D'Nealian evolved as a type or method of teaching cursive handwriting in English. This form of writing was developed by Donald Thurber and was designed to help children in learning cursive writing easily. Introduced in 1978, the name D'Nealian was derived from the first and middle names of Donald; D from Donald and his middle name Neal. The D'Nealian script is very similar to the traditional cursive writing. This form of writing was easier for children to learn and was easier to teach than the traditional cursive writing.
Getty-Dubay is a contemporary version of the Italic script. This script was developed as an easier method to learn cursive. Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay developed the script in 1976. This script resembles traditional cursive writing, though the strokes used to join the letters are different from the traditional form. The letter "k" in lower case and some letters in upper case are different from the traditional cursive style. Portland State University has published books referencing Getty-Dubay scripts; these books are self-published by the authors at present.
This style of writing was common in the U.S. from 1850 to 1925. This script was named after Platt Rogers Spencer, who wanted to develop a script that could be written quickly, was easy to read and was elegant, and that could help in business correspondence and other forms of writing. The script was developed in 1840. He started teaching the script in schools and imparted the skill to graduates who helped to propagate the script in common schools. Soon, the Spencerian script became a standard across the U.S.
The Palmer method of cursive writing was developed and propagated by Austin Palmer. It flourished during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and grew to be one of the most accepted writing methods in the U.S. The Palmer method taught students to follow a consistent way of cursive writing and involved rhythmic motions. This style was developed around 1888. It was introduced in 1894 in the book, "Palmer's Guide to Business Writing." It involved movement of the proximal muscles of the arm rather than the fingers in writing.