James H. Williams

Associate Professor of International Education and International Affairs

Associate Director, Office of International Activities, Graduate School of Education and Human Development

2129 G Street, NW Room 304

Washington, D.C. 20052

Phone: (202) 994-0831
Fax: (202) 994-0148
E-mail: jhw@gwu.edu

Education:

Ed.D., Harvard University

Expertise:

International education and development, educational planning and policy

Background:

Professor Williams has done extensive educational development work in sub-Saharan Africa, in addition to working for the African Bureau of USAID for two years. In addition, he has taught in Japan for a number of years and currently directs GW's International Education Program. His research interests include: Education and development, decentralization and administrative reform, education and health, cross-cultural organizational theory, education for marginalized and conflict-affected populations, and equity and achievement in large cross-national data sets.

Professor Williams' recent publications include: Policy-Making for Education Reform in Developing Countries: Volume II, Options and Strategies, co-authored with William Cummings (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008); "Pluralism, Identity and the State: National Education Policy towards Indigenous Minorities in Japan and Canada," Comparative Education, 44 (1), pp. 75-91 (2008, with Nazumi Takeda); and as Guest Editor, "Vulnerable, Excluded, Invisible & Ignored: The Margins of Education for All" (Special Issue), Journal of International Cooperation in Education, 10(1), pp. 1-158 (2007). He has just ended two grants: A four-year State Department grant with GWU and BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, focusing on institutional development, educational policy and training, and economic development, and a research grant from the American Educational Research Association on a cross-national, multilevel analysis of the OECD Programme on International Student Assessment (PISA). He is currently working on a literature review on education and the fragile state, a study on the implementation of Sector Wide Assistance Programs in Bangladesh, as well as collaborative research on educational policy in Cambodia.

Courses Taught:

EDUC 6601 International and Comparative Education
EDUC 6602 Regional Studies in International Education:

• Education and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Comparative Solutions to Common Educational Problems

EDUC 6610 Programs and Policies in International Education:

• Developing Countries
• Educating Those Out of School

EDUC 6630 International Experiences
EDUC 6631 Internship in International Education
EDUC 6640 Selected Topics in International Education: Culture, Society & Education in Comparative Perspective