A study generated from a national sampling of parents and teachers sought to answer the following questions: (1) Are parents' and teachers' perceptions of handwriting alike or different? (2) Have parents' opinions about cursive and manuscript writing changed over the past ten years? and (3) What are current concerns regarding handwriting instruction? The parents and teachers responded to more than forty open-ended and multiple choice items that covered various facets of manuscript and cursive handwriting. Their answers were then compared to the responses of parents and teachers from a 1966 study. It was found that parents and teachers perceive handwriting in much the same way, and that parents' opinions about handwriting have not changed much in the past ten years. The current concerns regarding handwriting instruction are: handwriting needs to be emphasized as an important elementary school subject, handwriting is best taught as a separate subject, typing is not a substitute for writing, special consideration should be given to students who have difficulty establishing handedness, children should be taught both manuscript and cursive writing, and better home-school communication is needed with respect to the handwriting program. (Tables of findings are included.) (JF)