Her research involves understanding the cultural background of minority schoolchildren, particularly Hispanic and Latina/o students in the Southwestern United States, and using that understanding to promote parent engagement and focus mathematics teaching on students' individual strengths.
Her dissertation, Doing and Talking about Mathematics: A Study of Preservice Elementary Teachers, was supervised by Peter George Braunfeld.
[5] In 2011 she moved from the University of Arizona to the University of North Carolina, to become Frank A. Daniels Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Education,[1] but returned to Arizona in 2014 to become the Graesser Professor.
[9] In 2013 TODOS: Mathematics for All gave Civil their Iris M. Carl Equity and Leadership Award.
[11] She received the 2021 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Lifetime Achievement Award.