She is also a former teacher and community organizer. Maia received a Ph.D. in education and sociology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007. Her research examines urban education policy and its implications for disadvantaged students. She focuses particularly on the impact of urban revitalization and redevelopment on public schools. She is also interested in school reform in Philadelphia and its implications for equity and civic capacity. Maia has published in the American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, and the Journal of Education Policy and is completing a book manuscript on the marketing of urban public schools to the middle class.