Bio

I am a sociologically oriented historian of education who seeks to explore some of the major processes and patterns that define the relationship between education and society in the United States. In my research, I aim to analyze the evolving institutional character of educational organizations (such as the high school, community college, education school, and university) and the evolving role of key groups that affect education (such as teachers, teacher educators, and reform movements) in the context of the broader purposes and functions of education in a liberal democracy. Within this broad approach to the subject, I have focused in the past on two major areas of study. One is the pressure exerted by markets on democratic education; the other is the peculiar nature of education schools as they have evolved over the years in the U.S.

Academic Appointments

  • Emeritus Faculty, Acad Council, Graduate School of Education

Administrative Appointments

  • Professor of History (by courtesy), Stanford Graduate School of Education (2008 - Present)
  • Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Stanford Graduate School of Education (2017 - Present)
  • Professor of Education, Stanford Graduate School of Education (2003 - Present)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Member of Executive Board, American Educational Research Association (2004 - 2005)
  • Vice president of Division F (History of Education), American Educational Research Association (2003 - 2006)
  • President, History of Education Society (2004 - 2005)
  • Member, Board of Directors, John Dewey Society (2014 - 2016)
  • Chair of SHIPS Area Committee, Stanford Graduate School of Education (2009 - Present)
  • Fellow, American Educational Research Association (2013 - Present)
  • Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Stanford Graduate School of Education (2005 - 2008)
  • Coordinator of MSU, Ph.D. program in Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy (1996 - 2001)
  • Assistant Professor to Professor of Teacher Education, Michigan State University (1985 - 2003)

Professional Education

  • PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Sociology (1983)
  • MA, University of Pennsylvania, Sociology (1978)
  • BA, Harvard College, Social Relations (1970)

Contact

  • Academic
    dlabaree@stanford.edu
    University - Emeritus faculty Department: Graduate School of Education Position: Emeritus Faculty, Acad Council
    • School of Education
    • 485 Lasuen Mall
    • Stanford University
    • Stanford,  California  94305 
    (650) 725-7412 (fax)

Additional Info

Links

Research Interests

  • Higher Education
  • History of Education
  • Psychology

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Most Recent Book:

My new book – A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education – is an essay about the nature of the American system of higher education. American higher education is an anomaly. In the second half of the 20th century it surged past its European forebears to become the dominant system in the world – with more money, influence, Nobel prizes, and drawing power than any of the systems that served as its models. By all rights, this never should have happened. Its origins were remarkably humble, arising from a loose assortment of parochial 19th century liberal arts colleges, which emerged in the pursuit of sectarian expansion and civic boosterism more than scholarly distinction. It was not even a system in the usual sense of the word, since it emerged with no plan, no planner, no prospects, and no reliable source of support. Yet these weaknesses of the American system in the 19th century turned out to be strengths in the 20th. From the difficult circumstances of trying to survive in an environment with a weak state, a divided church, and intense competition with peer institutions, American colleges developed into a system of higher education that was lean, adaptable, consumer-sensitive, self-supporting, and radically decentralized. This put the system in a strong position to expand and prosper when, before the turn of the century, it finally got what it was most grievously lacking: academic credibility (which came when it adopted elements of the German research university) and large student enrollments (which came when middle class families started to see social advantage in sending their children to college).

This system is extraordinarily complex, bringing together contradictory educational goals, a broad array political constituencies, diverse sources of funds, and multiple forms of authority into a single institutional arena characterized by creative tension and local autonomy. One tension is between the influence of the market and the influence of the state. Another arises from the conflict among three social-political visions of higher education – as undergraduate college (populist), graduate school (elite), and land grant college (practical). A third arises from the way the system combines three alternative modes of authority – traditional, rational, and charismatic. In combination, these elements promote organizational complexity, radical stratification, broad political and financial support, partial autonomy, and adaptive entrepreneurial behavior.

2023-24 Courses

All Publications

  • The dynamic tension at the core of the grammar of schooling PHI DELTA KAPPAN Labaree, D. F. 2021; 103 (2): 28-32

    View details for DOI 10.1177/00317217211051141

    View details for Web of Science ID 000700896100007

  • Policy Dialogue: The Problems and Promises of Higher Education in the United States HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY Goldrick-Rab, S., Labaree, D. 2021; 61 (3): 341-350

    View details for DOI 10.1017/heq.2021.27

    View details for Web of Science ID 000680085700007

  • Turtles All the Way Down: Academic Writing as Formalism JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION Labaree, D. F. 2020

    View details for DOI 10.1111/1467-9752.12438

    View details for Web of Science ID 000539445000001

  • Nothing Succeeds Like Failure: The Sad History of American Business Schools. (Book Review) HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY Book Review Authored by: Labaree, D. F. 2020; 60 (2): 261–63

    View details for DOI 10.1017/heq.2020.12

    View details for Web of Science ID 000551472400009

  • Two cheers for school bureaucracy PHI DELTA KAPPAN Labaree, D. F. 2020; 101 (6): 53–56

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0031721720909595

    View details for Web of Science ID 000515418200011

  • Research Universities and the Public Good: Discovery for an Uncertain Future (Book Review) AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY Book Review Authored by: Labaree, D. F. 2019; 125 (2): 610–12

    View details for DOI 10.1086/704778

    View details for Web of Science ID 000495645400021

  • Public schools for private gain: The declining American commitment to serving the public good PHI DELTA KAPPAN Labaree, D. F. 2018; 100 (3): 8–13

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0031721718808257

    View details for Web of Science ID 000448268300003

  • An Affair to Remember: America's Brief Fling with the University as a Public Good JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION Labaree, D. F. 2016; 50 (1): 20-36

    View details for DOI 10.1111/1467-9752.12170

    View details for Web of Science ID 000371223500004

  • Learning to Love the Bomb: The Cold War Brings the Best of Times to American Higher Education EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH: DISCOURSES OF CHANGE AND CHANGES OF DISCOURSE Labaree, D. F., Smeyers, P., Depaepe, M. 2016; 9: 101–17

    View details for DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-30456-4_9

    View details for Web of Science ID 000384680700009

  • Learning to love the bomb: The Cold War brings the best of times to American higher education Educational research: Discourses of change and changes of discourse Labaree, D. F. Springer. 2016: 101–117
  • Let's Measure What No One Teaches: PISA, NCLB, and the Shrinking Aims of Education TEACHERS COLLEGE RECORD Labaree, D. F. 2014; 116 (9)

    View details for Web of Science ID 000349123500003

  • Accountability: Antecedents, Power, and Processes TEACHERS COLLEGE RECORD Meyer, H., Troehler, D., Labaree, D. F., Hutt, E. L. 2014; 116 (9)

    View details for Web of Science ID 000349123500001

  • 2013 Dewey Lecture: College—What Is It Good For? Education and culturE Labaree, D. F. 2014; 30 (1): 3-15
  • The power of the parochial in shaping the American system of higher education Educational Research: The Importance and Effects of Institutional Spaces Labaree, D. F. Springer. 2013: 31–46
  • Balancing access and advantage in the history of American schooling Bildungsungleichheit und Gerechtigkeit: Wissenschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen Labaree, D. F. 2013; 101
  • A system without a plan: Emergence of an American system of higher education in the twentieth century Bildungsgeschichte: International Journal for the Historiography of Education Labaree, D. F. 2013; 3 (1): 46-59
  • Targeting Teachers PUBLIC EDUCATION UNDER SIEGE Labaree, D. F., Katz, M. B., Rose, M. 2013: 30–39

    View details for Web of Science ID 000320734400004

  • Someone has to fail Labaree, D. F. Harvard University Press. 2012
  • A sermon on educational research International Journal for the Historiography of Education Labaree, D. 2012; 2 (1): 74
  • School syndrome: Understanding the USA's magical belief that schooling can somehow improve society, promote access, and preserve advantage JOURNAL OF CURRICULUM STUDIES Labaree, D. F. 2012; 44 (2): 143-163

