Prior to joining Erikson, Mark Nagasawa held a postdoctoral position at Arizona State University coordinating a statewide, five-year, mixed method evaluation of Arizona’s efforts to develop a more coherent heath and child development system of services for young children and their families.
His broad research interests focus on the cultural and historical factors involved in education policy-making and how these, and related social policies, variously affect people in local communities. These interests are influenced by a background that includes experiences as a social worker and preschool director for an urban school district, as a policy analyst in the Arizona Governor’s Office, and as an early childhood special education program specialist with the Arizona Department of Education.
Areas of Expertise
Early education policy; preschool administration; inclusive education; and social work in school settings.
Honors
- University Graduate Fellowship (ASU), 2008
- ASU/Spencer Foundation Discipline-based Scholarship in Education, Spring 2006
- Ying Fang Wu Scholarship, 1996-1997
Education
B.A., Political Science, University of Arizona
M.S.W., Arizona State University
Ph.D., curriculum and instruction, Arizona State University
Related Experience
- Evaluation Coordinator, Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education, Arizona State University (ASU), 2009
- Program Specialist, Early Childhood Special Education, Arizona Department of Education, 2007–2009
- Faculty Associate, Fulton College of Education, ASU, 2006–2011
- Preschool Coordinator, Osborn Elementary School District, Phoenix, Arizona, 2005–2007
- Program Coordinator, Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management, ASU, 2003–2005
- Research Intern, Arizona System Ready/Child Ready Project, ASU, 2003–2005
- Program Administrator, Child Development, Arizona Governor’s Office for Children, Youth & Families, Division for Children, 2001–2003
- Community Coordinator, Arizona Office of the Governor, Community Policy Office, 1999–2001
- Preschool Social Worker, Osborn Elementary School District, 1997–1999
Service
- Arizona Early Childhood Development & Health Board, Central Phoenix Regional Council solicitation: Expanding Inclusive Environments, 2009
- Governor’s P-20 Council, Ad Hoc Early Childhood Committee, 2008
- Arizona Early Childhood Development & Health Board, Quality Improvement Rating System, Incentives and Financing Logistics Team, 2008
- Southern Maricopa County Early Childhood Partnership, Organizational Structure and Community Assessment Committees, 2006-2007
- Arizona Department of Education solicitation ED06-0049: Early Childhood Assessment, 2006
- Arizona Early Childhood Consortium (of public school preschools), State Licensing Committee, 2006-2007
- Head Start Policy Council, Southwest Human Development, 2005-2006
- Kids Bright and Healthy Impact Council, Valley of the Sun United Way, 2002-2003
- First Focus on Kids Impact Council, United Way of Tucson & Southern Arizona, 2002-2003
- Facilitator and Trainer, Arizona Prevention Resource Center, 2000-2003
- Search Committee: Assistant Dean, ASU Office of Student Life, 1997
- Peer Mentor, ASU Graduate College, 1996-1997
Recent Publications
Ciyer, A., Nagasawa, M., Swadener, B.B., & Patet, P. (2010). Impacts of the Arizona System Ready/Child Ready Professional Development Project on preschool teachers’ self-efficacy. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 31(2), 129-145.
Swadener, B.B., Aquino-Sterling, C., Nagasawa, M., & Bartlett, M. (2009). Anti-oppressive Pedagogy in Early Childhood Teacher Education: A Conversation. In S. L.Groenke & J. A. Hatch, (Eds.), Critical Pedagogy and Teacher Education in the Neoliberal Era: Small Openings, pp. 99-112. New York: Springer.
Niles, M.D., Reynolds, A.J., & Nagasawa, M. (2006). Does early childhood intervention affect the social and emotional development of participants? Early Childhood Research and Practice, 8(1).
Nagasawa, M. (2006). Review of Explorations in Curriculum History. Lynn M. Burlbaw & Sherry L. Field (Eds.) Education Review.
