My research focuses on education, child and youth welfare, and social inequality, particularly in China. In China, I have conducted research on gender, ethnic, and geographic disparities in education and employment, changes in the impact of education on income and occupational attainment under market reforms, rural teachers and their links to student outcomes, and children's and adolescents' welfare under market reforms. Recent publications include "Beyond Cost: Rural Perspectives on Barriers to Education." (with Jennifer Adams, in Creating Wealth and Poverty in China, edited by Deborah Davis and Wang Feng, 2008, Stanford University Press) and “Gender-Based Employment Differences in Urban China: Considering the Contributions of Marriage and Parenthood.” (with Yuping Zhang and Meiyan Wang, Social Forces, 2008). I co-direct the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, a collaborative, longitudinal study of children's welfare in rural northwest China, with Albert Park. I am a co-editor of the series Research in Sociology of Education and the journal Comparative Education Review. I work with two foundations that promote education in rural China: the Rural China Education Foundation (RuralChina.org), and Givology (givology.org).