She has extensively conducted studies with Mexican-origin populations for over two decades. Her multi-sited work is situated in sending and receiving communities spanning the U.S.-Mexican border, highlighting the transnationalism of many immigrant communities. She has focused on Mexican-origin populations’ ways of knowing and intersections with language education as well as how youth of Mexican origin have performed in schools. Her research is published in several prestigious education journals, including Teachers College Record, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, and TESOL Quarterly.