Skip to main content

Institutes & Centers

The University of Houston College of Education is home to several research centers and institutes focused on education and health. 

Advancing Community Engagement and Service (ACES) Institute

Dr. Anne McClellan: Executive Director 

The Advancing Community Engagement and Service Institute strives to enhance real-world learning experiences for students while addressing community needs. The ACES Institute provides support and resources to faculty and staff to promote well-designed service learning opportunities to help students become the change agents of tomorrow. In addition, the Institute will conduct regular research and evaluation as part of its commitment to implementing evidence-based programs that will fulfill the educational and health needs of the community.

All Kids Alliance (AKA)

Dr. Robert K. Wimpelberg: Executive Director

All Kids Alliance is Houston’s first advocate for “collective impact” and among the first organizations in the United States to embrace the StriveTogether Network’s Theory of Action (strivetogether.org). All Kids Alliance supports non-profit organizations in Greater Houston. It facilitates strategic planning, project management, logic model building, results-based meeting design, and the intentional pursuit of outcomes using the principles and practices of collective impact.

Asian American Studies Center

Dr. Yali Zou: Director 

The AASC is an interdisciplinary academic center, dedicated to the study of Asian and Asian Americans in the United States and abroad. It explores either/or social, historical, educational, economic, political and linguistic characteristics and development of Asian American Culture. Its mission is to generate knowledge, increase awareness and foster appreciation of the Asian and Asian American experience in the United States and abroad, and to provide faculty, students and community members with rich opportunities to learn about Asian and Asian American cultures.

Education Research Center

Dr. Cathy Horn: Director

The Education Research Center at UH is one of only three such centers in Texas. The center analyzes pre-K-12, higher education and workforce data from the state to determine best practices and inform public policy.

HEALTH Research Institute

Dr. Virmarie Correa-Fernandez: Interim Director

The HEALTH — Helping Everyone Achieve a LifeTime of Health — Research Institute leverages an interdisciplinary group of researchers at UH to advance science capable of meeting the health needs of the Houston community and beyond. More specifically, the institute’s primary mission is to conduct cutting-edge research that informs novel prevention and intervention strategies that mitigate a broad range of health disparities.

Houston Area Teacher Center (HATC)

Dr. Amber Thompson: Director

The Houston Area Teacher Center (HATC) is a consortium of over 30 Houston-area school systems with the University of Houston and its College of Education. HATC is the oldest and largest teacher center in the nation, initiated in 1970. The Center is a forum for the College and area school systems to work through issues of common concern such as teacher supply and demand, job placement, and protocols for the placement of student teachers and professional development schools.

Institute for Education Policy Research and Evaluation (IEPRE)

Dr. Cathy Horn: Director

The Institute for Education Policy Research and Evaluation (IEPRE) at the University of Houston’s College of Education is a group of scholars and educational decision makers focused on improving P-20 education. IEPRE engages in evaluation of P-20 educational policy initiatives and translates research into evidence-based practice for decision makers, paying particular attention to the needs of historically underserved populations.  Through its research, policy evaluation, and dissemination of evidence-based practice, IEPRE hopes to improve educational quality and student success from preschool through college. The institute also is affiliated with the Center for Research, Evaluation and Advancement of Teacher Education (CREATE).