Publications

My research examines how education reforms and instructional practices improve student learning in low- and middle-income countries, and what enables those improvements to last. Two questions guide my work: 

01. How and when do instructional practices and education reforms improve student learning?
I investigate the effectiveness of instructional approaches and education programs, with particular attention to language, teaching practices, and learning environments.

02. What enables effective instructional practices to last and become part of everyday schooling?

I examine how teachers and schools sustain and adapt instructional practices, including what happens after external support for education reforms ends.

I use experimental, quasi-experimental, quantitative observational, and qualitative methods, often in combination, to investigate these questions and inform decisions about instructional practices and education reforms. My work spans sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, where I collaborate with ministries of education, universities, and international organizations on foundational learning, teacher development, assessment, and education systems. 

Learning across languages

Does Early First-Language Reading Improve Later English Reading? [download]

An instrumental-variable study in Ghana examines cross-language transfer and finds limited evidence that early first-language reading skills causally improve later English reading skills, challenging a central assumption underlying mother-tongue-based bilingual education policies.  

Language and instruction

Does Teacher–Learner Language Matching Strengthen Reading Gains? [download]

A nationwide randomized trial in Ghana examines how language alignment shapes the effectiveness of reading instruction. The intervention improves reading outcomes, with larger gains when learners and teachers share a first language. 

Putting reforms into practice

When Does Differentiated Instruction Improve Reading Outcomes? [download]

A longitudinal study in Ghana examines how teachers put instructional reforms into practice. Stronger reading gains emerge when teachers apply the underlying principles of differentiated instruction as a connected approach, while partial adoption produces no comparable gains.

Leadership in reform implementation

How Does Principal Leadership Shape Instructional Reform and Student Learning? [download]

A mixed-methods study in Ghana examines how principals support teachers during reform implementation and finds that students achieve higher reading outcomes in schools where principals more actively guide and support teachers in putting instructional reforms into practice. 

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]

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]