Youngsun Lee

Ph.D. Candidate in Education Policy and Leadership


Welcome to my website!


I am a Ph.D. candidate in Education Policy at the University of Maryland. For my Ph.D. dissertation, I examine 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 worked at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET), coordinating two projects funded by the Korea 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 ongoing teaching experience ranging from middle school to undergraduate, I enjoy engaging with students and facilitating their growth both academically and personally. 
  • School discipline
  • Absenteeism/Truancy
  • School engagement
  • Casual inference

News

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Research
Oct 2025    Presented at SREE 2025, "Discipline beyond Suspensions: The Spectrum of Disciplinary Actions and Racial/Ethnic Disparities," co-authoring with Dr. Jing Liu and Dr. Emily Penner
Jun 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 (PI: Dr. Meghan Comstock)
Jun 2024    Leading a new project to further develop the systematic literature review on Asian students from low SES backgrounds, collaborating with graduate students Ariel Chung and Yue Xin 
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Connecting to Community

Sep 2024 - Current    Coordinating community-building events and engagement activities for graduate students as a Graduate Student Representative for AERA Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Education and Research (AAPI-ER) SIG.
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 American Catholic Church in Olney, MD.

Two summers
in 2024, 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)
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Teaching

University of Maryland
  • Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Education, Undergraduate level
    Co-Instructor (AY 2025-26), Teaching Assistant (AY 2022-23)
  • Economics of Education, Graduate level
    Teaching Assistant (Spring 2025)
    Classes taught: School Discipline & Absenteeism, Quasi-experimental Methods 
  • Urban Education, Graduate level
    Guest Lecturer (October 22, Fall 2025)
    Class taught: School Discipline
Seoul National University
  • Educational Administration and School Management, Undergraduate level
    Teaching Assistant (Winter 2019)