The author's argument that what worked well for the elites of 50 years ago should be good enough for everyone today is unlikely to be correct. What worked for the elites of 50 years ago probably works just fine for the elites of today, like him and his kids. However, what has changed over 50 years is that we're now trying to educate all kids, not just elite kids. It's likely we'll need different approaches to reach all kids today, just like we would have needed different approaches to reach all kids 50 years ago - if anyone back then cared about all kids.