Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

“Teaching applied statistics at the university level is the best of all of my worlds. I love to teach, I love mathematics, I love computers, but most of all, I love the feeling I get when I look into a student’s eyes and see the ‘light come on.’  I feel very fortunate to have found something at such a young age I could do reasonably well and also enjoy … and especially fortunate that I have been allowed to do it.”

– William B. Ware

Overview

Describing himself as “first and foremost a teacher,” William B. Ware remains passionate about his career. “I am fascinated by the mathematical regularities that surround us every day and amazed at the way in which statistical methods can inform us of the existence of systematic patterns in our data,” he says.
Ware believes relationships are the foundation of teaching. He tries to learn as much as he can about every student. “There’s a saying about teaching young children: They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” Ware says. “ I’ve found that, in this respect, graduate students are simply larger ‘children.’ As a teacher, it is my goal to give to my students the tools that will enable them to be independent learners, so they may achieve at levels about which I have only dreamed.”

Ware’s scholarship begins with “basic” work on the ways in which several statistical procedures actually perform in practice. He applies his extensive background in mathematics to statistical literature to help applied researchers.

Serving as the research/statistical “expert” in the planning, implementing, analysis and communication of his collaborators’ research, Ware has worked with scholars in school and counseling psychology, early childhood education, special education, public health and social work. “In one sense, my impact on education is mediated by the work of the many principal investigators with whom I have worked,” Ware says. “Hopefully, my participation has made their good work even better.”

Educational Background

• Ph.D. 1968 – Northwestern University, Educational Psychology
• M.A.T. 1965 – Northwestern University, Mathematics Education
• A.B. 1964 – Dartmouth College, Psychology, Mathematics

Doctoral Program Affiliation(s)

Ph.D. in Education – Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies

Research Interests

• Randomization Tests/Bootstrapped Confidence Intervals
• Instrument Development

Teaching Areas

• Applied Statistics

Courses

• EDUC 680: Introduction to Educational Research
• EDUC 684: Statistical Analysis of Educational Data I
• EDUC 784: Statistical Analysis of Educational Data II
• EDUC 787: Problems in Educational Measurement
• EDUC 884: Statistical Analysis of Educational Data III
• EDUC 888: Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling

Honors & Awards

• Distinguished Service to the Organization Award, North Carolina Association for Research in Education, 2007
• Distinguished Paper Award, 2001, North Carolina Association for Research in Education
• Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, May 2000
• Distinguished Paper Award, 1997, North Carolina Association for Research in Education (with Linda Althouse & John Ferron)
• Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, 1997, 1999
• Who’s Who in America, 1997, 1998
• Who’s Who in American Education, 1996

Selected Professional Affiliations

• American Educational Research Association
• North Carolina Association for Research in Education

Selected Publications

Bowen, G. L., Ware, W. B., Rose, R. A., & Powers, J. D. (2007). Assessing the functioning of schools as learning organizations. Children & Schools, 29, 199-208.

Ware, W. B., & Galassi, J. P. (2006). Using correlational and prediction data to enhance student achievement in K-12 schools: A practical application for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 9, 344-356.

Bowen, G. L., Rose, R. A., & Ware, W. B. (2006). The reliability and validity of the School Success Profile Learning Organization Measure. Evaluation and Program Planning, 29, 97-104.

Bowen, G. L., Mancini, J. A., Martin, J. A., Ware, W. B., & Nelson, J. P. (2003). Promoting the adaption of military families: an empirical test of a community practice model. Family Relations, 52(1), 33-44.

Bowen, N. K., Bowen, G. L., and Ware, W. B. (2002). Neighborhood social disorganization, families, and the educational behavior of adolescents. The Journal of Adolescent Research, 17(5), 468-490.

Sengupta, S., Strauss, R. P., DeVellis, R., Quinn, S. C., DeVellis, B., and Ware, W. B. (2000). Factors affecting African-American participation in AIDS research. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 24, 275-284.