Sun Young Yoon

(she/her/hers)

Principal Researcher, Applied Research & Equitable Evaluation

While in college in Korea, Sun taught literacy to elderly women at the local community education center. Most of the women lived through the Korean War and had no opportunity to learn to read or write in Korean, except their names. Many were excellent students with lived experience, but they had internalized self-humiliation because of their lack of formal education. This experience challenged Sun to consider what systemic changes and support are needed to reach the least reached populations, particularly women of color. While Sun values the lasting impact individual teachers can have on their students, she wanted to help improve education systems to extend learning opportunities to underserved and marginalized populations.

Beyond her professional background, Sun is a bilingual immigrant Asian woman. She brings lived experience working in diverse settings, such as research organizations, schools, and UNESCO. She deeply enjoys collaborating with people with diverse experiences and professional expertise to co-create learning environments.

Education

  • Ph.D., Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Minor: Quantitative Methods in Educational Psychology
Sun Young Yoon

Areas of Expertise

  • Program and policy evaluation
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion in research and evaluation
  • Teacher/principal preparation, recruitment, retention, and professional development
  • Quantitative research methods and quasi-experimental designs

Case Briefs & Publications

Preparing Educators to Teach Multilingual Learners

An increasing number of U.S. students are multilingual learners, but teachers prepared to serve these students are almost always in short supply. A five-year partnership trains teachers to meet multilingual students' needs.

Evergreen Equity Audit

Evergreen Public Schools (EPS) is in the process of a district-wide equity transformation. As part of this effort, EPS partnered with Education Northwest to conduct an equity audit.

Future Connect Evaluation

At Portland Community College (PCC), first-generation and low-income students can receive support to overcome those barriers through Future Connect, a scholarship and advising program.