The College of Education would like to welcome the Center for Research, Evaluation and Advancement of Teacher Education (CREATE) to the University of Houston’s main campus. For over 10 years, CREATE has provided data to Texas colleges, universities and public school districts. By moving their offices to the College of Education, CREATE will make a positive impact on the College’s teacher preparation and quality.

“Having the Center within the College is an amazing opportunity for us to serve as a hub for varied multi-university research projects that have the potential to meaningfully impact policy, practice, and ultimately the lives of Texas kids,” said CREATE Director and College of Education faculty member, Catherine Horn.

CREATE is a multi-system educational research consortium that focuses on issues of teacher preparation and teacher quality. It is comprised of 56 teacher education institutions, including five of the largest in Texas.  The mission of CREATE is to improve the quality and effectiveness of teacher preparation programs in Texas universities through research and development that focuses on teacher education practices and the effects of these practices on public school improvement.  CREATE has received generous funding from a variety of sources, including the Houston Endowment, the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, and The Meadows Foundation.       

CREATE has two staff members that will now be joining us in Farish Hall. Sherri Lowrey and Jeanette G. Narvaez are instrumental in the program as their roles contribute to the program’s research and its implementation.

Ms. Sherri Lowrey currently serves as Associate Director of Research at CREATE.  In her role, she manages CREATE’s research agenda, develops and manages professional development for university faculty and school district personnel, and manages CREATE’s data warehouse and production of the Performance Analysis for Colleges of Education (PACE) school-focused data book provided yearly to all consortium universities.  She also manages the production of another school centered data book, the Data Reporting Tool for Schools (DaRTS).  She has consulted with institutional research departments and administration and faculty in both colleges of education and colleges of arts and sciences all over the state.

Jeanette G. Narvaez is Director of Operations and Research Dissemination at CREATE, a collaborative research and development center focused on improving teacher education programs involving the five largest university systems in Texas. She previously held administrative positions in The Texas A&M University System and Texas Education Agency’s collaborative initiative, Partnership for Texas Public Schools, and the Institute for School-University Partnerships.  Ms. Narvaez received her Bachelors from The University of Texas at Austin and her Master’s in Business Administration from Texas A&M University.