She received her Ph.D. in history from the University of Arizona and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses specializing in U.S., Mexican American, and U.S. - Mexican Border history. Her area of expertise includes Mexican American education in the Southwest, including policies, practices, and programs affecting educational equity, the history of bilingual education, desegregation cases and educational activism. Other research interests include Mexican American/Chicana activism, educational, civil and labor activism, and U.S. - Mexico relations and border issues.