In 1967, the Texas Legislature established twenty media centers in response to Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Act passed by Congress, which provided limited funding for instruction related training and services for teachers. As time passed, the legislature worked to expand the role of these media centers to enhance the teaching standards in the state, and ultimately, student performance. Today, 20 Regional Education Service Centers (RESCs) make up the RESC system. These centers, located throughout the state, serve more than 4.1 million students and over 550,000 administrative and campus staff and play an integral part in ensuring the success of Texas’ education system.

Regional education service centers are intermediate educational units that provide training, technical assistance, administrative support and an array of other services as determined by the legislature, the Commissioner of Education and the needs of local school districts and charter schools. Most often associated with assistance to small and medium-sized school districts, the RESCs have a long history of providing assistance to all districts, including metropolitan and large suburban districts. The third party client satisfaction survey, authorized by the commissioner, indicates that the Superintendents, principals and teachers in large suburban and metropolitan school districts rate the work of the RESCs comparable to that of small and medium-sized school district personnel. All of these services are reviewed annually in a multi-phased review of the education service centers and the quality and effectiveness of their services as reflected in an analysis of both student achievement and client satisfaction measures.

In recent years, the RESCs have taken the lead in preparing content area teachers to meet the ever increasing demands of Texas Assessment of Academics Skills (TAAS) and now the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Additionally, the ESCs have been sharply focused on assisting the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in promoting the financial health and viability of Texas school districts during rapidly changing and more complicated financial times. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has, once again, raised the level of accountability Texas educators must meet. RESCs will play an active role in helping school districts and charters understand the compliance requirements and develop strategies to successfully implement the accountability system.

Section 8.002 of the Texas Education Code (TEC) defines the RESCs’ mandate as:

Assist school districts in improving student performance in each region of the system;

Enable school districts to operate more efficiently and economically; and

Implement initiatives assigned by the Texas Legislature or the Commissioner of Education.

RESCs have been working diligently to fulfill this critical mandate for nearly forty years by providing Texas educators the tools they need to improve student performance.