Debra Cantú serves as an associate professor of practice and co-director of the Texas Principal Leadership Academy at The University of Texas in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. She expanded her role and joined the University of Texas PK-12 School District as Executive Director in 2026. Cantú is the chair of the Texas Program Improvement Network in collaboration with principal preparation programs across the state to foster practices to improve program design and implementation aligned to the Texas Principal Standards.
In 2026, she was recognized by the Texas Exes as the Top Ten at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2025, she was nominated for the Dean's Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2024, Cantú became the holder of the Maxine Foreman Zarrow Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Education. In 2022, Cantú earned the Dean's Distinguished Career Faculty Award and was nominated for the President's Associates Graduate Teaching Excellence Award. She is the recipient of the UT Principal Program Servant Leadership Award in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2023, given to a faculty member who demonstrates exemplary service and committed leadership to the principal program.
Prior to joining the UT College of Education faculty, she supervised principals and identified critical areas regarding leadership development that is addressed in the UTAPP program. She is a former teacher, assistant principal, principal, director of Middle Schools, director of PK-8 and chief academic officer. She served as a regional director and valued this experience to engage in national practices regarding school governance, hiring practices, school finance, leadership development, aspiring principal programs, curriculum and instruction and assessment (Common Core and Texas accountability), and outside resource agency partnerships.
Cantú is a first-generation college graduate and attended The University of Texas at Austin with the opportunity to earn her bachelor's and master's degrees in Educational Administration and Ph. D. in Policy and Planning. Her interests include executive coaching, developing campus and district leaders, school improvement, strategic planning and continuous improvement for educator preparation programs. She joined the UT Austin faculty in 2015 and enjoys outdoor adventures with her husband Robert Henning.
Ph.D.
in Policy and Planning in Educational Administration, University of Texas at Austin, 2013
Ed.M.
in M. Ed. - Masters in Educational Administration, University of Texas at Austin, 2001
B.M.
in Bachelors of Music Education, University of Texas at Austin, 1992
Leadership Development
*Develops PK-12 school leaders. Designs and coordinates learning objectives, knowledge development, and effective practices for graduate students to apply theory into practice in their internship based on the following learning outcomes:
*Develop Capacity for Teaching and Learning Excellence
*Advocate for and Ensuring Support Systems for All
*Build Executive Leaders to Promote Ethical Policies and Practices
*Partner Authentically with Families and Communities
Curriculum and School Improvement
*Leads and develops curriculum content, scope and sequence, standards alignment and performance assessments for higher education and school district curriculum.
*Diagnose problems and challenges using school data, research and planning, implementation and progress monitoring and reflection.
Improvement Science - Strategic Planning
*Identify the Problem
*Analyze the Problem and Diagnose Its Causes
*Develop a Theory of Action
*Design the Strategy
*Plan for Implementation
*Implement the Strategy
*Assess Progress
*Adapt and Modify for Continuous Improvement
Certification
*Leads the program in design and practices required by Texas Education Agency for admissions, clinical experiences and certification.
School District Partnerships
*Building an Effective Partnership
*Co-designing curriculum
*Collaboration and Planning
*Implementation and Progress Monitoring
Executive Coaching
*Design
*Implementation
*Strategic Planning
*Progress Monitoring
Chair,
UT High School Advisory Board, UT High School Special Purpose District (2024 - 2026)
Affiliate,
Texas Center for Equity Promotion, College of Education (2024)
Committee Member,
Dean's Promising Scholars Committee, College of Education (2024)
Coach and Facilitator for Quality Measures Facilitators,
Team of Facilitators, Quality Measures and Texas Education Agency (2024)
Special Assistant for District Partnerships,
College of Education, University of Texas at Austin (2023)
Committee Member,
ELP Dept Faculty Search Committee, College of Education (2023 - 2024)
Chair,
Texas Program Improvement Network (Principal Prep Programs), Quality Measures and Texas Education Agency (2022)
Committee Member,
COE Faculty Development Award Committee, College of Education (2022 - 2024)
Advisory Board Member,
UT High School District Advisory Board, UT High School District (2022)
Management Board Member,
UT Elementary School Management Board, UT Elementary School (2022)
Project Coordinator,
Carnegie Corporation of NY and Gates Foundation Grant Committee, College of Education, UT Austin (2021 - 2022)
Leadership Fellow,
Leadership Team, College of Education, UT Austin (2021 - 2022)
Faculty Co-Chair,
Executive Board, Hispanic Faculty and Staff Association, UT Austin (2021 - 2022)
Committee Member,
Ethics Flag Committee, The School of Undergraduate Studies (2021 - 2023)
Co-Chair,
Professional Schools and MA programs and Continuing Education, University of Texas at Austin (2020)
Faculty Co-Chair Elect,
Executive Board, Hispanic Faculty and Staff Association, UT Austin (2020 - 2021)
Plenum Session Representative,
PSR Committee, University Council for Education Administration (2020 - Present)
Project Manager,
UT Early Career Fellowship Task Force, College of Education, UT Austin (2020 - Present)
Recorder,
Executive Board, Hispanic Faculty and Staff Association, UT Austin (2019 - 2020)
Co-Director,
Texas Principal Leadership Academy, College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy (2018 - Present)
Texas Ten Teaching Recognition
- Texas Exes (2026 - 2026)
Nominee for the Dean's Distinguished Teaching Award
- College ofEducation (2025 - 2026)
Maxine Foreman Zarrow Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Education
- College of Education (2024)
Nominee for President's Associates Graduate Teaching Excellent Award
- University of Texas at Austin (2023 - 2023)
Excellence in Education Award
- Greater Southwest Optimist (2023)
Dean's Distinguished Career Faculty Award
- College of Education, UT Austin (2022)
Servant Leadership Award
- Texas Principal Leadership Academy (2021)
Servant Leadership Award
- Texas Principal Leadership Academy (2020)
Servant Leadership Award
- Texas Principal Leadership Academy (2018)
Dr. Debra Cantu
The 2026 Texas Ten
The 2026 Texas 10 brings this group of lauded educators to a round 150. Among a healthy spread of other faculty awards at the University, the Texas 10 was intended to stand out by recognizing nominations from alumni, rather than students or colleaguesbecause, as one of our previous editors wrote, sometimes it takes a few years distance from 8 a.m. classes before we realize and are able to see clearly which professors really made lasting impressions.
