The Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center

The Culturally Efficacious Signature Teacher Residency (CESTR) is a pathway through the Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center within the College of Education and Human Development that creates an opportunity for bilingual paraprofessionals and teaching assistants to earn a Bachelor's degree in Equity and Education and a Standard Teaching Certificate in bilingual education from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

View Brochure Online

Apply to be a CESTR Resident

Inquiry Submission Form

In order to ease the financial burden of our students and to grant greater access to the knowledge of experts, ATE maintains a textbook loaning library. Students can check out textbooks for classroom use during the semester at no cost.

Textbooks are available on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be reserved or held, so students should plan to visit the ATE office early in the semester as soon as they have a list of the books that they wish to check out. The loaning library is held at the UTSA Main Campus and deliveries to the downtown campus are not possible.

If you have questions about our loaning library, please feel free to contact us at ate@utsa.edu

• Individual TExES planning meetings
• TExES guidance workshops
• Study workshops with content experts
• Preparation manual loaning library
• Online study material access

Make an appointment or contact us to learn more.

The pathway to becoming a culturally efficacious educator involves reflection and transformation, and the Academy for Teacher Excellence provides support for students as they navigate the changes and challenges in their lives. Career Transition Guides (CTG) use the LIBRE Model to help our students navigate through the psychosocial phases of teaching and problem solve the challenges they are facing in their classrooms and in their personal lives. The goal of this guidance is to affirm and empower self-efficacy skills needed to consciously manage the processing of concerns and problems as they arise.

• workshops
• individual meetings
• mentoring program
• guided problem solving

Make an appointment or ask questions

The Minority Male Educator Mentor Initiative of South Texas (MMEMIST) was created with grant funding from City Education Partners to support minority males in the field of education through brotherhood and mentorship. By providing the necessary skills, tools, and preparation, MMEMIST aims to increase the number of male teachers of color teaching diverse student populations in Texas.

• Peer mentoring support from undergraduate mentors
• Access to resources and support from UTSA faculty and staff
• Academic, professional, certification, and financial support
• A cohort of like-minded professionals preparing to become educators

Apply to the program or request more information

The Teacher Candidate Customized Plan (TCCP) is a planning tool that is designed to help future teachers prepare for and navigate the coming year. During a TCCP appointment, students meet with a guiding expert and they work together to fill out an electronic form that encourages reflection on past successes and predicting coming challenges. The TCCP also explores resources and opportunities available that can set a foundation for success.

Make an appointment

Character education is a vital educational approach that nurtures the development of students as whole individuals through the cultivation of positive character qualities, values, and virtues. It is essential for equipping them for professional success and to encouraging them to develop of integrity, excellence, innovation, respect, collaboration, and responsible citizenship. Character education fosters values and virtues that guide individuals to live ethically, act responsibly, and contribute meaningfully to society. It aims to develop not just capable minds, but good-hearted people.

At the ATE, we are working with passion and commitment to empower the entire university community—students, faculty, staff, families, and leaders—through research-based teaching practices, transformative curricula, and practical tools that nurture personal growth, ethical leadership, positive character traits, and authentic human connection. By helping everyone recognize and grow their unique strengths, we cultivate a culture of daily flourishing—in the classroom, the workplace, and society at large.

Character Education and Whole Child Education at ATE

• ATE Summer Bridging Institute: Character Education across the Subjects (2018-2025)
• Sessions for Clinical Teachers on Whole Child Education, Social Emotional Learning, and Character Development (2020-2021)
• Bilingual Parents series on Virtues Education for Academic Goals and Character Development
• Series on Nurturing Great Children through Character Education (2018-2020)
• SECCEE: Social - Emotional - Character and Culturally Efficacious Education Program (2020)

According to Reybold, Flores, and Riojas-Cortez (2006), “The goals [of faculty development] should be to acknowledge the diversity that exists within our global society, to increase faculty understanding and awareness of diversity issues in teacher preparation, to implement new understanding and awareness of diversity issues in teacher preparation, and to implement new understandings of that diversity in their teaching.”

The goal of the Faculty Development component is to increase the sensitivity and preparation of faculty in addressing the need for a culturally and linguistically diverse population within their delivery of curriculum and instruction and "sphere of influence". Faculty Members are provided with professional learning opportunities such as monthly book group sessions designed to enhance their academic instruction to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students.

ATE provides opportunities for continued professional development for both preservice and in-service educators. Multiple opportunities and avenues are available for educators to receive ongoing support.

Professional Development

ATE provides year-round professional development for teacher candidates and veteran teachers. Teachers can earn CPE hours for their attendance, which can be used toward the renewal of their Standard certificate. Visit the ATE Calendar to see a list of all upcoming workshops and events.

Career Transition Guidance

Participants receive psychosocial support to help them make the transition to teaching. Career Transition Guides (CTG) use the LIBRE Model to work with participants to help them navigate through the psychosocial phases of teaching and problem solve the challenges they are facing in their classrooms and in their personal lives. The goal is to affirm and empower self-efficacy skills needed to consciously manage the processing of concerns and problems as they arise.

