The English Competence Handbook provides a simple, clear, and thoroughly proven method of building non-fiction writing ability and increasing a writer's confidence. Cited as a tool for literacy by Time/I> magazine in its cover story "Why Johnny Can't Write," The English Competence Handbook provides teacher and student with a graduated, easy-to-use program to develop writing and reading skills. The program moves from the sentence, to the paragraph, to the whole essay, and brings the writer beyond competence to a sense of grace and style in composition. The English Competence Handbook has been used successfully in secondary schools and colleges throughout the country.

The authors of the English Competence Handbook are long-time English teachers at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, America's oldest incorporated boarding school. Each of them has consulted with various school systems across the nation.