Tom Griswold of the Bob & Tom radio show has been complaining about cursive writing for a week (why does it have to be taught along with printing when so few people can do it legibly anyway?), so he must have seen an account of this study:
Six of every 10 primary school teachers grade assignments for penmanship, even though many of them feel ill-equipped to teach the subject, according to a not-yet-released national survey by a Vanderbilt University professor.
Steve Graham, a professor of special education, found that 80% of the teachers surveyed did not feel prepared to teach handwriting and that the majority indicated they did not enjoy teaching the subject.
I wouldn't want to admit my handwriting is bad, but if I don't transcribe my notes within an hour or two, even I can't comprehend half of it. The worst part is that, knowing this, I usually start out printing but subconsciously drift into cursive about halfway through.
