(Radio Iowa) [updated]  – Studies find many elementary school teachers have had little-to-no preparation in how to effectively teach handwriting, and a University of Iowa special education professor has developed a free tool to help teachers everywhere teach cursive. Professor Shawn Datchuk is director of the UI-based Iowa Reading Research Center and developed what’s called CLIFTER, the Curriculum-Based Letter Instruction for Fluency and Efficiency with Repetition. “It has an e-learning module, and that’s on-demand, evidence-based descriptions on what are effective ways of teaching cursive handwriting,” Datchuk says. “And then the second pillar would be an actual free online application that educators can log on, click what letters they’re interested in teaching, and there’s video models that teachers can present on screen.” There are also worksheets that can be downloaded and customized for any curriculum.

Prof. Shawn Datchuk (UI photo)

Datchuk is introducing CLIFTER this week as the center hosts the annual Science of Reading Summit in Cedar Rapids. “We have over 650 educators coming together to learn about evidence-based practices for not only reading, but also writing,” Datchuk says, “and the response has been incredibly positive for CLIFTER and different ways of applying evidence-based techniques in the classroom.” About a decade ago, schools in Iowa and in many other states shifted away from teaching cursive, yet in recent years, some have returned. Cursive instruction was reintroduced to Iowa’s Academic Standards in 2024, and as of this year, only around half of U.S. states require some instruction in the skill.

Datchuk says it can be easy to think of handwriting as antiquated and unimportant, but he assures that’s not the case. “Handwriting, even in this age of technology, remains critically important for committing to memory writing skills such as letter formation, but also spelling, sentence writing,” Datchuk says, “but then also the juicy bits of reading that underpin our ability to read words accurately, or entire sentences, are closely connected with writing.”

While much of the modern world uses keyboards to communicate, he says handwriting is still vital, especially for young students who are just learning the art. Datchuk says he’s gratified to see schools swing back to teaching cursive. “That has been a large shift in how we think about teaching reading as, ‘Oh, maybe writing is separate,’ but what we’re finding is, is that it is not. It is closely connected together,” Datchuk says. “If you want to help students become proficient readers, writing can be an effective pathway to accomplishing that.”

He says CLIFTER gives students the building blocks they need to become proficient writers — and readers.