The article in the Washington Post starts off

When North Dallas High School switched in the 1980s to what some considered old-fashioned mathematics books full of drills and review, achievement levels for many of the low-income and low-performing students at the Texas school soared.

I was happy to hear that, but even if:

Drills or projects, teacher-led or student-led lessons, traditional or progressive education -- the terms denote two learning styles that have divided American educators for almost a century.

In the final analysis, as the article says, the type of learning should depend on the type of learner. Now that's hard.