Research Focus & Approach
Featured Work
An instrumental-variable study in Ghana causally tests a central assumption of multilingual education policy. [download]
A nationwide randomized experimental study from Ghana found that structured pedagogy produced larger gains when teachers and learners shared a language, more so than when school-learner matches were made. [download]
Longitudinal evidence that gains emerged only when teachers combined assessment, grouping, and targeted instruction into a coherent classroom routine; partial adoption produced no comparable gains.
Mixed-methods evidence from Rwanda on how leadership practices relate to teacher effort in scaling structured pedagogy. [download]
Journal Articles
Published
Lee, J. & Moussa, W. (2026). Assess, group, and adjust: Enhancing early grade reading outcomes through readiness-based differentiated instruction in Ghana. Journal of Research in Reading. [download]
Lee, J., Moussa, W., & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2026). Language discordance and its moderating effects on early grade bilingual reading intervention outcomes in Ghana. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. [download]
Moussa, W. & Lee, J. (2026). Moving cross-language transfer from hypothesis to causal evidence: The effects of mother-tongue (L1) reading skills on second-language (L2) reading development in Ghana. American Educational Research Journal, 63(3), 544-574. [download]
Lee, J. & Moussa, W. (2025). Principled principals: A mixed-methods study on the role of principal leadership in implementing a primary reading intervention in Ghana. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 1-18. [download]
Lee, J., Adelman, E., & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2025). “Books that talk about my dreams”: Understanding children’s book access, preferences, motivations, and support at home and in nearby environments in Rwanda. Reading Research Quarterly, 60(2), e70010. [download]
Lee, J. & Moussa, W. (2024). The role of home environments in children’s literacy skills in Ghana: Parents, siblings, and books. International Journal of Educational Development, 107, 103037. [download]
Lee, J. (2024). The role of teachers’ social and emotional competence in implementing social and emotional learning curriculum in Malawi. School Psychology International, 45(6), 681-698. [download]
Lee, J. (2024). “It takes a village”: An ecological analysis of social and emotional learning environments in Malawi. School Psychology International, 46(1), 1-17. [download]
Lee, J. (2023). “Teach what’s good for learners”: Adaptive teacher pedagogy for social and emotional learning in Malawi. International Journal of Educational Development, 102, 102870. [download]
Lee, J. (2022). “I always tell my children to learn from me”: Parental engagement in social and emotional learning in Malawi. International Journal of Educational Research, 116, 102090. [download]
Lee, J. & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2022). “I can teach what’s in the book”: Understanding the why and how behind teachers’ implementation of a social-emotional learning (SEL) focused curriculum in rural Malawi. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(3), 974-993. [download]
Diazgranados, S.F., Lee, J., Ohanyido, C., Hoyer, K., & Miheretu, A. (2022). The cost-effectiveness of an accelerated learning program on the literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional learning outcomes of out-of-school children in Northeast Nigeria. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 15(4), 655-686. [download]
Lee, J. & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2021). Organizing primary grade literacy environments in Mozambique. Learning Environments Research, 24, 207–221. [download]
Lee, J. & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2020). Integrating new knowledge into everyday strategies: Teacher practices in early grade literacy in rural Mozambique. Literacy, 54(3), 111-122. [download]
Lee, J., Yang, Y., & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2019). A multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis of teacher perceptions of social and emotional learning (SEL) in rural Malawi. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(4), 600-615. [download]
Lee, J. & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2017). Conceptualizing education quality in Zambia: A comparative analysis across the global, national, and local discourses. Comparative Education, 53(4), 558-577. [download]
Lee, J. & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2015). ‘Making do’: Teachers’ coping strategies for dealing with textbook shortages in urban Zambia. Teaching and Teacher Education, 48, 117-128. [download]
Yoo, S.S. & Lee, J. (2014). In-service education and training for teachers in Korea and the role of the private sector from 1945 to 1970s. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 23(3), 413-424. [download]
Under review
Lee, J. & Zhang, Q. (Under review). Education technology and early grade reading in low- and middle-income countries: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.
Moussa, W. & Lee, J. (Under review). Technology-enabled teacher development at scale: Learning impacts and cost-effectiveness of a blended model in Rwanda. World Development.
Lee, J. & Moussa, W. (Under revised review). Leading under constraint: Principal leadership and teacher outcomes in Rwanda. Educational Management Administration & Leadership.
Selected Policy & Technical Publications
Lee, J. & Grimsland, A. (2026). How to integrate education technology into foundational learning in low- and middle-income contexts. Evidence synthesis and policy guidance note. World Bank. [full report and shorter brief]
Brown, A. & Lee, J. (2024). Assessing classroom quality in crisis contexts: Psychometric report of the Teacher Classroom Observation (TCO) Instrument. Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies. [full report]
Lee, J., Chirawurah, D., Jurkovic, E., McMerty-Brummer, A., Assuming, P., Dawuda, M., Omala, K., & Ssentongo, J. (2022). SHARE Ghana Transition-To-English Plus (T2E+) Impact Evaluation. USAID. [full report]
Diazgranados, S.F. & Lee, J. (2020). The effects of a remedial tutoring program on struggling students’ learning outcomes in Nigeria. New York: International Rescue Committee. [full report]
Diazgranados, S.F. & Lee, J. (2019). Measure guidance: Choosing and contextualizing assessment measures in educational contexts. Education in Emergencies Evidence for Action (3EA). New York: Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies. [full report]
Lee, J. & Diazgranados, S.F. (2019). The effects of accelerated learning programming (ALP) on out-of-school children’s learning and transition outcomes in Nigeria. New York: International Rescue Committee. [full report]
Lee, J. (In progress). Education technology and teacher professional development for literacy in low- and middle-income countries: Expanding access, quality, and reinforcement. In M. F. Mount-Cors, H. Aiken, K. Harden, P. Sowa, & M. Park (Eds.), Handbook of global literacy (to be published in 2027 by Bloomsbury). [forthcoming]
Zuilkowski, S.S. & Lee, J. (2025). Quantitative methods in comparative and international education. In Robin Shields, Michele Schweisfurth, Tavis Jules, & Matthew Thomas (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Research Methods in Comparative and International Education. London: Bloomsbury. [download]
Lee, J., Puplampu, N., & Zuilkowski, S.S. (2023). How do teachers organize primary school literacy environments in Zambia and Mozambique? In M. Joshi (Ed.), Handbook of literacy in countries in Africa. New York: Springer. [download]
Easton, P. & Lee, J. (2021). Literacy environments: K-12 and Adult. In F. Maggino (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research. Cham: Springer. [download]
Freire, P. (2020). Pedagogy in process: The letters to Guinea-Bissau (S. Yoo., Y. Bang., J. Lee., & H. Lee., Trans.), Seoul: PY Mate. (Original work published in 1978) [get a copy]
Labaree, D. F. (2020). The trouble with Ed schools (S. Yoo., M. Kim., P. Chung., & J. Lee., Trans.), Seoul: PY Mate. (Original work published in 2006) [get a copy]