Soojin Oh Park
Accepting new graduate students
Email
parkso@uw.edu
Phone
206-616-3029
Office
Miller 322C
Website
https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-0861-4133
Area
Learning Sciences & Human Development

Research Interests

Development of Children & Youth
Early Childhood
Educational Policy
Equity Studies
Immigration and Schooling
Learning Sciences & Human Development
Literacy
Policy & Educational Reform
Qualitative Research Methods
Quantitative Research Methods

Soojin Oh Park

Assistant Professor
Early Care and Education Early Childhood and Family Studies Education, Equity and Society Learning Sciences & Human Development

Dr. Soojin Oh Park is an Assistant Professor in Learning Sciences & Human Development at the University of Washington (UW) College of Education. Dr. Park’s interdisciplinary research employs qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches to address critical gaps in the scholarship of early childhood education (ECE) and parenting through three interconnected strands of research: 1) examining the role of family literacy engagement on the early language and literacy development of Dual Language Learners (DLLs); 2) amplifying culturally grounded parenting practices for schools and policies to build on what families do, as opposed to what they lack; and integrating the first two strands to inform 3) equity-driven improvements of early learning programs, policies, and systems to better serve historically marginalized communities. Across her research, teaching, and service, Dr. Park strives to think critically about the roots and mechanisms of inequities that reproduce social stratification, along with racial and ethnic disparities, from the earliest years of life, and to collaborate with families and communities to cultivate the thriving of children’s linguistic and cultural repertoires within and beyond schools. Dr. Park's work has been supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Harvard Center on the Developing Child, Heising-Simons Foundation, National Center for Children and Families, National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families, and Yale School of Medicine Child Study Center. She is a Principal Investigator on three research projects: 

