Interest Areas

I am a Postdoctoral Fellow with an appointment in Curriculum and Instruction and an affiliation in the Asian American Studies Program. In general, my work examines how the intersections of ethnicity, race, gender, class, immigration, and institutional opportunities shape schooling and life outcomes for immigrant youth. My dissertation study focused on how Cambodian American high school youth were actively involved in the ethnic identity politics at their school. This study argued that schools, through their various institutional arrangements, play a significant role in the development of students’ ethnic identities and can either defy or sustain the relevance of certain ethnic labels that students are pressured to adopt in school. The way that Cambodian students resolved these identity issues held consequences for Cambodian students’ relationships with peers, teachers, and other institutional agents at school. More broadly, my research agenda involves the development of more productive ways to meet the educational needs of Southeast Asians and other emerging immigrant populations including Latino and African families. These groups in particular experience educational difficulties that have not been adequately addressed in research, policy, and practice.

Selected publications

Chhuon, V., Hudley, C., Brenner, M.E., & Macias, R. (in press). The multiple worlds of successful Cambodian American students. Urban Education.  

Hudley, C., & Chhuon, V. (in press). Academic achievement motivation in urban American schools. In R. Rueda and K. Guitteriez (Eds.), Section on Learning and Motivation in Urban Settings, Handbook of Research on Urban Education. New York: Routledge.  

Carranza, F.D., You, S., Chhuon, V., & Hudley, C. (in press). A model of Mexican American academic achievement: Perceived parental educational involvement, acculturation and self-esteem. Adolescence.

Chhuon, V., & Hudley, C. (2008). Factors supporting Cambodian American students’ successful adjustment into the university. Journal of College Student Development, 49 (1), 15-30.  

Chhuon, V., Gilkey, E., Gonzalez, M., Chrispeels, J., & Daly, A. (2008). A little district that could: The process of building district-school trust. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44 (2), 257-281.

Revised September 2009