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Featured global Convenings
Featured global Convenings
Ghana Foundational Learning Evidence Day
Ghana Foundational Learning Evidence Day
August 2026 | Accra, Ghana
I presented findings from two studies on children’s first language (L1) and early reading to Ghana’s Minister of Education and officials from national and subnational education offices. The research addresses a distinction often obscured by broad labels such as “mother-tongue instruction.” Learning to read in L1 and learning through L1 operate through different mechanisms and require different decisions on instruction, teacher deployment, and language policy. Imprecise concepts obscure intended outcomes and causal pathways. At Ghana Evidence Day, I brought this analytical precision directly into national policy dialogue.
Africa Foundational Learning Exchange, FLEX
Africa Foundational Learning Exchange, FLEX
July 2026 | Lilongwe, Malawi
I served on the organizing committee for FLEX 2026 and helped shape its high-level policy dialogue on children’s education across Africa. The forum convened delegations from 31 countries, including 16 Ministers of Education, four Deputy Ministers, five Secretaries, and key partners. It also brought together the strands that have defined my career. I helped center the dialogue on connecting evidence, policy leadership, and institutional work to move reform from commitment to implementation at scale.
World Bank Policy Academy
World Bank Policy Academy
November 2025 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
I served on the World Bank Host Team for the Leadership for Progress in Foundational Learning Programme (LEAP), shaping the technical content and learning design for more than 50 ministry delegates from 13 countries. I developed sessions on school leadership and worked directly with teams from Malawi, Rwanda, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone to apply comparative evidence to the institutional levers that shape teaching and foundational learning. Helping education leaders test assumptions, learn across systems, and make stronger reform choices is one way I translate evidence into stronger education reform.
Educators Shaping Futures Conference
November 2025 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
I designed sessions and framed the technical questions for a high-level World Bank dialogue on the future of teacher development. The convening brought global experts together to connect international research with national policy and examine the institutional mechanisms needed to support and scale a professional teaching workforce across diverse contexts. A professional teaching workforce cannot be built by scaling training alone. It requires alignment across professional standards, school leadership, career structures, and sustained instructional support.
The LIBROS Study: Book Supply Chains & Literacy
September 2024 | Global Book Alliance
I presented findings from the USAID LIBROS study (Learning to Improve Book Resource Operational Systems) during the Global Reading Network's event, "Increasing Literacy through Access." Examining book supply chains in Cambodia, Honduras, and Rwanda, the study underscores that years of schooling alone are insufficient. Consistent access to quality materials is the critical factor in developing foundational skills.
GBA-ELRN Webinar: Children's Book Development
July 2024 | Global Book Alliance
As an invited speaker for the Global Book Alliance (GBA) and Early Learning Resource Network (ELRN) webinar, Developing Books that Children Want to Read, I discussed strategies for book content development in underserved languages alongside a panel of publishers and literacy experts. I shared real-world approaches for navigating local publishing markets, conducting content testing, and utilizing the 100 First Books Framework to create inclusive, high-quality learning materials.
International Literacy Day 2024: Books for Every Child
International Literacy Day 2024: Books for Every Child
September 2024 | Global Book Alliance
To celebrate International Literacy Day, the Global Book Alliance hosted a high-level event focused on closing the "global book gap." I joined experts from the World Bank, USAID, and UNICEF to discuss how sustainable book supply chains and the availability of teaching and learning materials (TLMs) directly impact literacy development in underserved communities.
Cross-Country Policy & Evidence Exchange
Cross-Country Policy & Evidence Exchange
June 2024 | Rwanda Ministry of Education - USAID
As Principal Investigator of the multi-country book supply chain study, I co-hosted a national convening to translate evidence into operational reform for the Rwanda Basic Education Board. The event brought together government officials, development partners, and publishers to address textbook supply chain bottlenecks. By linking Rwandan policymakers with Cambodian research teams, the convening enabled South–South learning and informed concrete implementation strategies.
Conference Presentations
Lee, J. & Moussa, W. (2025, March). Evaluating the causal impact of first-language reading instruction on the subsequent development of second-language reading proficiency in multilingual Ghana. Paper accepted at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Chicago, IL.
Adamba, C. & Lee, J. (2025, March). Breaking barriers: Expanding access to basic education through low-fee private schools in Northern Ghana. Paper accepted at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Chicago, IL.
Manirakiza, V., & Lee, J. (2024, December). Cultivating a reading generation: A case study on multilateral partnerships in making quality books and a reading culture for children in Rwanda. Paper presented at the African Studies Association’s (ASA) Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.
Lee, J. (2024, April). Global leadership, national visions, and innovative field strategies in the book supply chain. Paper presented at the USAID Global Education Conference (GEC), Washington, DC.
Lee, J. (2024, March). Streamlining success through system-wide efforts: Empowering every child with quality books by improving the book supply chain. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Miami, FL.
Lee, J. & Moussa, W. (2023, September). Moving cross-language transfer from hypothesis to causal evidence: The effects of mother-language acquisition on second-language acquisition in Ghana. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Conference (SREE), Arlington, VA.
