People

My primary research interests focus on the social and cultural capital that promotes (or hinders) healthy development in children, especially with children of immigrant and refugee families.  Currently, I have two distinct but interrelated projects that try to understand how social and cultural capital influence children’s educational and psychosocial adjustment over time.

The Hmong Children’s Longitudinal Study which tries to understand how children’s (beginning in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades) social and cultural capital change over time and when do these changes begin to affect children’s psychosocial, relational and educational adjustment. Data have been collected for two waves and participants will continue to be followed for the next three years.

The Perceptions and Experiences of English Learners and Their Family Members is a qualitative study that tries to address the disproportionally high number of Hmong students being placed in the EL (English Learners) program. For example, Hmong students are the second largest EL population in Minnesota (n=19,889) even though they only make up about 2 percent of the K-12 student population in Minnesota (MDE, 2015-2016; Pfeifer et al., 2012), and surprisingly more than 95 percent of them belong to the 2nd and 3rd generations (Pfeifer et al., 2012; MDH – Refugee Program). Data from multiple perspectives (parents, children, and EL teachers) will be initiated and analyzed beginning in summer of 2018.

Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Intervention in the Hmong Community (the Hmong Teen Pregnancy Project) – The goal of this two year project is to test the effectiveness of the Making Proud Choices or Kev Xaiv Curriculum with Hmong American youth in middle school and the best practices identified by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy with Hmong second-generation young parents. The Hmong Teen Pregnancy Project is supported by grants from the Minnesota Department of Health. The project began in June, 2012.

Youth for Change (Y2C) – The goal of this three year project is to engage youth and young adults to be leaders focusing on policy work while empowering positive changes within the Southeast Asian communities through policy, empowerment, and advocacy. It is funded by the Minnesota Department of Health. The project began in February, 2011. 

Social Networks and Child Adjustment  – The purpose of this study is to examine the impact social and family networks has on children’s adjustment, especially children’s educational achievement. This is an interdisciplinary research project and began in July 2013.

Outreach & Engagement

Hmong Early Childhood Education

STEEP: Statewide Tobacco Education and Engagement Project