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Youngsun Lee
Education Researcher
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Youngsun Lee
Education Researcher
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Education Policy at the University of Maryland. My research focuses on student absenteeism and engagement in American K-12 public schools. For my dissertation, I delve into the origin and practices of schools' discipline for truancy and absenteeism. I primarily use quantitative methods, causal inference modeling, while I am expanding to historical/qualitative literature review and document analysis.
I previously served as a research assistant at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET), coordinating two projects funded by the Ministry of Education: building school-community partnerships to enhance local-level career education and university career exploration programs for students from rural and underserved areas.
With teaching experiences ranging from elementary to undergraduate, through tutoring, volunteering, and TAship, I enjoy engaging with students and facilitating their growth both academically and personally.
I previously served as a research assistant at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET), coordinating two projects funded by the Ministry of Education: building school-community partnerships to enhance local-level career education and university career exploration programs for students from rural and underserved areas.
With teaching experiences ranging from elementary to undergraduate, through tutoring, volunteering, and TAship, I enjoy engaging with students and facilitating their growth both academically and personally.
- School discipline
- Absenteeism/Truancy
- School engagement
- Asian students
- Low-income students
- Casual inference
- Historical analysis
News
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Research
June 2025 Check out our Edwroking paper "Behind the Push for Licensure Reform: How Beliefs About the Teaching Profession Unite and Divide Coalitions" with Dr. Comstock, Dr. Kaul, Dr. Dym, and Ms. Kim
Oct 2024 Excited to share a new published paper with Dr. An, Ms. Oh, and Ms. Lee: "How can young adults be civically engaged? The role of academic achievement standards in enhancing civic and social engagement in the case of South Korea"
Jun 2024 Leading a new project to further develop the systematic literature review on Asian students from low SES backgrounds, co-authoring with Ariel Chung and Yue Xin
Apr 2024 Presented at AERA 2024, "High School Experiences of Low-Income Asian-Origin Students in the U.S.: A Systematic Literature Review"
Nov 2023 Presented at APPAM 2023, "Who Succeeds Against the Odds?: Unpacking High-Achieving Middle School Students from Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds", co-authoring with Joyce C. Koo
Aug 2023 Started collaborating on a mixed-method study on examining policymaking process of North Carolina Teacher Licensure Policy (PI: Dr. Meghan Comstock)
Aug 2022 Joined a school discipline project to understand and reduce racial/ethnic disproportionalities in school discipline by targeting educators' use of office discipline referrals and to develop interventions (PIs: Dr. Jing Liu & Dr. Emily Penner)
Oct 2024 Excited to share a new published paper with Dr. An, Ms. Oh, and Ms. Lee: "How can young adults be civically engaged? The role of academic achievement standards in enhancing civic and social engagement in the case of South Korea"
Jun 2024 Leading a new project to further develop the systematic literature review on Asian students from low SES backgrounds, co-authoring with Ariel Chung and Yue Xin
Apr 2024 Presented at AERA 2024, "High School Experiences of Low-Income Asian-Origin Students in the U.S.: A Systematic Literature Review"
Nov 2023 Presented at APPAM 2023, "Who Succeeds Against the Odds?: Unpacking High-Achieving Middle School Students from Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds", co-authoring with Joyce C. Koo
Aug 2023 Started collaborating on a mixed-method study on examining policymaking process of North Carolina Teacher Licensure Policy (PI: Dr. Meghan Comstock)
Aug 2022 Joined a school discipline project to understand and reduce racial/ethnic disproportionalities in school discipline by targeting educators' use of office discipline referrals and to develop interventions (PIs: Dr. Jing Liu & Dr. Emily Penner)
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Connecting to Community
Sep 2024 - Current Teaching a weekly religious education to middle school students and facilitated youth activities at Sunday School, St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church, a Korean immigrant/American Catholic Church in Olney, MD.
Jul - Aug 2024, Jun - Jul 2023 Coordinated the PROMISE Program for Asian children with autism for data collection and behavior support (PI: Dr. Veronica Kang). This six-weeks session, organized by ACCEL and CCACC, aims to promote social-emotional engagement for culturally and linguistically diverse children with developmental disabilities.
Sep 2024 - Current Teaching a weekly religious education to middle school students and facilitated youth activities at Sunday School, St. Andrew Kim Catholic Church, a Korean immigrant/American Catholic Church in Olney, MD.
Jul - Aug 2024, Jun - Jul 2023 Coordinated the PROMISE Program for Asian children with autism for data collection and behavior support (PI: Dr. Veronica Kang). This six-weeks session, organized by ACCEL and CCACC, aims to promote social-emotional engagement for culturally and linguistically diverse children with developmental disabilities.
- ACCEL (Autism, Family, Culture, and Communication Education Lab)
- CCACC (Chinese Culture and Community Service Center)
- PROMISE (Promoting Meaningful Interaction and Social Engagement for Young Children and Youth)