Brilliant article. It describes a lot of the problem, though not quite all. My own research into this paints a picture very very similsr to yours, but with a few extra twists and turns. Not all of which are necessarily actually there. It's easy to confuse cause with effect.

What I would love is for you to produce a sequel, maybe more than one, that explores not only what could be done but the consequences of such a change, and how to cope with balancing the diverse needs involved in getting a broad enough focus and a broad enough range of freedoms with the highly eandom variations in abilities of individuals.

Education theory has gone wrong, although it's not obvious how or why. We need something that will work better and not have disastrous side-effects. I've my thoughts but they're unusable as they are. I'm wanting to see thoughts that will work, just as thdy are, and you're so close to giving just that in addition to the situation that makes it necessary.