Lee, J. (2023, April). “Learn from me”: Parental engagement in social and emotional learning (SEL) in Malawi. Paper accepted at the American Educational Research Association’s Annual Conference (AERA), Chicago, IL.
Lee, J. & Chirwurah, D. (2023, March). The effect of mother-tongue language-mediated bilingual education on early grade reading and oral language outcomes in Ghana. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Washington, DC.
Lee, J. & D’sa, N. (2022, April). Developing contextually relevant emotional and social well-being tools in Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, and Liberia. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Virtual.
Lee, J. (2021, May). Assessing teacher performance in conflict and crisis settings: Testing the psychometric quality of the Teacher Classroom Observation (TCO) tool in Northeast Nigeria. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Virtual.
Diazgranados, S.F. & Lee, J. (2020, March). The cost-effectiveness of two models of professional development on out-of-school children’s outcomes in Northeast Nigeria. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Miami, FL.
Lee, J. (2019, April). Factors affecting teachers’ implementation of social-emotional learning curriculum in Malawi: A two-stage structural regression approach. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association’s Annual Conference (AERA), Toronto, Canada.
Lee, J. (2018, April). A multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis of teacher perceptions of social and emotional learning in Malawi. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association’s Annual Conference, New York, NY.
Lee, J. (2017, November). ‘Miss Manners’ at her worst: Implementing a national social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum in primary classrooms in rural Malawi. Paper accepted for presentation at the African Studies Association’s Annual Conference (ASA), Chicago, IL.
Lee, J. (2017, April). Improving literacy environments in Mozambique: Synergistic influence of physical and instructional classroom environments. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association’s Annual Conference (AERA), San Antonio, TX.
Lee, J. (2017, March). Integrating social and emotional learning in early childhood education in rural Malawi. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Atlanta, GA.
Lee, J. (2017, March). Improving early primary literacy in Mozambique. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Atlanta, GA.
Lee, J. (2016, March). Teacher practices in early grades literacy education in Mozambique. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Vancouver, Canada.
Lee, J. (2015, April). Investigating the meaning of gender equitable quality education in Zambia: Perceptions and practices of teachers. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association’s Annual Conference (AERA), Chicago, IL.
Lee, J. (2015, March). Discourse analysis of global-national-local dialogue on the concept of education quality: Data from five state primary schools in Lusaka, Zambia. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Washington, D.C.
Lee, J. (2015, March). Understanding education quality: Teachers’ perceptions on education quality in Zambian primary schools. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Washington, D.C.
Lee, J. (2014, March). Dissecting the trade-off between access to education and quality of education: Findings from five state primary schools in Lusaka, Zambia. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Annual Conference (CIES), Toronto, Canada.
Lee, J. (2013, October). Below the surface: Teacher ingenuity in expanding access to limited materials in Zambian state primary schools. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society’s Southeast Regional Conference (CIES), Tallahassee, FL.
Lee, J. (2012, October). The role of the private sector in in-service teacher training in Korea in 1945-1970. Paper presented at the International Education Development Forum (IEDF), Tokyo, Japan.
Invited Talks
Lee, J. (2025, August). What Rwanda’s young readers want to read and why it matters. Reading Comprehension Group Webinar (Virtual).
Lee, J. (2024, December). Empowering every child with quality books: Best practices to enhance book supply chain systems in Cambodia, Honduras, and Rwanda. Gongju University, South Korea (Virtual).
Lee, J. (2024, September). Empowering every child with quality books: Research strategies for identifying best practices in book supply chains. International Literacy Day Workshop at the World Bank (Virtual).
Lee, J. (2024, September). Empowering every child with quality books delivered on time through a technology-assisted book track and trace system: The Cambodia case. International Literacy Day Workshop at the World Bank (Virtual).
Lee, J. (2024, April). Bridging the book gap: Innovative ideas about the book supply chain. Global Book Alliance World Book Day Webinar (Virtual).
Lee, J. (2022, June). Learning to Improve Book Resource Systems (LIBROS). USAID’s Lunch and Learn Webinar (Virtual).
Lee, J. (2022, April). Randomized controlled trials in international development education: Background, concepts, and applications. Brain Korea 21 Workshop (Virtual). Seoul National University, Korea.
Lee, J. & Brown, A. (2021, May). The psychometric qualities of the Teacher Classroom Observation (TCO) assessment using data from primary school teachers in Tanzania. Paper presented at an Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies Webinar.
Lee, J. (2021, January). Using randomized controlled trials to estimate program impacts in international development education. Brain Korea 21 Workshop (Virtual). Chungnam National University, Korea.
Lee, J. (2020, December). The psychometric qualities of the Teacher Classroom Observation (TCO) assessment using data from a study with Nigerian teachers. Paper presented at an Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies Webinar.
Lee, J. (2016, December). Tackling real-life issues through social and emotional learning in Malawi. Paper presented at the Annual R3 Workshop. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
Lee, J. (2016, November). Promoting children’s socio-emotional skills in rural Malawi. Paper presented at the Annual Going Global Showcase. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
Lee, J. (2015, November). Early primary literacy instruction in rural Mozambique and the role of Save the Children, USA. Paper presented at the Annual Going Global Showcase. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
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