Depends what you want out of kids. I can tell you how to NOT do it.

Don't start with block lettering for all of pre and grade school, then switch to ONLY cursive for 3 years... now I can't write anything nicely. It's still readable, more so to me.

As for actual composition, don't force kids in to a rigid structure all the time. Maybe they've changed that too. It took me years to write in a more free form.

I had only cursive for my entire first twelve years of school, then slowly switched to block letters. My handwriting is really nice, but I don't think it had much to do with my school(s). I can't really glean from your comment why you think the kind of writing you are taught has anything to do with the kind of writing you use now.

I stopped writing in cursive the minute I graduated from high school and never looked back. I understand the point and purpose of cursive, I just never liked it.

By the early 90s, my ability to write began to atrophy, not that I couldn't write fine, but that I couldn't write much without my hand getting tired. Now, I can't write more than a few sentences before my hand gets really tired, but I very seldom have a reason to write anything more than a short note. I still make hand-written notes while working (as a software developer), but I find I'm doing that much less than even 5 years ago.

At this point in time, I'd be more concerned about people's ability to compose good communication than their ability to physically write. If social media is any indication, a lot of people can't write simple sentences that follow basic grammar and spelling rules.

Anecdatum, but my handwriting looks like a 5 year old's. It was best when I was a teenager but now that I probably write fewer than 30 words a week on average it's really taken a nosedive. I don't view it as a huge problem, but it's a bit embarrassing.

Still, turns out being able to type well and quickly is far, far more important in my line of work.

I can write very nicely if a make an effort, thanks to a lot of drafting I took in high school back in the Dark Ages, but after more than few sentences, my hand starts hurting.

> I’m not actually sure penmanship has suffered much from ubiquitous computing.

It certainly has in Japan and China, but I'm not sure that extrapolates to simpler writing systems. I suspect it partially does due to schools spending less time teaching handwriting.

Recall is definitely down, but don’t think penmanship has changed (at least in Japan).

If anything wouldn’t it get better in a sense, since you write so rarely and develop less shortcuts which might be more efficient but less formal/elegant?