Is there a comeback of cursive? As of this year (2025), 25 states in the U.S.A. require students to learn to write in cursive handwriting.
The art of penmanship, aka Cursive, can be dated to as early as the 1850s in the United States.
The United States of America’s Declaration of Independence, which helped form our nation, is written in Cursive. All of the names of its creators are also handwritten. Maybe a bit more personal, many people have letters, even recipes, from relatives written in cursive.
It seems more state legislators and education leaders realize a potential need to preserve the art. In fact, the past 9 years or so have been very active.
Tip: Hover on a state to see a quick version of its status. Click to automatically scroll to the full section describing the requirements for that state.
Recent states that now require cursive:
States currently considering legislation for cursive writing:
Note: Keep up with all current cursive events (and there is lots of them!) by looking at our cursive news page.
While some educators argue that Cursive is no longer necessary, others cite benefits of learning to both read and write in script
So, how many schools still teach cursive? The answer is more complicated than a simple no or yes.
Yes, there are states that do and don’t require it. However, most states that don’t mandate cursive in the curriculum still allow schools and districts to teach it, if they desire. The controversy is that, if not required, will schools manage to fit the subject in with all of the other lessons taught?
While we can’t answer that question objectively, we have compiled data on every single state that requires cursive in one style of font or another.
Grade Taught: Cursive is taught before the end of the 3rd grade. (Note: 3rd grade is the average grade where many schools will either begin or have already been teaching cursive.)
General Info: The local school boards conduct the assessment in Alabama. Cursive content tested includes letter case writing and the writing knowledge of learners in the 2nd grade and 3rd grade respectively.
Grade Taught: No specific instructions seem to be given, except that cursive should be taught during elementary school years and mastered by the 5th grade.
General Info: It seems as though the current standards have been amended, not abolished. This change now mandates the need for cursive writing in all Arizona public schools.
Grade Taught: Cursive is taught before the end of 3rd grade.
General Info: According to the Arkansas law, cursive assessment is done locally. Testing on letter case writing is done (essentially how neat the writing is) in the 2nd grade. IN the 3rd grade, the learners writing knowledge is tested.
Grade Taught: California schools teach public school students to write in cursive in 1st through 6th grade.
General Info: CA is the most recent state to require cursive, with Assembly Bill 446 being signed into law in late 2023.
Grade Taught: learners are taught cursive proficiency before the end of either the 2nd grade or the 3rd grade.
General Info: As of the 2018-2019 school year, cursive is required by Delaware law to be taught to proficiency by the end of the 4th grade.
Grade Taught: Cursive is taught at the beginning of the 3rd grade to the end of the 5th grade.
General Info: According to Florida standards, learners assessment of cursive proficiency is done locally. In the 3rd grade, testing is conducted on the introduction to Cursive while in the 4th grade, their writing skills are tested. In the 5th grade, both the letter case writing and the cursive writing skills are tested.
Grade Taught: Cursive is taught in the 3rd and 4th grade.
General Info: Local bodies conduct the assessment. Testing requirements on cursive proficiency includes their writing skills and the formatting of letters during the writing process in the 3rd grade and 4th grade respectively.
Grade Taught: Handwriting in cursive is to be taught before the end of the fifth grade.
General Info: Cursive in Illinois is a contested subject. In fact, the state’s congress overturned a veto from the governor in order to require cursive. You can find more about local opinions in this piece by NPR.
Grade Taught: House Bill 1640, isn’t too specific, other than “elementary school” is when cursive is part of the curriculum. However, it is now required.
General Info: The legislation for Indiana is very recent (dated April of 2019). If you go to the bill itself, you can search the document, but we’ve taken a screenshot showing the exact place it lists cursive (page 30, line 14 of the bill).
Recently (as of 2023) it’s been reported that up to half of Indiana public schools don’t teach cursive!
Grade Taught: The 2024 Iowa Academic Standards require cursive introduced in 2nd grade, and fully taught and learned in the 3rd grade.
General Info: The Iowa Academic Standards show that students are to “begin to produce cursive writing” in grade 2. By grade 3, students are to be able to form all uppercase and lowercase letters as well as, “Produce cursive writing with accuracy and automaticity.” (Source)
Grade Taught: Cursive is introduced as soon as 1st grade and taught through 3rd grade, according to the Kentucky Academic Standards. However, with the new law, public schools are required to have students proficient by the end of the 5th grade.
General Info: Governor Andy Beshear signed SB 167 into Kentucky law, requiring students be proficient by the end of the 5th grade.
Grade Taught: Beginning in 2017, cursive learning begins in the 3rd grade, continuing to the end of the 12th grade.
