[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 25 (Thursday, February 6, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5679-5682]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-2906]
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UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
Partners in Education Program
ACTION: Notice--request for proposals.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Academic Programs of the United States
Information Agency's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
announces an open competition for an assistance award program, not to
exceed $850,000. U.S. educational and other not-for-profit
organizations with a minimum of four years experience in successfully
administering international exchange programs, meeting the provisions
described in IRS regulation 26 CFR 1.501(c)(3)-1, may apply to develop
a six-week professional internship program for approximately 90
secondary school educators in the social sciences and secondary school
administrators, with language proficiency, from Russia and Ukraine, in
a 60 to 40 ratio respectively. We envision that some of the hosting
U.S. school administrators will visit the schools of their Russian and
Ukrainian participants under the grant to strengthen the partnerships.
This initiative is intended to provide participants with opportunities
to learn about secondary level curriculum development and teaching
methodologies in the U.S. The program will add a secondary school
teacher component to the Agency's academic programming in Russia and
Ukraine, and will build upon USIA's previous linkages in the NIS, such
as ``Community Connections'' and youth exchange. While in the U.S., the
teachers and administrators will have the opportunity to pursue
curriculum development in their own field of interest and learn new
teaching methodologies and approaches through five-week internships in
U.S. high schools. The internship duration for the administrators may
be less than five weeks, subject to individuals' availability. The
proposed program will span three academic semesters, starting in the
fall of 1997. The contracted organization will be expected to recruit
in Russia and Ukraine. After an orientation in Washington, D.C.,
grantees will be placed in small groups at various school districts in
the U.S., and assigned internships in local high schools. Activities
for the Russian and Ukrainian teachers and administrators would
include: Observing classes, curriculum development, and teaching
methods; delivering presentations to student and faculty on their own
schools, local educational systems, and communities, either alone or
together with their foreign colleagues; reviewing and collecting
teaching materials for possible use in their home schools; and
collaborating with U.S. school administrators to provide an
understanding of the U.S. educational system at the local level.
Teachers and administrators should also come to understand the
relationship between the community and the educational system. The
teachers and administrators would also engage in site visits to other
schools, deliver presentations at those schools as well as to local
civic and community groups, and attend PTA and school board meetings.
We also encourage participants to establish contacts that will foster
ongoing school linkages upon their return to Russia and Ukraine.
Program participants will be required to meet established criteria upon
completion of the program.
Overall grant making authority for this program is contained in the
Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, Public Law 87-
256, as amended, also known as the Fulbright-Hays Act. The purpose of
the act is ``to enable the Government of the United States to increase
mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the
people of other countries * * *; to strengthen the ties which unite us
with other nations by demonstrating the educational and cultural
interests, developments, and achievements of the people of the United
States and other nations * * * and thus to assist in the development of
friendly, sympathetic and peaceful relations between the United States
and the other countries of the world.''
The funding authority for the program cited above is provided
through the Freedom Support Act, P.L. 102-511.
Programs and projects must conform with Agency requirements and
guidelines outlined in the Solicitation Package. USIA projects and
programs are subject to the availability of funds.
ANNOUNCEMENT TITLE AND NUMBER: All communications with USIA concerning
this announcement should refer to the above title and reference number
E/ASX-97-01.
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: All copies must be received at the U.S.
Information Agency by 5 p.m., Washington, D.C. time, on Friday, March
14, 1997. Faxed documents will not be accepted, nor will documents
postmarked on March 14, 1997 but received at a later date. It is the
responsibility of each applicant to ensure that proposals are received
by the above deadline.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Ilo-Mai Harding, Teacher Exchange
Branch, E/ASX, room 349, 301 4th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20547,
telephone: (202) 619-4556, fax: (202) 401-1433, Internet:
[email protected] to request a Solicitation Package containing more
detailed award criteria, required application forms, and standard
guidelines for preparing proposals, including specific criteria for
preparation of the proposal budget.
TO DOWNLOAD A SOLICITATION PACKAGE VIA INTERNET: The entire
Solicitation Package may be downloaded from USIA's website at http://
www.usia.gov/ or from the Internet Gopher at gopher://gopher.usia.gov.
