David Labaree retweeted
In just 33 years, Europe went from barely touching Africa to owning almost all of it — the Scramble for Africa in two maps.
0
2
5
629
David Labaree retweeted
Distribution of US households by income level over the last six decades. US households earn heaps more. That's partly because dual income households are the norm now. Partly because the US is just richer now than in the 1960s. Source: buff.ly/D2l1NTS
3
8
25
3,231
Boys start school less prepared than girls, and they’re less likely to graduate from high school and attend or graduate from college. One in seven men reports having no friends, and three of every four deaths of despair in America — suicides and drug overdoses — are men. I’ve written about this at length here, and about how it relates to declining birth rates here.
open.substack.com/pub/profgmedia…
open.substack.com/pub/profgmedia…
0
0
2
201
Between the 2016–17 and 2026–27 academic years, the average inflation-adjusted tuition and fees for in-district students declined by 12 percent at public colleges and 8 percent for in-state students attending public four-year universities. Meanwhile, tuition and fees remained flat at private nonprofit colleges.
insidehighered.com/news/quick-tak…
insidehighered.com/news/quick-tak…
0
0
1
97
Can Too Many Reforms Harm a High School? (Patrick Welsh)* larrycuban.wordpress.com/2026/11/03/can… via @CubanLarry
0
0
0
88
David Labaree retweeted
Only members of the genus Homo can touch the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger.
24
24
742
160,309
My new blog post is a piece that has been republished as a chapter in my new book, Essays on History, Writing, and Schooling.
It's about two key elements in good writing, one of which is to focus on actors and actions. Who's doing what to whom? In academic writing, the actors t social entities -- bureaucracy, racism, curriculum, schools, universities -- but the principle is the same. Some force or factor or person is exerting an impact on some process or structure or outcome.
A second key element of good writing is to remove the flab from your sentences. Flab is any verbiage that is nonessential in telling your story. These superfluous words and phrases create barriers that make it more difficult for readers to understand what you're trying to say. Don't make the reader work any harder than is absolutely necessary. As Stephen Toulmin once said, "The effort the writer does not put into writing, the reader has to put into reading." You do the work of telling your story with clarity and narrative vigor so readers can just breeze right along through the text.
davidlabaree.com
It's about two key elements in good writing, one of which is to focus on actors and actions. Who's doing what to whom? In academic writing, the actors t social entities -- bureaucracy, racism, curriculum, schools, universities -- but the principle is the same. Some force or factor or person is exerting an impact on some process or structure or outcome.
A second key element of good writing is to remove the flab from your sentences. Flab is any verbiage that is nonessential in telling your story. These superfluous words and phrases create barriers that make it more difficult for readers to understand what you're trying to say. Don't make the reader work any harder than is absolutely necessary. As Stephen Toulmin once said, "The effort the writer does not put into writing, the reader has to put into reading." You do the work of telling your story with clarity and narrative vigor so readers can just breeze right along through the text.
davidlabaree.com
0
0
0
72
My new blog post is a piece that has been republished as a chapter in my new book, Essays on History, Writing, and Schooling.
It's about two key elements in good writing, one of which is to focus on actors and actions. Who's doing what to whom? In academic writing, the actors t social entities -- bureaucracy, racism, curriculum, schools, universities -- but the principle is the same. Some force or factor or person is exerting an impact on some process or structure or outcome.
A second key element of good writing is to remove the flab from your sentences. Flab is any verbiage that is nonessential in telling your story. These superfluous words and phrases create barriers that make it more difficult for readers to understand what you're trying to say. Don't make the reader work any harder than is absolutely necessary. As Stephen Toulmin once said, "The effort the writer does not put into writing, the reader has to put into reading." You do the work of telling your story with clarity and narrative vigor so readers can just breeze right along through the text.
davidlabaree.com
It's about two key elements in good writing, one of which is to focus on actors and actions. Who's doing what to whom? In academic writing, the actors t social entities -- bureaucracy, racism, curriculum, schools, universities -- but the principle is the same. Some force or factor or person is exerting an impact on some process or structure or outcome.
A second key element of good writing is to remove the flab from your sentences. Flab is any verbiage that is nonessential in telling your story. These superfluous words and phrases create barriers that make it more difficult for readers to understand what you're trying to say. Don't make the reader work any harder than is absolutely necessary. As Stephen Toulmin once said, "The effort the writer does not put into writing, the reader has to put into reading." You do the work of telling your story with clarity and narrative vigor so readers can just breeze right along through the text.
davidlabaree.com
0
0
0
112
Beware the Omnicause
The world is too complex for our simple minds
Hilarius Bookbinder
substack.com/@hilariusbookb…
The world is too complex for our simple minds
Hilarius Bookbinder
substack.com/@hilariusbookb…
0
0
0
97
Do Education and Human Capital Drive Economic Growth?
A more accurate framework begins from the opposite direction. Economic growth is driven by the expansion of productive systems, such as industries, firms, and technologies, that create opportunities for learning by doing. These systems generate demand for skills, which are then developed through experience and reinforced by targeted forms of education. In this process, Human Capital is not the starting point. It is primarily an outcome of growth, and only in limited cases, such as foundational capabilities and specialized technical training, does it play a meaningful supporting role.
The key distinction is between knowledge that is widely taught and shared, and skills that are specialized and acquired within production. The former has limited causal power beyond foundational capabilities. The latter is central to economic performance, but is largely created outside formal education. Treating both under a single concept obscures the mechanisms that actually drive progress.
Human Capital theory begins with education and expects growth to follow. In practice, economic growth begins elsewhere, and education follows.
frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/do-education…
A more accurate framework begins from the opposite direction. Economic growth is driven by the expansion of productive systems, such as industries, firms, and technologies, that create opportunities for learning by doing. These systems generate demand for skills, which are then developed through experience and reinforced by targeted forms of education. In this process, Human Capital is not the starting point. It is primarily an outcome of growth, and only in limited cases, such as foundational capabilities and specialized technical training, does it play a meaningful supporting role.
The key distinction is between knowledge that is widely taught and shared, and skills that are specialized and acquired within production. The former has limited causal power beyond foundational capabilities. The latter is central to economic performance, but is largely created outside formal education. Treating both under a single concept obscures the mechanisms that actually drive progress.
Human Capital theory begins with education and expects growth to follow. In practice, economic growth begins elsewhere, and education follows.
frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/do-education…
0
0
0
92
Which Came First: Education and Literacy or Prosperity?
Our two historical comparisons in this article reveal three important findings:
Many nations began transformative economic growth when large portions of their populations were illiterate and most young people received very little formal schooling.
Much of the expansion of formal schooling occurred decades after transformative economic growth began, especially during the twentieth century.
Dozens of nations have achieved high levels of literacy and formal education without reaching the prosperity enjoyed by successful industrialized economies.
It is far more likely that literacy and particularly formal schooling are one of the many positive results of material progress rather than a cause of material progress.
frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/which-came-f…
Our two historical comparisons in this article reveal three important findings:
Many nations began transformative economic growth when large portions of their populations were illiterate and most young people received very little formal schooling.
Much of the expansion of formal schooling occurred decades after transformative economic growth began, especially during the twentieth century.
Dozens of nations have achieved high levels of literacy and formal education without reaching the prosperity enjoyed by successful industrialized economies.
It is far more likely that literacy and particularly formal schooling are one of the many positive results of material progress rather than a cause of material progress.
frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/which-came-f…
0
0
0
112
