This post is an essay by Gordon Wood that was published recently as in op-ed in the Washington Post. Here's a link to the original. His focus is on why the American colonies produced such a remarkable set of republican thinkers and leaders. And he attributes of lot of this to their modest position in … Continue reading Gordon Wood: What Explains the Genius of the American Founders?
I published this op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News four years ago, in the early stages of the pandemic. Here’s a link to the original. It now appears as a chapter in my new book, The Ironies of Schooling. If anything, its relevance is even more apparent now than it was in 2020. Consider … Continue reading The Triumph of Efficiency over Effectiveness — in Both Public Health and Public Schooling
This post is an essay by David Brooks that appeared in The Atlantic in late June. Here's a link to the original. It's a tribute to people who were late bloomers. They didn't make it big right at the start of their careers but found their way to a more satisfying and substantial life of accomplishment … Continue reading David Brooks — Late Bloomers
This is a piece I published in Aeon several years ago about the persistence of the five-paragraph essay, which has evolved into the five-chapter dissertation and the five-section journal article. Formalism reins supreme. Here’s the link to the original. The essay is included in my newish book, Being a Scholar: Reflections on Doctoral Study, Scholarly Writing, and Academic Life. … Continue reading The Five-Paragraph Fetish
This post is an essay by Elizabeth Steere that was recently published in Inside Higher Ed. Here's a link to the original. For teachers worried about students who turn in AI produced essays, she provides an analysis of 50 some essays she generated using ChatGPT using prompts from past assignments she's deployed in her own teaching. … Continue reading Elizabeth Steere — Anatomy of an AI Essay
This is an op-ed I published in the Detroit News way back in 1998. It captures a key part of the argument about educational consumerism that I developed in my second book, How to Succeed in Schools Without Really Learning. And now it's a chapter in my new book, The Ironies of Schooling. EDUCATIONAL CONSUMERISM: BAD FOR SCHOOLS … Continue reading Educational Consumerism
This post is an essay by Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider, which was published recently in The Nation. Here's a link to the original. It draws from their new book, which I highly recommend: The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual. Their core argument is that the pressure for school choice -- "fund students … Continue reading Berkshire and Schneider — Why “Fund Students not Systems” Is a Recipe for Disaster
In this piece, I explore a major problem I have with recent educational policy discourse — the way we have turned teachers from the heroes of the public school story to its villains. If students are failing, we now hear, it is the fault of teachers. This targeting of teachers employs a new form of … Continue reading Targeting Teachers
This post is an essay by Ethan Ris that was recently published in Law and Political Economy Project. Here's a link to the original. He makes a very important and often overlooked point about the nature of the American system of higher education. It is highly stratified into a dizzying array of tiers: private ranks above … Continue reading Ethan Ris: The Colleges Are Alright
David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing 