Ashwill Contributes to U.S. Education Studies

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Mark A. Ashwill, Ph.D., director of the World Languages Institute at the University at Buffalo, contributed to a series of studies recently published by the U.S. Department of Education.

The volumes, part of the Case Study Project administered by the University of Michigan's Center for Human Growth and Development, provide in-depth information on education in Germany, Japan and the United States. Topics investigated in the Case Study Project include education standards, dealing with differences in ability, the place of school in adolescents' lives, and the training and working conditions of teachers. The case-study project is a component of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

The volumes are entitled "To Sum It Up: Case Studies of Education in Germany, Japan, and the United States," "The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings," "The Educational System in Germany: Case Study Findings" and "Contemporary Research in the United States, Germany and Japan on Five Education Issues."

Ashwill edited the German volume and wrote the chapter on the development and implementation of education standards. He also was a primary researcher on the U.S. case study and co-authored the chapter on standards.

The volumes were published by the National Institute on Student Achievement, Curriculum and Assessment of the U.S. Department of Education, established to conduct a comprehensive program of research and development to provide leadership in improving student achievement.

A member of the UB professional staff since 1990, Ashwill heads the World Languages Institute, a section of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures that offers tutorial and classroom language instruction in the less commonly taught languages, promotes global awareness and intercultural sensitivity on campus and in the community, and provides international communication services to the private sector in Western New York.

A Clarence Center resident, he received a master's degree in German from the University of Maryland at College Park and a doctorate in comparative and higher education from UB.