Her work focuses on the connections between education and community development. She examines issues such as the role of social institutions in immigrant/refugee integration, the connections between education and family livelihoods, and transnational institution-building. Her work is situated in conflict and post-conflict settings globally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and with Diaspora communities. She is concerned with the interplay between local experiences of children, families, and teachers and the development and implementation of national and international policy. She works closely with national governments, United Nations agencies, and international and local NGOs. Her work has been published in Teachers College Record, Comparative Education Review, Theory and Research in Education, among other academic and public venues (www.sarahdrydenpeterson.com).