UC San Diego

Sarah Peterson

Sarah Peterson (she/her/hers) is the Regional Director of the California Reading & Literature Project (CRLP) at UC San Diego (UCSD) CREATE, a position she has held since July 2016.

Prior to her arrival at UC San Diego’s Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment & Teaching Excellence (CREATE), Sarah served for over a decade as a classroom teacher in the National School District, with schools located ten miles from the Mexico-US international border. While a classroom teacher, Sarah developed her capacity for teaching English and Spanish foundational literacy skills and working with Multilingual Learners and Emergent Bilinguals within diverse instructional contexts (late-exit bilingual education, early-exit bilingual education, structured English immersion) and grade levels. Working alongside her peers as well as with students, Sarah also mentored beginning teachers through California’s Teacher Induction Program (formerly BTSA) in a Support Provider role for several years. As an equity leader, Sarah designs and delivers professional learning experiences for educators in San Diego County on evidenced-based ELA/literacy practices TK–12, English Language Development and Multilingual Learner pedagogy, teacher leadership development, transformational coaching, critical pedagogy, and student-voice-led programs. Her research interests include teacher leader motivation and networks. 

Sarah is currently pursuing the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership Degree from the University of California at San Diego and California State University San Marcos (CSUSM); holds a Master of Education Degree and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with Bilingual CLAD (Spanish) Emphasis Credential from UC San Diego; and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with a minor in Latin American Studies from UC San Diego.

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