Dr. Carla Peterson Iowa State University

Carla Peterson is a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education in the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State University. She earned her doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1991.

Dr. Peterson’s research focuses on early intervention services for children with or at risk for disabilities. She has collaborated on the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project since 1996 with a special focus on examining the experiences and functioning of children with disabilities. Currently, she is leading an evaluation of Iowa’s Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs. She has directed several research and training projects across the state and region and teaches in the early childhood education program at Iowa State University. She is a member of the Network of Infant Toddler Researchers that advises the research and programming portfolio of the Administration on Children and Families.

Dr. Peterson has authored numerous articles related to her research with Early Head Start including Effecting Change through Home Visiting: Promising Pathways or Unfulfilled Expectations, Early Head Start: Identifying and Serving Children with Disabilities, and Predicting School Readiness at Kindergarten Entry for Low-income Children with Additional Disability Risks Before Age 3. She has served as editor of Young Exceptional Children and serves on the editorial board for multiple journals. Dr. Peterson was recognized by ISU Extension with the Scholarship and Engagement Partnership Award (2008) and Governor Vilsack’s Above and Beyond Award for Outstanding Service to Iowa’s Children in Early Childhood Care and Education (2005).