Spreading Educator to Educator Developments (SEED)

Program to aid pioneering teachers lands $6.8 million grant June 4, 1999 12:00 am BANGOR — The U.S. Department of Education approved a five-year, $6.8 million grant Thursday that will support the Spreading Educator to Educator Development program in Maine, U.S. Rep. John Baldacci announced. SEED, developed in 1992 by the Maine Center for Educational Services in Auburn, is an effort to recognize and sponsor the work of Maine teachers who use pioneering techniques to help their classes master the state’s Learning Results standards. SEED also provides funding for other teachers who want to implement these techniques with their own students. The Learning Results standards, adopted in 1996 by the State Legislature and Department of Education, require Maine high school graduates to have various skills in eight main areas, including English and language arts, science and technology, health and physical education, mathematics and social studies. “There are teachers who are using methods that really help students comply with these standards,” said Bob Shafto, founder and executive director of the Center for Educational Services. “The goal of SEED is to recognize their work and use them as examples for other teachers.” The grant will be broken up into small sums of $500 to $600 and given to developers and adapters of teaching approaches that align with Learning Results standards. The SEED project is expected to affect the classroom practices of at least 60 percent of Maine’s 14,300 teachers. Special attention will be given to the state’s most needy school districts, which include those with free and reduced lunch rates greater than 50 percent. The first installment of the grant, totaling $1,079,900, was awarded Thursday.