Nagasawa, M. (2005). Review of Poor Kids in a Rich Country by Timothy Smeeding & Lee Rainwater, Contemporary Sociology, 34(2), 132-133.
Presentations
Nagasawa, M., Cimetta, A., & Perry, N.J. (2012, April). Teachers’ ratings of kindergarteners’ mathematical ability and parents’ report of math activities at home. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Swadener, B.B., & Nagasawa, M. (2011, April). Navigating early childhood policy and practice: Reconceptualizations and glocalization. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Organization. New Orleans, LA.
Polaski, S. A., Nagasawa, M., Perry, N.J., & Enz, B.J. (2011, March). The socioemotional development of Arizona’s kindergarteners: Results from a statewide assessment of school readiness. Poster presentation at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
Nagasawa, M. (2010, November). Arizona’s Success by Six Legislative package: An historical case of strategic framing. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Arizona Educational Research Organization. Mesa, AZ.
Enz, B., Colling, L., Nagasawa, M., & Okraski, R. (2010, November). Assessment and the primary teacher: Developing and implementing effective instructional and assessment strategies. Presentation at the Southern Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children Conference. Tucson, AZ.
Nagasawa, M. (2009, April). Oral History and the Biography of Arizona’s Preschool Policy. Paper accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
Nagasawa, M. (2008, October). Drawing on What Families Know: Rethinking the Home Visit. Presentation at the Arizona Head Start Association Mental Health Conference. Phoenix, AZ.
Nagasawa, M. (2008, September). Drawing on Communities’ “Funds of Knowledge”: Reconceptualizing Practitioner-client Relationships Through Action Research. Presentation at the Annual Conference of the Infant-Toddler Mental Health Coalition of Arizona. Phoenix, AZ.
Nagasawa, M. (2008, September). Telling Your Preschool Program’s Story Using “Practice Based Evidence.” Presentation at the Special Education Directors’ Institute. Phoenix, AZ.
Nagasawa, M., & Gethmann, D. (2008, August). Promoting Early Childhood Outcomes Through a Systems-focus on Quality: A Dialogue with Arizona and Iowa. Presentation at the Measuring Child and Family Outcomes Conference. Baltimore, MD.
Andrews-James, V., & Nagasawa, M. (2008, June). Beyond Parallel Play: Collaborating for Students’ Success. Presentation at the 4th Annual Arizona Early Learning Institute. Phoenix, AZ.
Nagasawa, M. (2007, October). Towards a “One-box” System: An Inclusion Story. Presentation at the Special Education Directors’ Institute. Phoenix, AZ.
Nagasawa, M. (2006, April). Kinship, Nationalism, and Head Start Reform: An Ethnographically-informed Discourse Analysis. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Francisco, CA.
Ciyer, A., Nagasawa, M., & Swadener, B.B. (2006, April). Voices of Participants: Using Freewrites and Focus Groups for Formative Assessment. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Francisco, CA.
Swadener, B.B., & Nagasawa, M. (2006, April). I Spell All-day Kindergarten M-O-M. Panel presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Francisco, CA.
Nagasawa, M. (2005, October). Negotiations and Conflicts: A Pilot Study of Policy In/As Practice in a Local Head Start. Paper presented at the 13th International Conference of Reconceptualizing Early Childhood Education Research, Theory, Practice, and Policy. Madison, WI.
Swadener, B.B., Smith, A., Patet, P., Narayan, D., Nagasawa, M., Endfield, C., Abel, D. (2005, October). Improving Educational Practice: Lessons from the Arizona System Ready/Child Ready Project. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Arizona Educational Research Organization. Phoenix, AZ.
ASU student representative, Spencer Foundation Discipline-based Scholarship in Education program meeting, April 20-23, 2005. Durham, NC.
Swadener, B.B., Perry, N., Surbeck, E., Ganesh, A., & Nagasawa, M. (2004, November). Creating a Vision and Pursuing Policy for Early Education in the United States. Panel presentation at the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE). Anaheim, CA.