Schools should teach cursive writing.

Almost 2,000 years ago, Roman author Marcus Quintilianus wrote that "too slow a hand impedes the mind." RESOLVED: Schools should not teach cursive writing. Before I present my main arguments I'd like to provide a proper framework for today's debate… RESOLUTIONAL ANALYSIS & DEFINITIONS: First, some analysis of the topic and definitions…. ● We view this topic as a potential government policy, in which case… ● "SCHOOLS" should refer to all kindergarten through 12th grade U.S. public schools. ● "NOT TEACH CURSIVE" means to remove all cursive writing instruction from all school curriculums, effective immediately. STANDARD: Quality of Education Second, and more importantly, we need a standard for this round, a weighing mechanism to determine the winner of today's debate. ● Because we are discussing what's best for students, EDUCATION should obviously be the most important issue in this round. ● Specifically, the QUALITY OF EDUCATION, meaning: test scores, comprehension, preparedness for college, etc. We believe the team that does the best job of proving, through evidence and reasoning, that they most positively impact education in this country, should win today's debate. With all of that in mind, our team will win by showing everyone here that, contrary to popular belief, cursive is not a lost or dying art. It is actually a vital and invaluable tool that we must continue to teach students. We have several arguments… CONTENTION 1: Good Cursive Handwriting is Important to the Success of Grade School Students (Statistical) Our first main argument is very simple: good handwriting is important to the success of grade school students. This is because handwriting is used for the majority of school activities and because good hand writing translates into better grades. We can prove this statistically… ● Steven Graham, Vanderbilt University Education Professor and literary expert, stated in an interview in September that… "90% of activities kids do in school involve handwriting, and better handwriting coincides with better grades." (National Public Radio, September 2011) ● In fact, a comprehensive statistical study was conducted several years ago that proved this. 45 short essays written by 9th grade students, and then rewritten by 5 experts trained in the Palmer Handwriting Method, one of the most well-known cursive handwriting styles. All 90 essays were then graded by 12 teachers trained in the P.B. Diedrich holistic scoring technique. Statistical analyses showed that the professionally rewritten cursive essays received much higher scores. (The Effect of Handwriting on Teachers' Grading of High School Essays, study published in the Journal of the Association for the Study of Perception, Fall 1982) ● IMPACT: The positive educational impact of this is clear: 90% of what kids do in school involves handwriting, even in today's technologically advanced world. If kids have good handwriting, specifically good cursive writing, they will receive better grades and do better in school. CONTENTION 2: Cursive Writing Scientifically Proves to Improve Reading/Writing Our second main argument is that cursive writing has been scientifically proven to improve reading and writing skills. A recent article in Helium, an online educational community, interviewed three highly respected professionals on this subject. ● Iris Hatfield, creator of the New American Cursive program, stated that "Cursive improves neural connections in the brain." She stresses that physiological movement of writing cursive letters "help build pathways in the brain while improving mental effectiveness" and that this increased effectiveness may continue throughout a child's academic career. ● R. Shadmehr & H. Holcomb of Johns Hopkins University (no relation to our middle school) published a study in Science Magazine showing that their subject's brains actually changed in reaction to physical instruction such as cursive handwriting lessons. The researchers provided PET scans as evidence of these changes in brain structure. Further, they also demonstrated that these changes resulted in an "almost immediate improvement in fluency," which led to later development of neural pathways. As a result of practicing motor skills, the researchers found, knowledge becomes more stable. ● Pulitzer Prize nominated neurologist Frank Wilson, author of "The Hand: How Its Use Shapes The Brain, Language, And Human Culture," states that "You can't really separate what's in the mind from what's in the body. Knowledge really is the whole behavior of the whole organism," and that teachers should not "educate the mind by itself." He argues that lessons do not involve the hands and the body in full movement, much of the knowledge will be poorly processed and inadequately learned. ● IMPACT: All of this scientifically proves that cursive writing is very important to learning how to read and write. CONTENTION 3: Cursive Writing Aids Higher Learning & Employment Our third main argument is that cursive writing aids higher learning and employment. ● The vast majority of students who wish to pursue higher learning will more than likely have to take the SATs and Advanced Placement (AP) exams in high school in order to apply to the best universities in the country, as well as receive college credit for advanced courses. ● Since 2006, the SATs have included a timed written essay section worth 800 out of the total 2,400 points possible on the exam. ● According to College Board, the administrators of the SATs: "Essay readers must be able to decipher a student's handwriting to provide an evaluation. A paper that is illegible cannot be scored." (New SAT for the Press: Frequently Asked Questions, College Board, 2010) ● According to data collected directly from College Board in 2007, 15% of students wrote their SAT essays in cursive did better than those that used other types of handwriting. ● Karen Klein, a trained scorer for the SATs, wrote in her book, "How I Gamed the SATs," that students should "write at least a page and a quarter. Nobody who got one of the top scores wrote one page or less." This gives students who write quickly with cursive a clear advantage. ● Like the SATs, College Board's Advanced Placement exams also have written free response sections, including the math and science tests such as statistics and physics. Also like the SATs, students have a limited time to complete these sections. ● Furthermore, two of the historically most difficult employment exams, the LSAT and MCAT for aspiring lawyers and doctors, also have a timed written section where being able to write quickly and in cursive gives test takes a huge advantage. ● IMPACT: The impact of all of this is clear. Being able to write quickly and neatly on timed examinations is important, as it is almost a necessary skill when trying to gain access to good colleges and high paying jobs. CONTENTION X: Cursive Writing Provides Numerous Specific Benefits to Students Our X main argument is that cursive writing provides numerous specific benefits to students. ● Author and educator Samuel Blumenfeld lists several benefits cursive writing provides students in his book: "How Should We Teach Our Children to Write? Cursive First, Print Later!" ● Cursive penmanship is easier than print: only three movements vs. perfect circles and straight lines in print. ● Prevents reversals and confusion of letters: The letters "b and d", "f and t", "g, q and p" are confusing for young children. In cursive, writing the letter "b and d" require a huge difference in directionality. ● Enhances spelling ability: cursive writing movements create muscle memory. ● Potential for errors are diminished: cursive handwriting reduces errors because of the continuous flow of writing. In print, the child picks up the pencil from the paper to start a new letter in a word, thus the potential for mistakes is higher. ● Improved reading skills: the goal in reading is to read words instead of letters at a time. Cursive writing promotes reading words, instead of a distinct letter. After words, reading will move to sentences. Thus, remedial support for comprehension and reading of words are occurring less. The child reads what he or she writes as "whole words" rather than as individual letters. ● Used as a tool to put thoughts on paper quickly and easily: children write faster and can notes better from lectures. ● IMPACT: All of these are advantages students will have when it comes to performing any sort of reading/writing.