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Moo Sung Lee

Yonsei University · Social Sciences

About the Lab

Professor Moo Sung Lee's research lab focuses on educational leadership, particularly instructional leadership, school improvement, and the impact of institutional and macro-contextual factors on educational outcomes. The lab investigates how leadership practices, policy environments, and systemic structures—such as international schooling models (e.g., IB), district-level networks, and cultural or economic contexts—affect teaching quality, student learning, and school effectiveness. A key emphasis is placed on cross-national comparative studies, especially in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, using mixed-methods and large-scale data to explore leadership dynamics in high-stakes accountability environments.

instructional leadershipeducational leadershipinternational schoolspolicy impactcross-national comparison

Research Overview

Papers
281
Total Citations
4,021
Papers (5y)
52
Primary Field
Social Sciences

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
52total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
140total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|168 citations·2019
Mapping a strong school culture and linking it to sustainable school improvement
Moosung Lee, Karen Seashore Louis
SJR Q1Teaching and Teacher Education
EducationSocial Sciences
2
Article|126 citations·2012
National contexts influencing principals' time use and allocation: economic development, societal culture, and educational system
Moosung Lee, Philip Hallinger
SJR Q1School Effectiveness and School Improvement

This study examines the impact of macro-context factors on the behavior of school principals. More specifically, the article illuminates how a nation's level of economic development, societal culture, and educational system influence the amount of time principals devote to their job role and shape their allocation of time to instructional leadership, administration, and management of relationships with parents and community. The study employed a 2-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) to analyze

EducationSocial Sciences
3
Article|113 citations·2004
Compatibilization of immiscible poly(l-lactide) and low density polyethylene blends
Young Fil Kim, Chang Nam Choi, Young Dae Kim, Ki Young Lee, Moosung Lee
SJR Q2Fibers and Polymers
BiomaterialsMaterials Science
4
Article|109 citations·2012
A Distributed Perspective on Instructional Leadership in International Baccalaureate (IB) Schools
Moosung Lee, Philip Hallinger, Allan Walker
SJR Q1Educational Administration Quarterly

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of how instructional leadership responsibilities are distributed in International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in East Asia. Research Design: Case studies were conducted in five international schools located in Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and China. These schools were selected on the basis of location in East Asia, the offering of the full continuum of the IB’s three programs, and evidence of prior academic success. In total

EducationSocial Sciences
5
Article|104 citations·2012
Contrasting effects of instructional leadership practices on student learning in a high accountability context
Moosung Lee, Allan Walker, Yuk Ling Chui
SJR Q1Journal of Educational Administration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of different dimensions of instructional leadership on student learning in Hong Kong secondary schools, whose broader institutional contexts are critically characterized by high accountability policy environments. Design/methodology/approach This study utilizes standardized test scores collected from ( n =2,037) students in 42 secondary schools and data collected from key staff's perceptions of leadership practices, to investigate two d

EducationSocial Sciences
6
Article|89 citations·2011
Leadership challenges in international schools in the Asia Pacific region: evidence from programme implementation of the International Baccalaureate
Moosung Lee, Philip Hallinger, Allan Walker
SJR Q1International Journal of Leadership in Education

Over the last four decades, International Baccalaureate (IB) schools have become increasingly important in the global market of international education. This is especially evident in Asia Pacific, which has evidenced the fastest growth in IB schools, as well as international schools more generally, across the world over the last decade. Despite this dramatic growth of international education in Asia Pacific, empirical research examining leadership in this context is scarce. This paper addresses

EducationSocial Sciences
7
Article|76 citations·2012
Local education authorities and student learning: the effects of policies and practices
Moosung Lee, Karen Seashore Louis, Stephen E. Anderson
SJR Q1School Effectiveness and School Improvement

This article addresses an issue that has not been well explored in empirical research, namely whether local education agencies (districts) have an impact on student learning. We assumed that local district effects on learning would be largely indirect, mediated by how teachers work together in schools (in professional communities) and the quality of instruction that is provided. Based on the literature, we also assumed that promoting data-driven decision making was an insufficient stimulus for s

