PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Prachee J. Devadas, President/CEO

It's that time of year again; thinking caps are on and school is in session. Not just for students around the nation, but for employees at SEI as well. As the ends of the fiscal year and contract periods steadily approach, SEI executives and staff dedicate time to review best practices and recommendations from clients on ways to improve and enhance our services. Client satisfaction, a standing priority at SEI, is achieved by analyzing current practices, reviewing expected versus actual results, and designing strategies to ensure that missions and goals are met. As author and renowned salesman Og Mandino once suggested, we are taking the attitude of students. We are never too big to ask the right questions and our staff could never know too much to learn something new.

We are proud to announce the near successful completion of the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) peer review project, one of the Obama Administration's unprecedented investments in education through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. SEI is honored to be a part of the government's efforts to contribute to improving student achievement and growth, closing achievement gaps, decreasing drop-out rates, and increasing graduation and college enrollment and completion rates. This fall, we look forward to continuing to learn from our clients and other industry leaders, and to continuing to help our clients meet the needs of the people they serve through projects like i3.

NEW contracts

SEI Re-Awarded Contract to Support Peer Reviews for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

After supporting the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services for more than 5 years, SEI was reselected as the contractor of choice. For the next 5 years, SEI’s Division of Conference and Peer Review Services will provide administrative and logistical support to the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Our activities will encompass recruiting, training, evaluating, and managing peer reviewers; conducting peer reviews (e-reader, teleconference); reviewing and recommending improvements to the current peer review process; designing and reproducing guidance
documents; and conducting NIDRR Discretionary Grant Competitions.

Quality Service and Performance Awards SEI Continued Work With the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

SEI was recently reselected as the contractor of choice to support the U.S. Department of Education-sponsored Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation projects, activities, and Web sites. Primary tasks will include operating, enhancing, and expanding the Human Resource Development Working Group (HRDWG) Web sites, and supporting other HRDWG activities, including focusing on the following priority areas to prepare students with 21st century competencies and skills: mathematics and science education; career and technical education; learning each other's languages; and information communication technologies and systemic reform.

SEI CARES

Division of Communication Services Director by Day, Humanitarian for Life

They say one trip abroad can change your life. For Patrick Zickler, that one trip was to Mumbai, India. During a work-related trip with the National Cancer Institute in 2009, Patrick was attracted to the people, culture, and lifestyle. He and his wife Joyce returned in spring 2010 and decided to team up with Reality Gives, a non-governmental humanitarian organization, to enhance the quality of life for residents of the potters’ community of Dharavi, which is Mumbai’s largest slum. Pat and his family actively support the projects of Reality Gives; he and his daughters donated a library to the Learning Center as a gift to his wife Joyce. “I am crazy about the people and culture, and it’s satisfying to see that a relatively small contribution of money or effort can do a lot of practical good,” says Patrick.

Communications Director Patrick Zickler is barely visible in a crowd of children in Kumbharwada, a potters' community in Dharavi - Mumbai's largest slum. To his right is Krishna Poojari, co-director of Reality Gives (www.realitygives.org), a humanitarian organization that operates a kindergarten and a young adult learning center in Kumbharwada.

SEI Continues to Sponsor Needy Women and Children

This summer, SEI had the privilege of providing financial support to two Washington, DC, area facilities (a shelter and an educational center) that assist low-income families and children — the House of Ruth and the Falls Church-McLean Children's Center.

With SEI’s support, the House of Ruth was able to consolidate two small programs into a newly renovated building that provides housing and critical support services to 13 homeless families, and to move 14 women requiring long-term housing into personal apartments. (www.houseofruth.org)

SEI also sponsored the Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center in their upcoming 2010 Golf Classic. All proceeds will provide scholarships for children receiving educational support from the center. (www.fcmlcc.org)

NEW STAFF, NEW EXPERTISE

SEI Hires Three New Executive-Level Employees

To support and enhance SEI’s research and evaluation, communication
services contracts, and information technology contracts, SEI has hired three
new employees:

• Edmond Price, Network Engineer
• Kate Tindle, Ed.D., Senior Program Associate
• Patrick Zickler, Director of SEI’s Division of Communication Services

Janelle A. Williams, Editor
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