This post is an essay I recently published in Kappan. Here's a link to the original. I also presented these ideas in a talk. Here's a link to the PowerPoint slides of that talk. The story is in the title. See what you think. Americans are overschooled By David F. Labaree | Mar 9, 2026 | Backtalk No … Continue reading Americans Are Overschooled
This post is an opinion piece that Deborah Malizia and I just published in EdSource. Here's a link to the original. This analysis builds on two previous op-eds that we published over the last several years: Schools Are at the Root of the Youth Mental Health Crisis School’s Shift from Community to Competition Can Harm … Continue reading How Our Education System Fuels Our Political Divides
The post is an essay by Eli Stark-Elster from his Substack. Here's a link to the original. His argument is that -- although there's a lot of talk now about the damage that social media are doing to children and major efforts to ban social media use for anyone under 16 -- there's a bigger … Continue reading Eli Stark-Elster — School Is Way Worse for Kids than Social Media
This post is a paper I published in 1997 in American Journal of Educational Research. Here's a link to a PDF of the original. It became the framing chapter in my 1997 book, How to Succeed In School Without Really Learning. Here's the abstract: This article explores three alternative goals for American education that have … Continue reading Public Goods, Private Goods — The American Struggle over Educational Goals
This post is an essay of mine that is now the opening chapter of my new book, The Emergent Genius of American Higher Education. The path toward its latest iteration was long and winding. Let me count the curves along the way. This version was published in Bildungsgeschichte: International Journal for the Historiography of Education … Continue reading A System Without a Plan
In this post, I introduce my new book, The Emergent Genius of American Higher Education, which is now available on Amazon. Below is the book's introduction, which provides an overview of the issues it raises and gives summaries of the 23 chapters: Introduction This book is a collection of pieces I wrote about American … Continue reading My New Book: The Emergent Genius of American Higher Education
This post is a piece I that came out in 2021 as a chapter in a book edited by Kyle Steele, New Perspectives on the Twentieth Century American High School. The book was published by Palgrave Macmillan as part a series edited by Bill Reese and John Rury on Historical Studies in Education. Here is a link … Continue reading Politics and Markets: The Enduring Dynamics of the US System of Schooling
With this post, I am announcing the publication of my new book, The Ironies of Schooling. It's available as both an e-book and paperback. As I did with my last book, Being a Scholar, I published this one myself using Kindle Direct Publishing. One result is that the book appeared for sale one hour after … Continue reading The Ironies of Schooling
This post is a piece I that came out last November as a chapter in a book edited by Kyle Steele, New Perspectives on the Twentieth Century American High School. The book was published by Palgrave Macmillan as part a series edited by Bill Reese and John Rury on Historical Studies in Education. Here is a … Continue reading Politics and Markets: The Enduring Dynamics of the US System of Schooling
This post is a paper I published in 1997 in American Journal of Educational Research. Here's a link to a PDF of the original. It became the framing chapter in my 1997 book, How to Succeed In School Without Really Learning. Here's the abstract: This article explores three alternative goals for American education that have … Continue reading Public Goods, Private Goods — The American Struggle over Educational Goals
