BALTIMORE -- Darius Riley displays the concentration of a tightrope walker as he fastens his eyes on the lined paper in front of him and grips his No. 2 yellow pencil down to its point to make his most perfect curly letters.

"I would rather do it in print because it is faster," Darius, a fifth-grader at Highlandtown Elementary School near Patterson Park, said of his cursive writing. Even his typing would probably be quicker, he says.

Darius may be in the last generation of students to be taught cursive as states begin dropping the subject in favor of spending time on mastering math, science and other skills.

Cursive is not included in the so-called common core standards, which will govern teaching and lesson plans in 46 states beginning next year, leaving states free to shift away from a subject taught for centuries. Hawaii and Indiana