Information Systems and ManagementDecision Sciences
8
Article|73 citations·2011
Continuously reaffirmed, subtly accommodated, obviously missing and fallaciously critiqued: ideologies in UNESCO's lifelong learning policy
Moosung Lee, Tom Friedrich
SJR Q2International Journal of Lifelong Education

Although the lifelong learning policy of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has had a unique impact on international discussions over the last four decades, little historical research has revealed the ideological influences at work within UNESCO's lifelong learning policy texts. With this in mind, this paper exposes the authoritative and marginal ideological influences within UNESCO's lifelong learning policy during the period between the 1990s and the

Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences
9
Article|69 citations·2008
The evolution of the European Union’s lifelong learning policies: an institutional learning perspective
Moosung Lee, Tryggvi Thayer, Na’im Madyun
SJR Q1Comparative Education

The EU’s lifelong learning policy has emerged as an overarching educational reform policy intended to address a wide range of issues, including education, employment and competitiveness. The question has been raised as to whether the resulting policy is merely a catch‐all concept that can be applied to any needs or whether it is underpinned by a comprehensive concept and strategy. This article advances the notion of institutional learning as the selective adoption by organisations of characteris

EducationSocial Sciences
10
Article|63 citations·2014
Developing skills for youth in the 21st century: The role of elite International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme schools in China
Ewan Wright, Moosung Lee
SJR Q2International Review of Education
EducationSocial Sciences
11
Article|56 citations·2019
Re/producing the global middle class: International Baccalaureate alumni at ‘world-class’ universities in Hong Kong
Ewan Wright, Moosung Lee
SJR Q1Discourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education

This research investigated educational pathways into a Global Middle Class characterised by professional or managerial careers and cosmopolitan sensibilities. The focus was International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) alumni with upper-middle-class backgrounds at ‘world-class’ universities in Hong Kong. The first objective was to investigate if and how the education of IBDP alumni at Hong Kong universities shapes self-perceptions of cosmopolitan sensibilities, university experiences, and

EducationSocial Sciences
12
Article|55 citations·2016
Moving from elite international schools to the world’s elite universities
Moosung Lee, Ewan Wright
SJR Q2International journal of comparative education and development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how elite International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) schools in China function as a channel for international student mobility to leading universities around the world. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this, the authors conducted a mixed-methods study combining quantitative analysis of 1,622 students’ university destinations and qualitative analysis of interview data from five high performing and high tuition fee IBDP schools in

EducationSocial Sciences
13
Article|49 citations·2016
The emerging landscape of school-based professional learning communities in South Korean schools
Moosung Lee, Jihyun Kim
SJR Q1Asia Pacific Journal of Education

Over the last decade, school-based professional learning communities (PLCs) have emerged as a key feature of the education system in South Korea. To understand this relatively new phenomenon in the context of South Korea, we provide a review of research on school-based PLCs in South Korea and an empirical analysis of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2008 with a focus on school-based PLCs. Based on our findings from the literature review and analysis of the TALIS, we aim to

DemographySocial Sciences
14
Article|49 citations·2010
Researching social capital in education: some conceptual considerations relating to the contribution of network analysis
Moosung Lee
SJR Q1British Journal of Sociology of Education

This article discusses conceptual considerations for social capital research in education from a social network perspective. Specifically, the article raises three key conceptual issues that call for further elaboration of concepts of social capital: redefining potential resources as accessible but un-utilized sources of social capital; differentiating social capital itself from the process of social capital formation; and investigating both network orientation of resource-seekers and willingnes

Sociology and Political ScienceSocial Sciences
15
Article|45 citations·2014
How much of a difference do principals make? An analysis of between-schools variation in academic achievement in Hong Kong public secondary schools
Allan Walker, Moosung Lee, Darren Anthony Bryant
SJR Q1School Effectiveness and School Improvement

This article aims to explain the role principals play in the variation in academic achievement between secondary schools in Hong Kong. The article draws on survey data from 179 key staff and 2,037 students from 42 schools. The study uses 2 analytical approaches. First, it employs classification and regression tree analysis (CART). This was used to sort out the most significant leadership practices associated with student achievement. Second, based on first-stage analysis, the study further explo

EducationSocial Sciences

Research Areas

EducationSociology and Political SciencePolitical Science and International RelationsPolymers and PlasticsElectrical and Electronic EngineeringMaterials Chemistry

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