New Jersey schools to revive cursive writing for young students

✍️ Cursive writing is officially back in New Jersey elementary schools starting next year.

✍️ Lawmakers cite neuroscience research showing handwriting boosts learning.

✍️ After years of debate, Murphy signs near-unanimous measure into law.

TRENTON – New Jersey schools will now be required to put cursive handwriting back into elementary school classrooms.

After years of debate and stalling in the legislature, the measure was passed nearly unanimously last week.

On Monday, it was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy.

Instruction on cursive handwriting will be added back into the curriculum for third- through fifth-grade, at a time when classrooms strive to balance hands-on learning in an increasingly digital world.

The requirements take effect immediately and apply to the next full school year.

Read More: What NJ's new school smartphone law means for students

Cursive was dropped under Common Core standards

Cursive writing was one of the things dropped from New Jersey classroom requirements under Common Core standards more than 15 years ago.

By 2019, state assemblywomen had proposed adding the "life skill" back to existing lessons so that New Jersey children can develop a signature and read and write in cursive.

Read More: NJ lawmaker says schools should go back to teaching cursive

Scientific research links handwriting to brain development

Scientific evidence shows that handwriting “activates a broader network of brain regions involved in motor, sensory, and cognitive processing.”

“The Neuroscience Behind Writing: Handwriting vs. Typing—Who Wins the Battle?” was posted last year by the National Library of Medicine.

According to the article, “Typing results in more passive cognitive engagement,”
while handwriting letters improves retention and comprehension through the “encoding effect.”

Lawmakers say cursive is a practical life skill, not nostalgia

Other states, like California and New Hampshire, have already reversed course by requiring cursive instruction in schools, citing the same student benefits.

“By guaranteeing that all students have a solid background in cursive handwriting, we are giving them a valuable skill they will use throughout their lives – whether it’s signing a check or interpreting an important document,” Senator Angela McKnight said in a written release on Monday.

“Cursive writing is not about nostalgia—it’s about development,” Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie said in the same release.

“From a learning-science perspective, handwriting engages neural pathways connected to literacy, attention, and memory. Research shows that handwriting instruction supports writing fluency and learning, particularly when students are developing foundational literacy skills,” Bagolie, who is also a school administrator in East Newark, added.

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