Education Researcher, SRI Education
Christen Park, PhD, is an education researcher with expertise is 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 also collects and analyzes qualitative data on the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program (SBHIP) needs assessment.
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.
Park holds a BA in psychology from Miami University and an MS in child development from the Erikson Institute. She received her PhD in community and prevention research, with a minor in methods, measurement, and methodology from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Key projects
- 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
Updating the evidence: A systematic review of a decade of Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) research
Promoting preschoolers’ social and emotional competencies through emotion-focused teaching. Early Education and Development
*Healthcare-based interventions to improve parenting outcomes in LMICs: A systematic review and meta-analysis
*Creating a Sense of Belonging in an AANAPISI Program through an Integration of Student Affairs Practice, Asian American Studies, and Peer Mentoring.
*Committed to caring: Cluster-analysis of appraisals and feelings of family childcare work
*More than academics: The transformative effect of an identity-based peer mentor program for Asian American STEM students
*Publications prior to joining SRI International