She earned her BA in Elementary Education from Arizona State University, her MA in Special Education and Rehabilitation with an emphasis on Deaf Education from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Arizona. She is a 2011 recipient of the National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities fellowship and a 2014 Erasmus Circle Scholar at the University of Arizona.​ She has been a researcher with the Center on Literacy and Deafness since 2012 and has over 20 years of experience as a teacher and leader in the field of educating students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Dr. Rivera’s research interests include literacy assessment and intervention of DHH students, using coaching to support teacher implementation of interventions, and the itinerant model of service delivery to DHH students.