures to pass state-level statutory mandates to restore cursive instruction.
As of 2026, 24 states require cursive handwriting by state statute, and an additional 8 states mandate it through state academic standards, totaling 32 states with mandatory cursive requirements.
Schools began reducing cursive instruction around 2010 during the initial rollout of Common Core, before a nationwide legislative resurgence began restoring it across the majority of U.S. states.
California Assembly Bill 446 (effective 2024) amended California Education Code § 51210 to mandate handwriting instruction, explicitly including cursive, for all public elementary school students in grades 1 through 6.
