For 20+ years, Colvin has worked in collaboration with immigrant adults/parents in a rural school district where 60% of the children speak a first language other than English. She directs an adult literacy tutoring program with the school district and recruits preservice teachers to serve as tutors. Her research focuses on understanding the communication practices of immigrant parents and teachers as they forge educational pathways for immigrant children/youth. Her recently published chapter, Contesting the Myth of Uncaring: Latina/o Parents Advocating for Their Children, appears in The Latina/o Midwest Reader (2017) edited by Jiménez, Vaquera-Vásquez, and Fox (U of Illinois Press).