Minseok Yang

Minseok Yang is an Assistant Professor of PK-12 Leadership and Policy in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis (ELPA) at the University of Missouri, where he has been a faculty member since 2023. His research focuses on critical issues in K–12 education policy, particularly educator labor markets, school reforms, and teachers’ unions, with a strong emphasis on equity for marginalized populations.

His research employs advanced quantitative methodologies, including quasi-experimental designs and machine learning techniques, applied to large-scale educational datasets. These methods allow him to generate rigorous insights into the challenges faced by students, teachers, and school leaders in contemporary educational systems.

Dr. Yang's work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as AERA Open, Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of Educational Administration, and Comparative Education Review. His interdisciplinary approach bridges education policy and sociological perspectives, informed by his minor in Sociology during doctoral training.

He previously served as an Assistant Professor of Education and Research Methods at West Texas A&M University before joining the University of Missouri. Prior to his academic career, he gained practical classroom experience teaching second, fifth, and sixth-grade students in a public elementary school in Korea, grounding his research in real-world educational contexts.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin-Madison (minor in Sociology)

Areas of Expertise:

• Human Resource Management in PK-12 Education
• School Reforms
• Teachers’ Unions
• Quantitative Methods for Policy Evaluation