General Info: Testing on cursive proficiency is done in the 3rd grade and the 4th grade. Additional Regulations governing cursive writing were implemented on the 1st of July 2017
Grade Taught: Cursive instruction is mandated from 3rd through 5th grade.Press Herald
General Info: In 2025, Maine’s legislature introduced LD78, a bill requiring public schools to provide regular instruction and opportunities to use cursive handwriting starting no later than grade 3, with the expectation that students demonstrate competency by the end of grade 5. The bill emphasizes the importance of cursive for cognitive development, hand-eye coordination, and the ability to read historical documents.
Grade Taught: Cursive learning starts at the 2nd grade to the 5th grade.
General Info: Local bodies do learner’s assessment. The curriculum dictates that testing for the 2nd grade will be on letter formation, case writing. From the 3rd grade to the 5th grade, testing is done on the ability to create a final cursive written document that is readable. There is a great deal of debate about the subject.
Grade Taught: Cursive writing is taught in the 3rd grade across the state of Massachusetts and students are supposed to be able to write legibly in cursive by the 5th grade.
General Info: Massachusetts has required cursive for quite some time, even though (as in most states) it is a well-debated topic.
Grade Taught: Cursive is taught from the 2nd grade to the 8th grade as required by a very short bill.
General Info: Educators conduct the assessment. Local body tests its learners on the cursive application in real -life situations such as in writing cursive text and their ability to read it.
Grade Taught: Cursive is required to be taught “by the end of the 5th grade.
General Info: The NH Governor signed House Bill 170 into law in early 2023. The specifics are not yet set, but cursive is required by the end of elementary school in the state.
Grade Taught: Cursive is taught prior to the completion of the fifth grade in North Carolina.
General Info: Local bodies do learner’s assessment. Pupils in the 3rd grade are examined on their proficiency to generate understandable letters in Cursive. In the 4th grade, learners are considered on their ability to develop explicit content on text editing computer programs. The 5th grade combines previously acquired knowledge and tests on letter structuring, word and sentence formation and the use of computer programs used in text editing to generate cursive textual messages.
Grade Taught: 1st through 5th grade
General Info: As of 2019, Ohio does lawfully require cursive writing in public schools. This is a recent change, however, most OH schools taught cursive already.
Grade Taught: In a recent comeback, cursive is taught in the 4th and 5th grades.
General Info: Any institution does not conduct learners assessment; hence, there lack adequate cursive examination measures in place. Pupils are however taught on the formation of text in the 3rd and 4th grade. Thereon, learners are expected to review previously learned materials to enable adequate understanding of concepts.
Grade Taught: Cursive is taught prior completion of the 5th grade.
General Info: On enactment of the governing regulations in 2010, cursive writing began to be examined. In the 2nd grade, a pupil’s ability to form cursive letters is reviewed. In the 3rd grade, casing and letter structuring are tested. The 4th grade and the 5th-grade test on how to use prior knowledge in word formation. Learners are tested on sentence formations and all the acquired knowledge in the previous grades from the 6th grade to the 8th grade.
Grade Taught: According to state law, cursive learning is in different grades is determined the education state board.
General Info: Pupils in this state were learning Cursive before the state officially adopted the regulation. Students have tested on cursive proficiency in letter casing identification in printouts the 2nd grade. In the 3rd grade, they are tested on the creation of text in different cases. Creating readable publications in Cursive is tested in both the 4th grade and the 5th grade.
Grade Taught: In a very recent development, cursive proficiency starts from the 2nd grade and ends in the 3rd grade.
General Info: Local bodies do learner’s assessment. Examination of learners in the 3rd grade covers letter and word structuring. In the third grade, pupils are tested on their application of Cursive in constructing a text.
Grade Taught: Cursive learning begins in the 2nd grade and ends in the 5th grade, but it has come under scrutiny.
General Info: Local bodies do learner’s assessment. Prior adoption of cursive regulations in the other states, Virginia had functional cursive laws. Testing of learners begins in the 2nd grade where letter structuring is examined. In the 3rd grade, the ability of the learner to construct readable cursive text is tested.
Grade Taught: Cursive learning starts in the 2nd grade and ends in the 4th grade.
General Info: Local bodies do learner’s assessment. While not law, there have been recent attempts at legislation. Testing of learner’s proficiency begins with letter formation in the 2nd grade, sentence construction and formatting in the 3rd grade and the ability to make a clear cursive textual message in the 4th grade.
If you didn’t find your location on the list, that’s ok! You can confirm by hovering over your state in the map above.
You can still teach your children (or yourself). It’s easy to do. You may want to weigh the pros and cons, but if you decide cursive is something you want to explore, we hope you’ll find our resources helpful.
Here are a few to get you going:
