Her interests include the social and learning contexts in K-12 education, access to higher education, community and faith-based education among Latinos, and more generally, the practices of linguistic and cultural reproduction, transformation, and change among immigrant groups to the U.S. From 2007-2009 she served as the director of the UC Berkeley Center for Latino Policy Research, a center committed to research efforts that have a direct policy impact on the Latino/Chicano population in California and the United States.