Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED)

Overview

The SEED program provides funding to increase the number of highly effective educators by supporting the implementation of Evidence-Based practices that prepare, develop, or enhance the skills of educators. These grants will allow eligible entities to develop, expand, and evaluate practices that can serve as models to be sustained and disseminated. The SEED program is designed to foster the use of rigorous Evidence-Based practices in selecting and implementing strategies and interventions that support educators’ development across the continuum of their careers (e.g., in preparation, recruitment, professional learning, and leadership development). The BidenHarris Administration has made a commitment to supporting targeted efforts that will provide comprehensive, high-quality pathways, such as residency and Grow Your Own programs, for educator preparation and development programs focused on building a more diverse educator pipeline. The Administration is also committed to increasing the retention of a diverse educator workforce. Research shows that teachers who have access to these kinds of comprehensive pathways into the profession have higher rates of retention and increased effectiveness compared to teachers who received less comprehensive preparation. 

This notice contains two absolute priorities and three competitive preference priorities.

Absolute Priority 1 Supporting Effective Teachers (requires Moderate Evidence) - This priority is for projects that will implement activities that are supported by Moderate Evidence. Applicants under this priority may propose one or more of the following activities:

1. Providing teachers from nontraditional preparation and certification routes or pathways to serve in traditionally underserved Local Educational Agencies (LEAs); or
2. Providing teachers with EvidenceBased professional enhancement activities, which may include activities that lead to an advanced credential.

Absolute Priority 2 Supporting Effective Principals or Other School Leaders(requires Promising Evidence) - This priority is for projects that will implement activities that are supported by Promising Evidence. Applicants under this priority may propose one or more of the following activities:

1. Providing principals or other School Leaders from nontraditional preparation and certification routes or pathways to serve in traditionally underserved LEAs;
2. Providing principals or other School Leaders with Evidence-Based Professional Development activities that address literacy, numeracy, remedial, or other needs of LEAs and the students the agencies serve; or
3. Providing principals or other School Leaders with Evidence-Based professional enhancement activities, which may include activities that lead to an advanced credential.

This competition also includes three areas of particular interest to the Administration. Under the SEED grant competition, each of the two absolute priorities constitutes its own funding category. The Secretary intends to award grants under each absolute priority for which applications of sufficient quality are submitted; we award up to an additional 10 points to an application, depending on how well the application addresses the competitive preference priorities.

Competitive Preference Priority 2—Promoting Equity in Student Access to Educational Resources and Opportunities (up to 3 points).** Under this priority, an applicant must demonstrate that the applicant proposes a project designed to promote educational equity and adequacy in resources and opportunity for Underserved Students in one or more of the following educational settings:

• Early learning programs
• Elementary school
• Middle school
• High school
• Career and technical education programs
• Out-of-school-time settings
• Alternative schools and programs
• Juvenile justice system or correctional facilities

That examines the sources of inequity and inadequacy and implements responses that include pedagogical practices in Educator preparation programs and professional development programs that are inclusive with regard to race, ethnicity, culture, language, and disability status so that educators are better prepared to create inclusive, supportive, equitable, unbiased, and identity-safe learning environments for their students. Competitive Preference Priority 2 focuses on the importance of preparing teachers to create inclusive, supportive, equitable, unbiased, and identity-safe learning environments for their students. Research has demonstrated that, in elementary and secondary schools, children and youth learn, grow, and achieve at higher levels in safe and supportive environments, and in the care of responsive adults they can trust. This priority will allow applicants to propose a project designed to promote educational equity and adequacy in resources and opportunity for underserved students.

Competitive Priority 3—Meeting Student Social, Emotional, and Academic Needs(up to 2 points).** Projects that are designed to improve students’ social, emotional, academic, and career development, with a focus on Underserved Students, through developing and supporting Educator and school capacity to support social and emotional learning and development that—

1. Fosters skills and behaviors that enable academic progress;
2. Identifies and addresses conditions in the learning environment, that may negatively impact social and emotional well-being for Underserved Students, including conditions that affect physical safety; and
3. Is trauma-informed, such as addressing exposure to communitybased violence and trauma specific to Military- or Veteran-Connected Students.

Competitive Preference Priority 3 provides explicit support for developing students’ social and emotional skills, such as their ability to collaborate with peers and persist through challenging tasks. The priority directs applicants to incorporate pathways into teaching that provide a strong foundation in child and adolescent development and learning, including skills for implementing social and emotional learning strategies in the classroom.

* Competitive Preference Priority 1 is from the Effective Educator Development (EED) notice of final priorities published in the Federal Register on July 9, 2021 (86 FR 36217) (EED NFP). For those applicants seeking to address Absolute Priority 1, to meet the definition of Moderate Evidence the applicant must describe how the population it proposes to serve overlaps with the population or settings in the citations.

** Competitive Preference Priorities 2 and 3 are from the Secretary’s notice of final supplemental priorities and definitions published in the Federal Register on December 10, 2021 (86 FR 70612) Supplemental Priorities).

Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet one of these absolute priorities. Applicants may address only one absolute priority and must clearly indicate the specific absolute priority their project addresses.

Cost Sharing or Matching: Under section 2242 of the ESEA, each grant recipient must provide, from nonFederal sources, at least 25 percent of the total cost for each year of the project activities. These funds may be provided in cash or through in-kind contributions. Grantees must include a budget showing their matching contributions on an annual basis relative to the annual budget amount of SEED grant funds and must provide evidence of their matching contributions for the first year of the grant in their grant applications.

Certification: Pursuant to section 2242 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 6672), applicants must include a certification that the services provided by an eligible entity under the grant to an LEA or to a school served by the LEA will not result in direct fees for participating students or parents.

Estimated Range of Awards: $1,000,000–$6,000,000 per project year
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $3,500,000 per project year
Project Period: Up to 36 months
Estimated Number of Awards: 16–20

Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: Applicants are strongly encouraged, but not required, to submit a notice of intent to apply by May 4, 2022.

Note on Meeting Evidence Requirements: An applicant must identify at least one, but no more than two, citations for the purposes of meeting the evidence requirements under either Absolute Priority 1 or Absolute Priority 2. The Department will not review a citation that an applicant fails to clearly identify for review. Studies included for review may have been conducted by the applicant or by a third party.