November 25, 1998
The SEEM Center, 500 S.W. Center Drive in Topeka, was created to monitor elementary school progress. Through university research tools and real-world experience, teachers will receive feedback to boost student achievement.
Dr. Betty Horton, center director and former magnet director for Topeka's Unified School District 501, said the center is off to a good start. Two schools participating in the SEEM Center study have received grants to aid the center's research.
The first school, Scott Computer and Technology Magnet, received a $1.7 million federal magnet school grant. The money will be used to purchase 129 laptop computers for students' homes, to provide more interactive video between the school and the students' homes and to fund new staff salaries. Scott's reading scores on the Kansas State Assessment were the lowest and its math scores were the third lowest in the district.
The SEEM Center will track Scott's progress with weekly curriculum-based reading evaluations of eight students from each first- to fifth-grade classroom. Those students, excluding the first- and second-graders, will also participate in monthly reading-comprehension assessments. Teachers will share in the results and give their own feedback at quarterly meetings.
Avondale East Elementary received a $45,000 state grant. That money will be used to establish a structured mentoring program to tutor kindergarten through second-grade students struggling with reading and math. The SEEM Center will train volunteers, some to tutor students for one semester and others to tutor for the full year. Those results will be compared, along with weekly reading evaluations.
"Schools are often so busy with the day-to-day work that they don't have time to lift their heads up and read the latest research that's coming down the pike," said Horton.
The center's goal is to provide data-driven decisions about ways to improve schoolwide student performance.
Story by Mike Stern, University Relations, 785-864-3256