Quicklinks

Region 17 ESC Student Support Services



Our goal is to develop and nurture healthy learning communities across Region 17 by guiding and supporting schools in their quest for excellence in achieving optimal success and academic performance for all students.
Available Programs and Services:
Progress in the General Curriculum
A resource for schools and parents in understanding how to make schooling successful for students with special needs due to disability.
Adaptive / Assistive Technology Services
The purpose of the Region 17 Assistive Technology Project is to provide training and technical assistance to the school districts and agencies that serve the students in the Region 17 area. This is done through Assistive Technology Support Groups and on-site technical assistance by request. An equipment loan program is available to districts in order to help the assistive technology teams in conducting evaluations.
Administrative Services
The ESC 17 Special Education Component provides leadership, training and technical assistance to schools, including local education agencies, charter schools and private schools, focusing on the achievement of educational excellence for all students and the development of professional excellence.
Student Evaluation and Assessment Services
Region 17 ESC Special Education staff provides professional development, and technical assistance to local education agencies (school districts and charter schools) to assist in meeting federal, state, and local mandates for evaluation, reevaluation, monitoring progress toward IEP goals, and in determining effectiveness of the education program. Region 17 ESC provides collaborative opportunities for evaluation personnel to network to review current topics, share innovative practices, make connections to community resources, and share information with colleagues.
Autism Project
The Region 17 Autism Planning and Advisory Team meets on a quarterly basis at the ESC. The team's goal is to help improve services to individuals and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders. The team also helps plan an Autism Conference which is held every other year in Region 17, and which compliments a conference hosted by Region 16 in Amarillo every other year.
Community Resources
The Region 17 Special Education Component partners with numerous state and community agencies and family organizations to provide a continuum of services to meet the needs of families in our region. Consultants play active roles on planning and advisory committees throughout the region and work with local education agencies to share information on those resources available to families.
Deaf Education Project
Region 17 ESC is in a collaborative project with Texas Tech College of Education and TEA Deaf Services to provide nontraditional training to selected individuals throughout the state of Texas that will lead to and increase the number of qualified and certified teachers serving students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Courses are offered through electronic means either via ITV, TETN, or Web-based instruction and incorporate national and state standards for Deaf Education.

Legal Framework
The Legal Framework is a statewide leadership project partnering with the Texas Education Agency and the Region 18 Education Service Center.  The project, which includes contacts from each educational service center, is a compilation of state and federal requirements for special education organized by topic in a user-friendly format.  The site includes frameworks, publications, and resources helpful in the special education process.  There is a glossary of terms and acronyms, links to laws, rules and guidance, and a search feature.  Local school board policies of all public schools across Texas are linked to the framework.  These policies can be accessed by entering your county-district number in the area provided.

Low Incidence Disabilities
The Three Low Incidence Disabilities Project provides information, training, and staff development for school staff and parents of students who are medically fragile, who have significant cognitive delays, and/or who are deafblind.
Noneducational Community-Based Support Services Funds
The Noned program provides funds for noneducational support services in the home or in the community to allow a student currently in a residential placement for educational purposes to return home or prevent a student at risk for residential placement for educational purposes from being placed residentially.
School, Family and Communtiy Engagement Statewide Network
The School, Family and Community Engagement Network is committed to ensuring that parents of students with disabilities receive accurate and timely information to assist them in making informed choices in their child's education.
Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support Project
Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support Project (PBISP) is a broad range of comprehensive schoolwide, classroom and individualized strategies based on an extensive body of research-based practices. The PBISP is a way to prevent problem behavior by teaching important social, behavioral and academic skills to all students.
Preschool Services
Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) support is designed to provide technical assistance and other related services to any program serving identified students with disabilities. On site assistance is available in such areas as curriculum developmenht, modifications, program improvement, program evaluation, assessment of instructional materialsk and resource identification. Assistance is also provided through coordination with staff in Early Childhood Intervention, Pre-Kindergarten, Head Start, and Kindergarten. Staff development opportunities are available for ALL staff working with young children, ages infant through age 5.
Psychological Services
Provide professional development for school district's LSSPs through contracts with experts in the field and technical assistance via a regional focus group.
Transition Services
ESC 17 transition services are designed to support the successful movement of students with disabilities from school to the world of work and independent living. Services are available to assist school districts in developing, implementing and evaluating transition programs for secondary students in special education.
Visual Impairments and Blindness
The Supplemental Funds for Students with Visual Impairments and Blindness Project provides information, training, staff development, and other resources for school staff and parents of students who are visually impaired or blind.