I can't recommend this enough. About three years ago, I bought Dubay and Getty's book to improve my handwriting--and it worked, with just a few hours of drills over a couple weeks.
Some notes:
1. It's subtle, but some of the printed letters are formed differently than most Americans were taught in school. Look how the letters t, q, x, e, and E are made. The italic form of the letters looks better and feels more natural to write. (The italic number 5 was especially weird to me, but now it's impossible for me to write it the "old way.")
2. The article talks about this, but it bears repeating: the letters are formed the same whether you are printing or writing cursive. So italic can help you even if you insist on printing your letters only.
2a. But you'll almost naturally start joining some letters because it's faster, and joining other letters because it looks cool, such as any letter after an f or t.
That is exactly why I have to take this article with a grain of salt.
They may have valid points, but they also wrote a book, and this article promotes their book.
I grow weary of anything on the web with an undertone of "Buy my Book! Buy my book!"
What's wrong with that? Read the material critically. Scratch out a few letters on a piece of paper. If it makes sense and you want to go further, buy the book.
As far as advertising goes, this is pretty useful -- it gives me some value even if I don't buy the book, and directs me to a resource that I might be genuinely interested in.
I take potential self-promotion with the same grain of salt, but it's a mistake to dismiss everything this way.
I also did the self-course in their book a couple of years ago, and the results were amazing. This really is a better way to write than what most people have ended up with. The only reason my writing is not better today is that I just don't hand-write enough to keep from devolving to what I learned from school.
The authors have been involved in hand-writing for decades. Anyone with poor hand-writing would do well to consider this or some similar focus on italic writing (there are more than one).
I also have this book and recommend it for anyone who wants neat, readable writing that is pleasant on the eyes, a combination that is really difficult to do with Palmer cursive.
Some notes:
1. It's subtle, but some of the printed letters are formed differently than most Americans were taught in school. Look how the letters t, q, x, e, and E are made. The italic form of the letters looks better and feels more natural to write. (The italic number 5 was especially weird to me, but now it's impossible for me to write it the "old way.")
2. The article talks about this, but it bears repeating: the letters are formed the same whether you are printing or writing cursive. So italic can help you even if you insist on printing your letters only.
2a. But you'll almost naturally start joining some letters because it's faster, and joining other letters because it looks cool, such as any letter after an f or t.