Career Highlights

Kevin has more than 20 years of academic leadership experience, curriculum development at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and fundraising for universities. He was listed among the world’s top 2% of scientists by Stanford University in 2019, 2020, and 2023.

Kevin, as Principal Investigator (PI), received more than HK$300 million (or US$39 million) in funding: 7 General Research Fund, 3 Quality Education Fund, 1 Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), 7 Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trusts, and 3 Simon K Y Lee Foundation. As a CI, he has been involved in a Collaborative Research Equipment Grant, a Theme-based Research Scheme, 2 Collaborative Research Fund, 6 Health and Medical Research Fund, 15 General Research Fund, 3 Quality Education Fund, and 1 SCOLAR.

Kevin published more than 200 academic outputs. He developed more than 20 standardized assessment tests for psychologists and teachers to identify children and adolescents with dyslexia in Chinese and English, for example, The Hong Kong Test of Specific Learning Difficulties in Reading and Writing for Junior Secondary School Students [HKT-JS(II)] and The Hong Kong Test of English Reading and Writing for Junior Primary School Students (Primary 2 and 3) (HKT-PE(J)). These assessment batteries are the first standardized Chinese and English for learning difficulties worldwide.

Kevin developed and implemented enrichment literacy programs and resources, including differential curricula for students with specific learning difficulties. He is also a Leader of the Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Research Team https://hksld.eduhk.hk

Kevin developed a standardized screening assessment - The Chinese Inventory of Children's Socioemotional Competence (CICSEC) and implemented the 3Es social-emotional learning programs and resources, including differential curricula, to improve children’s social-emotional competence from Nursery to Kindergarten 3. See 3Es https://3esproject.eduhk.hk/tc/index.php and Education Bureau https://sense.edb.gov.hk/en/professional-development-of-teachers/teacher-professional-development-on-catering-for-students-with-diverse-needs-in-kindergartens/school-based-teacher-development-project-on-enhancing-kindergarten-teachers-competence-in-promoting-students-social-emotional-development-3es-project.html

Kevin contributed to developing and implementing the Tiered Intervention Model on English and Chinese Language and social-emotional learning from preschool to secondary school in Hong Kong. He received the President’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Research (Research Excellent Award) from EdUHK and the President’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Knowledge Transfer (Team Award). He also won the 2021 iCAN Silver Medal, Special Award, and the International Innovation and Invention Competition (IIIC 2021) Gold Medal for developing a screening tool - The Chinese Inventory of Children's Socioemotional Competence (CICSEC).

He also developed positive psychological interventions – an EASP program - to promote the psychological well-being of preschool teachers, social workers, and parents. This program entail cultivating not only professional teaching competencies but also promoting psychological strengths.

Kevin was the head of two departments (HoD), the Department of Early Childhood Education and the Department of Special Education and Counselling, and the first Associate Dean (R&D) in the Faculty of Education and Human Development. He developed and implemented 13 academic programs: MA in Educational Counselling, MSc in Educational Speech-Language Pathology and Learning Disabilities, MA in Child and Family Education, MA in Teaching (Specialization: Early Childhood Education and Family Studies), two 4-year top-up BEd in ECE (Hons), PGDE (ECE), Diploma (ECE) and five Professional Development Programs (PDP). 

He redeveloped and implemented HD (ECE) with 7 SEN courses, an English stream, and a 3-year top-up BEd in ECE (Hons) with an English stream. All HD graduates are qualified to work in special care centres. He also raised funds from private foundations to set up student scholarships and prizes for different academic programs.

Kevin is also the elected President of the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia (ARWA) from 2024 to 2026, and a Research Grants Council (RGC) member of the Humanities and Social Sciences Panel (General Research Fund) and Other Funding Schemes for Individual Research from 2024 to 2026.

He was a core Expert Group Member of PISA 2018 Reading and assisted in publishing 4 OCED publications on PISA 2018 Reading. Kevin He is also Chairman of the Steering Committees of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2021 and 2025 in Hong Kong.

He was a Member of the Curriculum Development Council Committee on Early Childhood Education and contributed to developing the Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide in 2017. https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/major-level-of-edu/preprimary/ENG_KGECG_2017.pdf

Kevin is the Project Director and Principal Investigator of The “C-for-Chinese@JC” project, which was created and funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and co-created by three local universities and two non-governmental organizations. Since its launch in 2016, the Project has adopted a “home-school-community” collaborative model to foster and create culturally responsive education for kindergartens, a pleasurable and meaningful learning environment in improving the non-Chinese speaking (NCS) Ethnic Minorities (EM) students for Chinese proficiency and Chinese students for social competence. Building on past learning, Phase II of the Project, commencing in 2022, bids to support kindergarten with a set of “Culturally Responsive Education Benchmarks.” This practical framework aims to enhance the Chinese learning and social-emotional competence of both NCS EM and Chinese students and their transitions to primary education. https://cforchinese-jc.hk/en/what-is-cforchinese

Kevin has been the Director of the University’s Centre for Child and Family Science since 2016. https://eduhkccfs.eduhk.hk/home. Under Kevin’s directorship, CCFS has devoted great effort to enhance its position in ECE-related sectors and the community as a leading-edge knowledge centre for child development and family wellbeing. It provides applicable research outputs, knowledge, and services that support and applaud the relationship between the child, family, school, and community. CCFS is a thriving hub for research and innovation that supports researchers and practitioners working with and studying children and families in various contexts to address their needs.