MS HB488

State Board of Education must develop a writing curriculum for all public school districts that includes instruction in both manuscript and cursive handwriting at the elementary level.

Public schools must provide instruction in manuscript handwriting fundamentals at the grade level determined appropriate by the State Department of Education.

Public schools must provide cursive reading and writing instruction so students create readable documents in cursive by the end of fifth grade, beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.

Students must pass a teacher-constructed test demonstrating proficiency in both reading and writing cursive as a requirement of the curriculum standard.

Mississippi School for the Blind and Mississippi School for the Deaf are exempted from these requirements.