The Region 6 Comprehensive Center (RC6) at SERVE is a hub for technical assistance and capacity-building services for those deeply involved in innovative, equitable public education.
The SERVE Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) has almost 30 years of experience in providing technical assistance at the state, district and school levels. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) funded the creation of SERVE in 1990 to operate the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) for the Southeast. Through subsequent REL contracts (through 2011) and other state contracts, SERVE has built extensive experience in providing technical assistance and evidence-based interventions in southern states. ED awarded SERVE a$15.6 million grant over five years to operate the RC6, which is one of 19 Regional Comprehensive Centers and a National Comprehensive Center also funded by ED.
The RC6 supports the National Comprehensive Center in providing targeted and universal services to support the selection, planning, implementation, and evaluation of evidenced-based practices (EBPs). Along with key partners the RC6 supports SEAs, LEAs and schools that have high percentages of students from low-income families.
Many of the region’s school districts are implementing comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) or targeted support and improvement (TSI) activities since about 2,400 CSI and/or TSI schools operate in the three states. Roughly 50% of the region’s districts are rural, making issues such as small school size, poverty levels and a lack of resources central to the RC6’s work. Giving SEAs, LEAs and schools the breadth and depth of services they need to improve educator and student outcomes is what the RC6 is prepared, and excited, to give.