  • FAMILY (Fathers And Mothers Investing in the Learning of Young Children)
  • BASECAMP (Bolstering & Amplifying Students in Early Childhood via Asset-based Multilingual Pedagogies)
  • Designing for Linguistic Justice: Co-designing Professional Development with Early Childhood Educators in Dual Language Bilingual Education Programs.
Education
Ed.D., Human Development and Education, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education
M.Ed., Educational Policy and Analysis, Harvard University, Graduate School of Education
M.S.Ed., Learning, Teaching, and Literacies, University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education
B.A., Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
Expertise
Early Language & Literacy Development
Dual Language Learners (DLLs) / Emergent Bilingual Children
Parenting in the Context of Culture, Race/Ethnicity, Immigration, and Social Class
Family Literacy & Language Socialization in Early Childhood
Early Literacy Instruction
Certifications
Pennsylvania State PreK-4 Teacher Certification
Courses Taught
ECFS 410 Supporting Language and Literacy Learning in Preschool (Offered annually in Autumn)
EDPSY 567 Bilingual and Biliteracy Development in Early Childhood: Advancing Equity-Driven Policies and Practices (Offered Annually in Autumn)
ECFS 315 Parenting and Child Development: Socioeconomic & Racial Inequities in the First Years of Life (Offered Annually in Winter; Fulfills Diversity & Writing Requirements)
EDPSY 550 Parenting and Early Learning: Class, Race, and Family Life (Offered Annually in Winter; Graduate Seminar)
Fellowships, honors and awards
Publications
  1. Park, S. O., & Yamamoto, Y. (Special Issue Editors). (in press). Asian Immigrant-Origin Parenting: Culturally Grounded, Agentic, and Contextual Processes of Family Support for Child and Youth Thriving. Research in Human Development.
  2. Park, S. O., & Cho, N. H. (in press). “That’s My Mission and My Battle”: Building Belonging and Crowdsourcing Cultural and Linguistic Assets among Korean Immigrant-Origin Parents for Their Bilingual Children. Research in Human Development.
  3. Park, S. O., & Hassairi, N. (2026). Differential Pathways of Parenting Support: Exploring Head Start’s Stronger Effects on the Early Literacy Skills of Dual Language Learners. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 76(3), 335-345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2026.03.016
  4. Park, S. O., Li, K., & Asiedu-Ofei, C. (2026). Rooted in community, rising for justice in early childhood: Everyday routines as practices of family survivance towards equitable futures. In M. Varghese, A. Elfers, M. Plecki, & A. Rajendran (Eds.), Centering communities of color in statewide school transformation: Establishing just policies and practices. Teachers College Press.
  5. Park, S. O., Joseph, G. E., Hertzog, N. B., Conkling, T., Hassairi, N., Moricet, M., Olsen-Phillips, C., Holm Tobin, E., Branson-Thayer, M., & Halverson, T. (2025). Data to prove or improve?: A cross-case analysis of state prekindergarten quality improvement through Research-Practice Partnerships. International Journal of Early Childhood Education, 31(1), 215-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.18023/ijece.2025.31.1.010
  6. Park S. O., & Xu, C. (2024). Parental attitudes and practices of Chinese immigrant families supporting emergent bilingual children’s Heritage Language Maintenance (HLM). International Journal of Early Childhood Education, 30(2), 99-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.18023/ijece.2024.30.2.005
  7. González, A. P., & Park S. O. (2024). Culturally responsive assessment of multilingual learners: Preschool teachers’ (re)construction of pedagogical possibilities towards justice (Issue No. 12). AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG Research Brief.
  8. Park, S. O. (2023). Transforming a cemetery into a garden of languages: A justice-oriented, family-centered framework for cultivating early bilingualism and emergent biliteracy. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 24(2), 97-123. https://doi.org/10.1177/14639491231169762
  9. Park, S. O., & Hassairi, N. (2021). What predicts legislative success of early care and education policies?: Applications of machine learning and natural language processing in a cross-state early childhood policy analysis. PLoS ONE 16(2): e0246730.
  10. Capotosto, L., Kim, J. S., Burkhauser, M., Park, S. O., Mulimbi, B., Donaldson, M., & Kingston, H. C. (2017). Family support of third-grade reading skills, motivation, and habits. AERA Open, 3(3), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858417714457
  11. Weiland, C., McCoy, D., Grace, E., & Park, S. O. (2017). Natural window of opportunity? Low-income parents’ responses to their children’s impending kindergarten entry. AERA Open, 3(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416681509
  12. Park, S. O., & Yoshikawa, H. (2017). Contemporary immigration policy and early childhood development. In E. Votruba-Drzal and E. Dearing (Eds.), Handbook of Early Childhood Development Programs, Practices, and Policies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  13. Warren, M. R., Park, S. O., & Tieken, M. C. (2016). The formation of community engaged scholars advancing equitable policy and practice: A collaborative approach to doctoral training in educational research. Harvard Educational Review, 86(4), 233-260. https://doi.org/10.17763/0017-8055.86.2.233
  14. Schindler, H. S., Kholoptseva, J., Oh, S. S., Yoshikawa, H., Shonkoff, J. P., Duncan, G. J., & Magnuson, K. (2015). Maximizing the potential of early childhood education to prevent externalizing behavior problems: A meta-analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 53(3), 243-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.04.001
  15. Britto, P. R., Yoshikawa, H., Ponguta, L. A., Reyes, M., Oh, S. S., Dimaya, R., Nieto, A. M., & Seder, R. (2014). Strengthening systems for integrated early childhood development services: Cross-national analyses of governance. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1308, 245-255. https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.12365
  16. Oh, S. S. & Yoshikawa, H. (2012). Examining spiritual capital and acculturation across ecological settings: Developmental implications for children and youth in diverse immigrant families. The Impact of Immigration on Children’s Development, 77-98. https://doi.org/10.1159/000331029
  17. Snow, C. E., & Oh, S. S. (2010). Assessment in early literacy research. In S. B. Neuman and D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of Early Literacy Research. (Vol. 3, pp. 375-395). New York: Guilford Press.
  18. Afolabi, K. P., Bocala, C., DiAquoi, R., Hayden, J. M., Liefshitz, I., & Oh. S. S. (Eds.) (2011). Education for a Multicultural Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. [equal authorship]
  19. Catone, K., Chung, C. K., & Oh, S. S. (2011). An appetite for change: Building relational cultures for educational reform and civic engagement in Los Angeles. In M. R. Warren, K. L. Mapp, and the Community Organizing and School Reform Project (Eds.), A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform, (Chapter 3, pp. 66-98). New York: Oxford University Press. [equal authorship]
  20. Oh, S. S., & Cooc, N. (2011). Immigration, Youth and Education: Editors’ Introduction. Harvard Educational Review, 81(3), 397-407. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.81.3.w310738k22303n37

Grants awarded

2023-2025 Co-PI (PI David Knight), Developing New Leaders and Growing the Field of Early Childhood Policy. Early Childhood Policy in Institutes of Higher Education.

2021-2023     Co-PI (PI Holly Schindler), Center for Early Childhood Policy and Equity. The Buffett Early Childhood Fund and Heising-Simons Foundation.

2019-present     PI, The Fathers and Mothers Investing in Learning of Young Children (FAMILY) Study. University of Washington College of Education.

2019-2020     Faculty Collaborator (PIs: Manka Varghese, Marge Plecki, Ana Elfers), A Roadmap to Reducing Barriers to Educational Injustice in Washington State. Washington Education Association.

2017-2020     Co-PI (PI Gail Joseph), Cultivating Research-Policy-Practice Partnerships for Improving Prekindergarten Quality. Gates Foundation.

News features

early start students speaking with a teacher
Study: Early start on social skills keys better behavior

Placing a greater emphasis on social skills in early childhood education than is currently the norm could significantly reduce antisocial or aggressive behaviors later in life, new research from the University of Washington College of Education finds.