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The SEED Foundation
The SEED Foundation opens and supports public boarding schools for disadvantaged students who are highly unlikely to succeed in a traditional public school setting and would benefit greatly from a 24-hour-a-day learning environment. The schools, which start in middle school and extend through high school (and include post-secondary support), combine a rigorous college-prep academic curriculum with youth development activities and intensive social supports in the afterschool hours to provide comprehensive services that help young people improve their life trajectories by succeeding in school and pursuing post-secondary educational opportunities.
Evaluation Status: Demonstrated Effectiveness
A study completed by Roland Fryer in 2011 analyzed results from the random assignment of youth to the SEED school in Washington DC in 2007 and 2008 and found that the school significantly increased students’ standardized test scores in reading and math, compared to youth who attended other schools, with much larger effects for girls than for boys.
SEED leadership is interested in continuing to follow this sample and in conducting other evaluation activities as part of the EMCF SIF portfolio. The organization is currently planning for another evaluation, which may take advantage of the lottery for admission to its Maryland school to ensure random assignment.
EMCF expects SEED to reach proven effectiveness by 2014, over the course the investment.
EMCF Investment
EMCF has approved a three-year investment in the SEED Foundation, with a first-year award of $2 million to support implementation of its plan to open two to four additional schools in different states and rigorously evaluate its program in schools beyond its original Washington, DC site. Awards in years two and three, which are contingent on grantee performance and renewal of federal SIF funding, will provide up to $1.5 million, for an overall investment of up to $3.5 million over three years.
For information on what this grant will support, see Details of 2012-2014 Investment.
To learn more about the SEED Foundation, visit www.seedfoundation.com.
In the Spotlight
Nine Organizations Selected to Receive Social Innovation Fund Awards
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation is investing up to $42 million over three years in nine organizations whose evidence-based programs promise to transform the life trajectories of thousands of low-income youth. In support of these grantees, the Foundation is establishing the True North Fund to leverage public money from the SIF and private money from the EMCF and institutional and individual philanthropic partners to effectively capitalize and expand programs that can serve more vulnerable young people.
Grantees In The News
A Families-First Approach to Foster Care
(Youth Villages) The New York Times, February 21, 2011
Nonprofit Pairs Up Nurses With Struggling First-Time Moms
(Nurse-Family Partnership) Huffington Post, March 14, 2011
Enlisting Professionals as Part-time Educators
(Citizen Schools) NBC Nightly News, October 15, 2010