Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant Program CFDA Number 84.367D | ED GRANTS 122116 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 122116 001

The Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant Program (CFDA 84.367D) is a discretionary U.S. Department of Education grant competition aimed at improving educator quality at scale. The central goal is to increase the number of highly effective teachers and principals by backing training, professional learning, and other professional enhancement activities that have already shown meaningful results. In practice, SEED is designed to help organizations take educator-development approaches that work, expand their reach, strengthen implementation, and evaluate them so they can be sustained over time and shared as models for others to replicate.

A defining feature of this program is the evidence requirement. Proposed projects must be supported by at least “Moderate Evidence of Effectiveness,” meaning applicants are expected to point to credible research showing the approach has a demonstrated positive impact. The outcomes SEED cares about are tied to improvements in student achievement or student growth, and the program’s logic is straightforward: better-prepared and better-supported teachers and principals should lead to stronger student results. Beyond implementation, SEED places value on learning what works under real-world conditions, so grant-funded work is expected to include evaluation components that generate usable findings and help with broader dissemination.

Eligibility is narrowly focused on national nonprofit organizations. The notice emphasizes that applicants must be able to document that they are a National Not-for-Profit Organization, consistent with prior SEED guidance referenced in the Federal Register. The eligibility section also indicates that nonprofits may include organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status, but the competition is not aimed at institutions of higher education as applicants. The opportunity listing also includes “Others” among eligible applicants, but the narrative guidance repeatedly centers eligibility on national nonprofits, so applicants would need to rely on the official Federal Register notice to clarify whether any additional entity types qualify in this specific competition and under what conditions.

From an administrative standpoint, applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov, using the downloadable application package associated with CFDA 84.367 (the instruction is to search “84.367” without the alpha suffix “D”). Applications cannot be submitted by email. This opportunity was posted with a closing date of March 7, 2017, and the listing anticipated about three awards; an award ceiling is not specified in the provided synopsis. Because discretionary federal competitions often include detailed requirements on priorities, selection criteria, performance measures, and submission steps, the notice stresses that the Federal Register application notice is the authoritative source for the full rules of the competition.

The synopsis also highlights a policy transition affecting this particular round. Although SEED was later authorized under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in section 2242 for competitions beginning with FY 2017 appropriations, this FY 2016 competition is described as the final SEED competition conducted under the earlier statutory and regulatory framework associated with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by No Child Left Behind. Functionally, that means applicants at the time needed to pay close attention to the specific pre-ESSA requirements and definitions referenced in the official notice, even though SEED continued under ESSA in later years.

Overall, SEED (CFDA 84.367D) is best understood as a competitive funding stream for national nonprofit organizations that can demonstrate, with moderate or stronger evidence, that their educator development model improves student outcomes, and that have the capacity to scale implementation, evaluate impact, and share results in ways that support long-term sustainability and broader adoption.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Grant Program CFDA Number 84.367D" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.367.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-12-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-03-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others.

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