It works very well in inner-city schools. See The Lives of Children: The Story of the First Street School by Dennison.

I can't imagine that this article was supposed to add value to the public-school debate. Here are two non-controversial goals that children should achieve while growing up: 1. They should build durable cognitive connections. 2. And they should flourish (which has a psychological meaning). The public schools address neither goal. They can't. They actively work against both goals. Most children would be better off without school (since public school is a massive opportunity cost).