COLUMBUS, Ohio — A bill that recently went into effect in Ohio means schools in the state will teach students to write legibly in cursive by the end of the fifth grade.
According to the proposal signed by former Ohio Governor John Kasich in December 2018, the curriculum should implemented by July and updated periodically. The bill went into effect March 20, 2019.
Students should also be able to legibly write in print by third grade, according to the bill.
A fiscal analysis by the state shows it will be of minimal cost to schools to implement the cursive writing curriculum. The implementation of the writing curricula will be overseen by the Ohio Department of Education, House Bill 58 states.
The English Language Arts Model Curriculum for Grade 3 from the Ohio Department of Education is available to read on the ODE website.
In the State of Indiana, a bill proposing that cursive writing lessons be taught has been in front of congress for years. Cursive handwriting curricula became optional there in 2011 when the state eliminated Common Core State Standards, according to the Indianapolis Star.