The ATE Summer Bridging Institute is a 3-day professional development event presented each year in the second week of July.  We invite educational students and professionals from across the state to attend workshops, collaborate, and network at the UTSA Downtown Campus.  If you are interested in attending, volunteering, or presenting, please complete our interest form so that we can contact you with more information.

SBI Interest Form

STREAMsation
Dive into dynamic, hands-on sessions designed to enhance classroom engagement in Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STREAM). These sessions will showcase practical strategies and innovative ideas for creating student-centered, research-based lessons that spark curiosity and foster active learning.

Ideal for PK–12 educators seeking to energize their STREAM instruction.

STREAMsation Interest Form

ATE works with schools, districts, community colleges, and community organizations in various efforts to improve support services to teacher candidates and students seeking degrees.

Partnership Advisory Leadership Stakeholders (PALS)

The Partnership Advisory Leadership Stakeholders (PALS) is comprised of representatives from the various San Antonio area school districts, community colleges, community programs, teachers, parents, students, and community leaders.

Meetings and forums held for PALS provide the organization a means to serve its purpose, which is to:

• Engage in critical reflection and dialogue;
• Serve in an advisory capacity to ATE and its demonstration projects;
• Make recommendations for improvement, sustainability and expansion; and
• Strengthen the UTSA, community colleges, and school districts partnerships.

To join the PALS team, please send an email with your name, email address, and organization affiliated to ate@utsa.edu.

Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas (HWNT)

ATE partners with HWNT to provide outreach opportunities. Each year the HWNT hosts a scholarship competition for Hispanic students. In order to qualify for the scholarship students must participate in a series of workshops. ATE hosts workshops for the HWNT scholarship series regarding the journey to college and 21 ^st Century skills.

Alliance for Technology Education in Applied Math and Science (ATEAMS)

Our work with the Allianec for Technology Education in Applied Math and Science has enabled teachers across San Antonio to enter into externships that provide them with industry experience and skills. These expert teachers pass on their knowledge and skills to their students, preparing them for higher education in STEM fields and the workforce beyond.

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics encourages the amplification of the Bright Spots in Hispanic Education. The initiative seeks to leverage these Bright Spots to encourage collaboration between stakeholders focused on similar issues in sharing data-driven approaches, promising practices, peer advice, and effective partnerships, ultimately resulting in increased support for the educational attainment of the Hispanic community. It was announced in September 2015 that ATE would be included in the Bright Spot online catalog.

In October 2014, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics launched a Year of Action, and with it a national call for Commitment to Action in honor of its 25 ^th anniversary. The Initiative challenged the public and private sectors to make meaningful and quantifiable contributions to expand and support the educational outcomes and opportunities for the Latino community. On October 15, 2015, President Obama announced 150 Commitments to Action programs. ATE answered the call and is featured among the Commitments to Action, committing over $500,000 to focus on Professional Development and Outreach through the annual Summer Bridging Institute (SBI). ATE makes a commitment to annually host the free, weeklong SBI for teacher candidates, novice teachers, and interested educators in an effort to recruit, support, and provide ongoing professional development to Latina/o teachers in our community.

¡Excelencia! held their 2012 Compendium in Washington D.C. to acknowledge and honor programs and departments that successfully serve Latino students. Of the 500 programs that have been nominated since 2005, over 100 have been chosen as outstanding models and resources for higher education success and contributions to continued research and education policy. ATE was honored as an Example of ¡Excelencia! Finalist at the Baccalaureate level in 2012. 159 programs were nominated with 16 finalists chosen. ¡Excelencia! in Education honored ATE’s efforts in Latino students’ financial concerns, educator preparation, informed quantitative and qualitative research and creating functional relationships between community, schools, and higher education institutions.

ATE was honored with 33 other UTSA faculty and staff at the 2012 University Excellence Awards to receive the President’s Distinguished Diversity Award.

The 2015 American Education Research Association-Hispanic Research Issues SIG Elementary, Secondary, and Postsecondary Award

The Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE) 2012 Higher Education Award
TABE 2012 Higher Education Honoree by the Texas Association for Bilingual Education.
Inducted into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame in 2012
Congratulations Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark! A highly deserved recognition for one of the founding members of this AERA SIG, and a credit to UTSA COEHD!

ATE provides opportunities to faculty and graduate students to conduct quantitative and qualitative research that informs administrators, teachers, university faculty, and community members with research-based practices.

ATE Research Objectives include:

• Studies around issues affecting culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students, and the quality of education that they receive.
• Faculty development opportunities to enhance their instruction for a CLD student population through revised course syllabi and teaching methods;
• Academic preparation of Hispanic/Latina/o and low-income students to pursue an education degree and teacher certification particularly in bilingual education, special education, mathematics, and science instruction;
• Opportunities to learn and seek ways of becoming more effective in guiding, retaining, and graduating CLD and low-income students;
• Linkages with community colleges and school districts to create a seamless system of education that is culturally and linguistically sensitive to a diverse student population.

Over the years ATE has provided funding opportunities for faculty members at UTSA to engage in research activities with colleagues and graduate students across departments and colleges. Research awards support projects designed to provide new insights and solutions to problems and issues associated with the education and retention of P-20 Latin@/Hispanic and low-income students.

View publications affiliated with the Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center here.

View news stories about the Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center here.