which permits better legibility, cursive writing or manuscript writing?
– Berninger and Graham also observed that work done exclusively in manuscript writing did not make for easier reading than work done exclusively in cursive writing. (The researchers evaluated legibility with the Test of Legible Handwriting authored by Larsen and Hammill in 1989.) To me, findings /1/ – /5/ imply that classroom “either/or” expectations for disparate styles – “manuscript is manuscript, and cursive is cursive, and never the twain shall meet” – have counter-productive results, and that instead of imposing a pair of disparate styles in quick succession we should definitely teach a consistent form of handwriting that combines the best elements of these styles. After all, even when 40% of kids write in a “mixed” way without any instruction or encouragement in doing so, their “mixed” writing has superior results in speed and has at least equal results in legibility. Some additional Berninger/Graham findings: /6/ Berninger and Graham observed that the average speed and legibilit
