Okhee Lee is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. Her research areas include science education, language and culture, and teacher education. She was awarded a 1993–1995 National Academy of Education Spencer Post-doctoral Fellowship. She was a 1996–1997 fellow at the National Institute for Science Education, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received the Distinguished Career Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Standing Committee for Scholars of Color in Education in 2003. She received the University of Miami Provost Award for Research Activity in 2008. In 2009, she became a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association.
She has directed numerous research and teacher enhancement projects funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, Spencer Foundation, and Florida Department of Education. One of her current research projects implements instructional interventions to promote science learning and English language development for elementary students from diverse languages and cultures within a high-stakes testing policy context.
She has published over seventy-five peer-reviewed journal articles, over ten invited journal articles, fifteen book chapters, and three books. Many of her peer-reviewed journal articles have appeared in top-rated journals, including American Educational Research Journal, Educational Researcher, Review of Educational Research, Review of Research in Education, Teachers College Record, The Elementary School Journal, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, and Bilingual Research Journal.
She is the senior author of a series of nine science curriculum units for grades 3–5, “Promoting science among English language learners: Student books and teachers’ guides.” to be published by Benchmark Education Publisher, New York.
She serves on editorial boards for major education research journals, including American Educational Research Journal, Review of Educational Research, The Elementary School Journal, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, and International Journal of Science Education.
She serves on committees and advisory boards for educational research or science education reform projects, including National Research Council, National Science Foundation, American Educational Research Association, and National Association for Research in Science Teaching.