I really dunno about this. I only skimmed the article, but I'm skeptical of any attempts to take drilling out of mathematical education. It would be like taking long practice sessions out of musical education. You can't build the fluency necessary for higher level abstract concepts if you don't have the foundations secure.

IMO, the more we go away from drilling, the poorer US math education will become. I'm a big believer in the idea that mimicry comes before understanding. You need to be able to do the long division algorithm by rote before you really start to build an understanding for it.

I understand the dread students feel, and how it makes them feel like "they're not math people." I think the answer isn't to stop drills. It's to allow students to progress at their own pace without fear of failure.

Again, it's a lot like music. We need to acknowledge some are more talented than others and can pick it up faster, but anyone can play an instrument beautifully, if they take their time and have the right mindset.

To me, the indictment is more on one-size-fits-all, age-cohort-based education, than it is about drilling math.