Brief History
In 1990, the South Texas Rural Regional Collaborative (STRRC) for Excellence in Science Teaching was the first of twenty-four statewide science collaborations to support professional development programs for science teachers. The STRRC was established by the Texas Education Agency and funded by the Dwight D. Eisenhower Science Professional Development Program. The State Collaborative is housed in the Science Education Department at the University of Texas in Austin.
The STRRC serves the teachers in the Education Service Center, Region 20 area. In this region, there are 51 school districts covering 17,000 square miles. Most of the school districts are small and rural with limited resources.
Currently, the STRRC is housed at Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU), a private, Catholic, coeducational institution of more than 3,600 students.
The university was established in 1895 by the Congregation of Divine Providence and is a member and the founding institution of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) to cultivate meaningful improvements in the education of minority (primarily Hispanic) populations; HACU's membership has 189 institutions in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Southwest Education Developmental Laboratory (SEDL), one of ten national laboratories for the Department of Education, has been a major partner with the STRRC for professional development, planning, and resources. SEDL services five states: Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Ohio, and Texas.