Puerto Rico

The Region 3 Comprehensive Center at ETS (R3CC) collaborates with the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) on projects to build the capacity of the state education agency (SEA). We support staff to develop initiatives for professional development and school improvement.

The PRDE has seven regions (rather than LEAs) that provide services to numerous municipalities. Each region is led by a Regional Superintendent.  The public-school student enrollment for the 2023-24 school year is approximately 256,000 across 847 schools.

R3CC collaborates with PRDE and the Institute of Professional Development (IDP) and University Relations to streamline professional development delivery and monitoring systems. This is an effort to establish teacher and leader pipelines and fulfill critical shortage areas through alternative ways to obtain licensure.

In Year 4, R3CC reprised its role in assisting PRDE with improving the lowest performing schools across the island. In Year 5, the 2023–2024 school year, R3CC will partner with PRDE and the Offices of Regional Education (OREs) to support the School Improvement Initiative by identifying key data points to collect and analyze. In addition, R3CC will assist PRDE to conduct a needs assessment to inform regional and central-level work plans, SMART goals and the adoption of evidence-based practices.

R3CC will assist PRDE to implement plans for American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) so that the funds will be invested wisely for the present and future needs of students across the territory. We will also partner with the U.S. Department of Education's Puerto Rico Education Sustainability (PRES) Team to build the organizational capacity of PRDE.

R3CC will partner with PRDE, the Regional Education Lab Northeast Islands (REL-NEI), and community partners to support the efficient implementation and sustainability of evidence-based practices. This will improve community-school relations, family and community involvement, as well as student achievement, performance and well-being.