Education Researcher, SRI Education
Christen Park, PhD, is an education researcher with expertise in the early childhood care and education workforce, relationship-based practices (I.e., coaching, consultation, mentoring), and social-emotional teaching. Park is a mixed-methods researcher with experience conducting community-engaged evaluations.
Park’s SRI projects include an effectiveness study of the BEST in CLASS, which is a practice-based coaching intervention that aims to support preschool teachers to improve their instructional practices to respond to children’s challenging behaviors in the classroom. She currently serves as a co-lead on data collection efforts and contributes to the measurement of implementation fidelity. She is a Co-PI of the Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning Network Evaluation, a longitudinal, mixed-methods study examining the effects of CHS participation on children, families, and communities through child and family outcomes, implementation, and community outcomes studies. She also led a case study of the PBS Ready to Learn Learning Neighborhood, in partnership with the Education Development Center, to understand how local PBS stations collaborate with communities to support early learning, with findings informing national efforts to enhance family engagement and child outcomes. In Michigan, she led workshopping sessions as part of the Preschool Development Grant family and community engagement study, which included surveys, story banks, and data validation workshops to inform strategic planning and quality improvement of the state’s early childhood systems.
Using ecological perspectives to inform her research, she views research as a tool for advocacy and programming to amplify community voices. Prior to joining SRI, Park conducted research and evaluations in relationship-based programs, including a PreK–3 literacy professional development initiative in Chicago Public Schools (Erikson Institute Partners for Language and Literacy), an early childhood alternative licensure program (UIC ALP) for community-based preschool educators, and a peer mentoring program for Asian American college students.
Key projects
- Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning Network Evaluation
- PBS Ready to Learn Learning Neighborhoods
- Michigan Needs Assessment of Early Childhood Systems
- Effectiveness Replication of the BEST in CLASS Intervention for Young Children at High Risk for Delays in Social or Emotional Development
- Arkansas’ Implementation of Suspension and Expulsion Reduction Policies
- Santa Clara County Office of Education Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program Needs Assessment
Select publications
*Publications prior to joining SRI International
