Yong Zhao

Yong Zhao headshot
  • Foundation Distinguished Professor
  • SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

Contact Info

Joseph R. Pearson Hall
Summerfield Hall

Personal Links

Biography —

Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas. He is also a professorial fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy, Victoria University in Australia. He previously served as the Presidential Chair and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the College of Education, University of Oregon, where he was also a Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership. His works focus on the implications of globalization and technology on education. He has published over 100 articles and 30 books, including Counting What Counts: Reframing Education Outcomes (2016), Never Send a Human to Do a Machine's Job: Correcting Top 5 Ed Tech Mistakes (2015),Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World (2014), Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization (2009) and World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students (2012). He is a recipient of the Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association. He is an elected fellow of the International Academy for Education.

Until December, 2010, Yong Zhao was University Distinguished Professor at the College of Education, Michigan State University, where he also served as the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Technology, executive director of the Confucius Institute, as well as the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence.

Zhao was born in China's Sichuan Province. He received his B.A. in English Language Education from Sichuan Institute of Foreign Languages in Chongqing, China in 1986. After teaching English in China for six years, he came to Linfield College as a visiting scholar in 1992. He then began his graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993. He received his A.M. in Education in 1994 and Ph.D. in 1996. He joined the faculty at MSU in 1996 after working as the Language Center Coordinator at Willamette University and a language specialist at Hamilton College.

Research —

Ph. D. in Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1996. AM. in Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1994. BA. in English Language Education, Sichuan International Studies University, 1986. Work Experiences 1. August 18 2016-Present, Foundation Distinguished Professor, School of Education, University of Kansas. 2. December, 2010-June 2016, Presidential Chair, Weiman Professor of Technology, Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership, College of Education, University of Oregon. 3. August, 2013-June 2016, Director, Institute for Global and Online Education, University of Oregon 4. December, 2010-August, 2013, Associate Dean, College of Education, University of Oregon. 5. July, 2005—December, 2010, University Distinguished Professor, College of Education, Michigan State University. 6. April 2006—December, 2010, Executive Director, Confucius Institute, Michigan State University. 7. July, 2004—July, 2005 Professor of Technology in Teaching and Learning, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, Michigan State University 8. July, 2001—June, 2004 Associate Professor of Technology in Teaching and Learning, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, Michigan State University 9. August, 1996 — July, 2001 Assistant Professor of Technology in Teaching and Learning, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, Michigan State University 10. January, 2004—Present, Founding Director, US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence, Michigan State University 11. 1999—Present, Founding Director, Office of Teaching and Technology, College of Education, Michigan State University.

Research interests:

  • East Asian education systems
  • Educational policy and reforms
  • Implications of technology and globalization on education

Selected Publications —

Zhao, Y. (2018). What Works Hurts: Side Effects of Education [Books]. Teachers College Press.
Zhao, Y. (2018). Reach for Greatness: Personalizable Education for All [Books]. Corwin.
Zhao, Y., & Wang, Y. (2017). Guarding the Past or Inventing the Future: Education Reforms in East Asia [Book Chapters]. In Y. Zhao & B. Gearin (Eds.), Imagining the Future of Global Education: Dreams and Nightmares (pp. 143–159). Routeledge.
Zhao, Y., & Gearin, B. (2017). Imagining the Future of Global Education: Dreams and Nightmares [Books]. Routeledge.
Zhao, Y. (2017). Torture is not Good Education [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In There’s a new call for Americans to embrace Chinese-style education. That’s a huge mistake.
Zhao, Y. (2017). The West and Asian education: a fatal attraction [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In The New Internationalist (Issue NI505).
Zhao, Y. (2017). Foreword [Book Chapters]. In H. A. Spires (Ed.), Digital Transformation and Innovation in Chinese Education (pp. xvi–xviii). IGI Global.
Zhao, Y. (2017). What works may hurt: Side effects in education [Journal Articles]. Journal of Educational Change, 18(1), 1–19.
Zhao, Y., & Gearin, B. (2017). Paradigm Shift: Fostering an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Schools [Journal Articles]. RICERCAZIONE, 8(2).
Zhao, Y. (2016). Don’t Read too Much Into It: What the Brexit and US Election Surprises Can Teach Us about PISA [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In Why Americans should not panic about international test results.
Zhao, Y. (2016). East Asians topped U.S. students again on international tests. But are their schools really better? [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In The Washington Post.
Zhao, Y. (2016). From Deficiency to Strength: Shifting the Mindset about Education Inequality [Journal Articles]. Journal of Social Issues, 72(4), 716–735.
Zhao, Y. (2016). Counting what Counts: Education Outcomes that Matter [Books]. Solution Tree.
Zhao, Y., Tavenger, H., McCaren, E., Rshaid, G., & Tucker, K. (2016). Product-oriented Learning: Redefining Project-based Learning [Books]. Corwin.
Zhao, Y., Tavenger, H., McCaren, E., Rshaid, G., & Tucker, K. (2016). Schools as Global Enterprises [Books]. Corwin.
Zhao, Y. (2016). What Easter Island’s colossal stone statues teach about the dangers of modern school reform [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In The Washington Post.
Zhao, Y. (2016). Who’s Afraid of PISA: The Fallacy of International Assessment of System Performance [Book Chapters]. In A. Harris & M. S. Jones (Eds.), Futures: Global Perspectives on Educational Leadership (pp. 7–21). Sage.
Zhao, Y. (2015). Never send a human to do a machine’s job:’ Five big mistakes in education technology and how to fix them [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In The Washington Post.
Harris, A., Zhao, Y., & Jones, M. (2015). Why borrowing from the ‘best’ school systems sounds good — but isn’t [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In The Washington Post.
Harris, A., & Zhao, Y. (2015). PISA’s potentially dangerous problems — and what to do about them [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In The Washington Post.
Zhao, Y. (2015). A World at Risk: An Imperative for a Paradigm Shift to Cultivate 21st Century Learners [Journal Articles]. Society, 52(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-015-9872-8
Zhao, Y., Zhang, G. M., Lei, J., & Wei, Q. (2015). Never Send a Man to Do a Machine’s Job: Redefining the Relationships between Technology and Teachers [Books]. Corwin.
Zhao, Y., Tavenger, H., McCaren, E., Rshaid, G., & Tucker, K. (2015). Student Autonomy and Personalized Education [Books]. Corwin.
Zhao, Y. (2014). Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China has the Word’s Best and Worst Education [Books]. Jossey-Bass.
Zhao, Y. (2013). China’s new education reform: Reducing importance of test scores [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In The Washington Post.
Zhao, Y. (2013). New questions on the Common Core Standards [Periodicals (newsletter, magazine, etc.)]. In The Washington Post.
Zhao, Y. (2012). World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students [Books]. Corwin.

Awards & Honors —

Outstanding Public Educator 2017 Horace Mann League
Horace Mann League
2017