1. Third Grade Cursive Handwriting Chief Academic Officer
Lexi’s Law:
Third Grade Cursive Handwriting
Dr. Timothy Scott
Chief Academic Officer
June 6, 2019

2. Lexi’s Law
On May 11, 2016, Governor Robert Bentley signed Act (House Bill 218). This amendment to Section , Alabama Code (1975), requires that beginning with the 2016 – 2017 school year, instruction in handwriting for elementary school students shall include instruction in cursive writing by the end of the third grade year.
The Act puts into statute that instruction in handwriting shall include cursive writing so that students are able to create readable documents through legible cursive handwriting by the end of the third grade.
It also requires each local board of education to certify on an annual basis to the State Board of Education that the applicable schools in the school district are meeting the cursive writing requirements.

3. Lexi’s Law and HCS
During the 2017 – 2018 school year, a series of cursive benchmarks were established to monitor the development and progress of the 3rd grade students.
Schools were provided three passages for students to copy into cursive handwriting on uniform paper benchmarked for fall, winter, and spring. A district-wide rubric to determine a handwriting score was also provided.
At the end of the winter benchmark, principals and teachers were required to meet and plan out next steps to improve student handwriting.

4. Lexi’s Law Δ DISTRICT TOTAL 1754 1182 57.70% 67.39% 9.69%
School Name
Total number of students in school
Total number of students proficient in school
Percentage of students proficient:
Percentage of students proficient: Δ
AAA 53 37
53.70%
69.81%
16.11%
ASFL 59 36
70.00%
61.02%
-8.98%
Blossomwood 82 46
71.74%
56.10%
-15.64%
Chaffee 67 38
65.08%
56.72%
-8.36%
Challenger
76.32%
64.63%
-11.68%
Chapman 32 21
72.22%
65.63%
-6.60%
Dawson 49 30
48.21%
61.22%
13.01%
Farley 48 40
66.07%
83.33%
17.26% GS
137
119
73.38%
86.86%
13.48%
Hampton Cove 84 70
87.65%
-4.32%
Highlands 65 43
66.15%
17.94%
Jones Valley 58 39
79.03%
67.24%
-11.79%
Lakewood 52 24
28.13%
46.15%
18.03%
McDonnell 56
29.33%
76.79%
47.45%
MLK 68
25.00%
57.35%
32.35%
Monte Sano
95.24%
97.30%
2.06%
Montview 13
8.33%
40.63%
32.29%
Morris 86 79
86.32%
91.86%
5.54%
Mt. Gap 71
46.81%
54.93%
8.12%
Providence
115 85
38.84%
73.91%
35.07%
Ridgecrest 90
41.25%
57.78%
16.53%
Rolling Hills
58.00%
51.72%
-6.28%
Sonnie Hereford 27
30.95%
39.71%
8.75%
Weatherly 75 61
89.04%
81.33%
-7.71%
Whitesburg 60 23
41.10%
38.33%
-2.76%
Williams
63.53%
84.29%
20.76%
DISTRICT TOTAL
1754
1182
57.70%
67.39%
9.69%