Her research interests center on education finance/resource allocation and educational leadership from a critical, social justice perspective. In current projects, she is exploring notions of educational investment that reflect efforts to build upon community strengths in order to address community needs within and beyond educational settings. Rodriguez also engages in research and campus activities that focus on the educational conditions and trajectories of Chicana/o-Latina/o communities, other communities of color, and low-income populations in the U.S.