Inside USBE > Departments and Programs > Teaching and Learning > Academic Areas and Supporting Programs > Language Arts Elementary > Utah Core Standards Handwriting
Utah studied cursive writing during the 2012-2013 school year. A committee of classroom teachers, university faculty, and literacy specialists met to look at the relevant research and data. This committee created language for the Utah Core Standards that was presented to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) in April, 2013. Public comment was requested during April and May, 2013, and a summary of the comments was presented to USBE on June 7, 2013.
USBE voted to approve the additions to the Utah Core Standards that include teaching manuscript and cursive writing and also include building fluency in reading cursive writing.
Handwriting (both manuscript and cursive) is an important skill for students to learn. Teaching and practicing writing allows students to write letters correctly and efficiently. Fluent writers are able to focus on generating idea, producing grammatically correct text, and considering audience. Even when a student moves to a computer or other device, that writing fluency is important to the composing process.
If you are interested in the research about cursive writing, the following is a list of some research and information about the role of handwriting in student learning.
Almost 30 Years of Writing Research: Making Sense of it All with The Wrath of Khan
Can You Imagine a World Without Handwriting?
Zaner-Bloser in partnership with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA)
Development of Handwriting Speed and Legibility in Grades 1-9
D'Nealian and Zaner-Bloser Manuscript Alphabets and Initial Transition to Cursive Handwriting
Educating Students in the Computer Age to be Multilingual by Hand
Handwriting Development, Competency, and Intervention
Handwriting Remediation: A Comparison of Computer-Based and Traditional Approaches
On Writing Legibly: Processing Fluency Systematically Biases Evaluations of Handwritten Material
Research in Writing Instruction: What We Know and What We Need to Know
Teaching Elementary School Students to be Effective Writers
The Critical Role Handwriting Plays in the Ability to Produce High Quality Written Text
The Effect of Handwriting Style on Alphabet Recognition
The Slow Handwriting of Undergraduate Students Constrains Overall Performance in Exam Essays
Want to Improve Children's Writing? Don't Neglect Their Handwriting
Utah has a cadre of certified handwriting instructors, please contact us for more information.