    View details for DOI 10.1080/00220272.2012.675358

    View details for Web of Science ID 000303569500001

  • THE LURE OF STATISTICS FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHERS EDUCATIONAL THEORY Labaree, D. F. 2011; 61 (6): 621–32

    View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1741-5446.2011.00424.x

    View details for Web of Science ID 000212794900001

  • CONSUMING THE PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL THEORY Labaree, D. F. 2011; 61 (4): 381–94

    View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1741-5446.2011.00410.x

    View details for Web of Science ID 000212792900002

  • Targeting Teachers DISSENT Labaree, D. F. 2011; 58 (3): 9-14

    View details for Web of Science ID 000292119400003

  • Do no harm Teacher Education and Practice Labaree, D. 2011; 24 (4): 437-439
  • Adventures in scholarship Leaders in the Historical Study of American Education Labaree, D. F. Springer. 2011: 193–204
  • The lure of statistics for educational researchers Educational Theory Labaree, D. F. 2011; 61 (6): 621-632
  • When Is School an Answer to What Social Problems? Education systems in historical, cultural, and sociological perspectives Labaree, D. F. Springer. 2011: 77–89
  • Targeting teachers Dissent Labaree, D. F. 2011; 58 (3): 9-14
  • Teach for America and Teacher Ed: Heads They Win, Tails We Lose JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION Labaree, D. 2010; 61 (1-2): 48-55

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0022487109347317

    View details for Web of Science ID 000273579400005

  • The Lure of Statistics for Educational Researchers EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH: THE ETHICS AND AESTHETICS OF STATISTICS Labaree, D. F., Smeyers, P., Depaepe, M. 2010; 5: 13–25

    View details for DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-9873-3_2

    View details for Web of Science ID 000286130200002

  • Educational Formalism and the Language of Goals in American Education, Educational Reform, and Educational History EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH: PROOFS, ARGUMENTS, AND OTHER REASONINGS Labaree, D. F., Smeyers, P., Depaepe, M. 2009; 4: 41–60

    View details for DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3249-2_4

    View details for Web of Science ID 000271790200004

  • THE WINNING WAYS OF A LOSING STRATEGY: EDUCATIONALIZING SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN THE UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL THEORY Labaree, D. F. 2008; 58 (4): 447–60

    View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1741-5446.2008.00299.x

    View details for Web of Science ID 000212768900005

  • Comments on Bulterman-Bos The Dysfunctional Pursuit of Relevance in Education Research EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER Labaree, D. F. 2008; 37 (7): 421-423

    View details for DOI 10.3102/0013189X08325557

    View details for Web of Science ID 000207714900003

  • Mutual Subversion: A Short History of the Liberal and the Professional in American Higher Education HISTORY OF EDUCATION QUARTERLY Labaree, D. F. 2006; 46 (1): 1–15

    View details for DOI 10.1111/j.1748-5959.2006.tb00167.x

    View details for Web of Science ID 000218147200001

  • Education, markets, and the public good: The selected works of David F. Labaree Labaree, D. F. Routledge. 2006
  • The trouble with ed schools Labaree, D. F. Yale University Press. 2006
  • Life on the margins JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION Labaree, D. F. 2005; 56 (3): 186-191

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0022487105275916

    View details for Web of Science ID 000228653000003

  • Progressivism, schools and schools of education: An American romance 25th Session of the International Standing Conference for the History of Education Labaree, D. F. ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. 2005: 275–88

    View details for DOI 10.1080/0030923042000335583

    View details for Web of Science ID 000236811200016

  • Citizens and consumers: Changing Visions of Virtue and Opportunity in US Education in the 19 th and 20 th Centuries Conference on “Republican and Non-Republican Imaginations,” University of Applied Sciences Labaree, D. 2007
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3416-3831