She is a Faculty Affiliate in Sociology of Education in the Department of Applied Statistics, Social Sciences, and Humanities, and is also a Faculty Affiliate in the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her M.A.T. in Special Education from Western New Mexico University. She received her A.B. in Sociology from Bryn Mawr College.