Jennifer Nakamura

Researcher, SRI Education

Jennifer Nakamura contributes to mixed methods research and evaluation of educational programs and policies in PreK–12 schools. Nakamura’s background as a nationally certified school psychologist informs her approach to research, and her areas of expertise include social-emotional learning, supporting students with disabilities, and tiered systems of support. Nakamura contributes to a range of research and evaluation projects with federal clients, such as the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and nonfederal clients such as the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation.

Nakamura has experience managing data collection efforts on large-scale research studies. She currently serves as the interim project manager for an IES-funded Goal 4 Effectiveness study of the Tools for Getting Along social problem-solving program. Nakamura also served as the interim project director for an ACF-funded Child Care Policy and Research Partnership grant (CCPRP), which includes partners in the Arkansas Department of Child Care and Early Childhood Education and the national Center for Children in Poverty.

In addition to managing research projects, Nakamura also makes substantive contributions in the areas of study design, data collection, data analysis, and report writing. She has coauthored technical reports on early childhood systems building efforts in Virginia and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early care and education providers in Arkansas. Nakamura’s publications include a Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) peer-reviewed research report on states’ approaches to measuring response to intervention (RTI) and multitiered systems of support (MTSS) and presentations at meetings of the American Educational Research Association, the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, and the National Research Conference on Early Childhood, among others.

Before SRI, Nakamura worked in several roles to support children and their families, including as a qualified mental health professional at Health Connect America, a learning strategist for the Mason Autism Support Initiative, and a clinician at a Lindamood-Bell Learning Center. Nakamura received a BS in psychology, an MA in school psychology, and a certificate of advanced graduate study in school psychology at George Mason University.

Key projects

• Arkansas’ Implementation of Suspension and Expulsion Reduction Policies
• Tools for Getting Along Effectiveness Study, U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences
• Formative Research to Support Sesame Workshop and United Healthcare’s Healthy Habits Initiative
• Preschool Development Grants Birth-5 Technical Assistance (PDG B-5 TA) Center
• Smart Beginnings Systems- and Capacity-Building Outcomes, funded by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF)