A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Acknowledgments

During the 3 months my colleagues and I spent in central, eastern, and southern Germany in 1994, we encountered, with few exceptions, individuals who were eager to share their experience, knowledge, and insights with us. Conversations lasted anywhere from an hour to several hours, sometimes with follow-up appointments. The people who agreed to participate in our study represented a broad spectrum of German society in terms of ethnicity, gender, social class, educational and professional background, political affiliation, and age. They provided us with a wealth of information about standards, individual ability differences, teachers' lives, and the role of school in young people's lives, as well as a variety of related topics.

We have written this book so that it can be understood by the nonspecialist. Our goal is to provide a detailed and comprehensive treatment of four key academic and nonacademic factors, which are of interest to U.S. policymakers. We have included references at the back of the book that can be used as a list of further reading for those who are interested in learning more or focusing on a specific area.

In addition to the participants, we wish to thank many other people who contributed to this volume. In particular, we would like to thank the project director, Harold Stevenson, co-director Shinying Lee, and Roberta Nerison-Low, administrative director and author of the chapter on ability differences, and the entire staff of the Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Michigan. We also wish to thank Lois Peak, U.S. Department of Education, who was the project officer who planned and monitored this Case Study.

We are also deeply indebted to our German advisors, especially Professors Rainer Lehmann, Jürgen Baumert, Evelin Witruk, and Manfred Prenzel, Peter Martin Roeder of the Max Planck Institute for Educational Research in Berlin, Rolf Kuhn of the German Institute for International Educational Research, and Ulrich Steffens and Hans-Hebert Weiss of the Institute for Educational Planning and School Development, for lending their expertise and logistical assistance. We also want to express our thanks to our colleagues at the Conference of Ministers of Education in Bonn, especially Christine Wellems, as well as the principals who welcomed us into their schools, sometimes on short notice.

The research on which this book is based was performed under contract to the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, as part of the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). The Case Study was conducted by the Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Michigan.

Many people helped us by reading and commenting on earlier drafts of this book. We especially want to thank Robert LeVine, Harvard; the late Alba Thompson, Center for Research on Mathematics and Science Education; Audrey Champagne, University of Albany, SUNY; Rolf Blank, Council of Chief State School Officers; and Joan Baratz-Snowden, American Federation of Teachers. This book was a collective effort from the conception and design of the original research plan to the final stage of editing. We hope that this volume is a clear, readable, and useful contribution to the understanding of German education.

Mark A. Ashwill, editor
Buffalo, NY

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