Under the heading ``International Exchanges/Training,'' select
``Request for Proposals (RFPs).'' Please read ``About the Following
RFPs'' before downloading.
Please specify USIA Program Officer/Specialist, Teacher Exchange
branch on all inquiries and correspondences. Interested applicants
should read the complete Federal Register announcement before sending
inquiries or submitting proposals. Once the RFP deadline has passed,
Agency staff may not discuss this competition in any way with
applicants until the Bureau proposal review process has been completed.
SUBMISSIONS: Applicants must follow all instructions given in the
Solicitation Package. The original and 10 copies of the application
should be sent to: U.S. Information Agency, Ref.: E/ASX-97-01, Office
of Grants Management, E/XE, Room 326, 301 4th Street, SW., Washington,
D.C. 20547.
Applicants must also submit the ``Executive Summary'' and
``Proposal Narrative'' sections of the proposal on a 3.5'' diskette,
formatted for DOS. This material must be provided in ASCII text (DOS)
format with a maximum line length of 65 characters. USIA will transmit
these files electronically to USIS posts overseas for this review, with
the goal of reducing the time it takes to get posts' comments for the
Agency's grants review process.
DIVERSITY GUIDELINES: Pursuant to the Bureau's authorizing legislation,
programs must maintain a non-political character and should be balanced
and representative of the diversity of American political, social, and
cultural life. ``Diversity'' should be interpreted
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in the broadest sense and encompass differences including, but not
limited to ethnicity, race, gender, religion, geographic location,
socio-economic status, and physical challenges. Applicants are strongly
encouraged to adhere to the advancement of this principle both in
program administration and in program content. Please refer to the
review criteria under the ``Support for Diversity'' section for
specific suggestions on incorporating diversity into the total
proposal.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Overview
Grant funding is intended to provide opportunities for 90 committed
and engaged--especially younger--Russian and Ukrainian teachers and
administrators from secondary schools and pedagogical institutions to
actively participate in six-week internships in U.S. high schools.
These potential future educational leaders would be placed in various
senior high school clusters around the U.S. to experience and gain
first-hand exposure to the U.S. educational community. USIA is
interested in proposals that foster long-term linkages between U.S.
high schools and comparable Russian and Ukrainian schools and
pedagogical institutes. The participating U.S. schools should reflect a
broad institutional and geographic diversity. Additionally, the
recipient institution should be mindful of USIA's goal to reflect the
cultural and ethnic diversity of the U.S. in all programs. While the
benefits of the exchange may be directly enjoyed by the Russian and
Ukrainian participants, the American institutions and individuals will
also gain from the cultural and professional expertise which these
foreign educators are able to offer.
Guidelines
Eligibility
U.S. non-profit educational and other not-for-profit organizations
with a minimum of four years experience in successfully administering
international exchange programs are eligible to apply.
Program Planning and Administration
The recipient organization will be responsible for activities
related to recruitment, screening, orientation coordination, monitoring
in the U.S. and program evaluation. The recipient organization will
also be responsible for the identification of up to ten U.S. school
districts for participation in the program. However, the recipient
organization will maintain overall oversight for the program.
A. Publicity, Recruitment, Selection, and Placement of Russian and
Ukrainian Teachers and Administrators
USIA will be responsible for the final selection of all Russian and
Ukrainian candidates. Participants will be recruited by the recipient
organization, based in Russia and Ukraine, under contract with USIA.
Special emphasis will be placed on selecting groups of 6 to 8 qualified
candidates, from targeted geographic regions, subject to the
concurrence of the U.S. Information Services (USIS) in Moscow and Kiev.
Priority should be given to recruitment from cities/regions targeted in
USIA's Business for Russia and Community Connections programs. For
example, in Russia: Altai Krai, Moscow, Kemerovo, Tula, Karelia,
Vladivostok, Nizhny Novgorod, Irkutsk, Chelysbinsk, Rostov,
Ekaterinburg, and Tomsk; in Ukraine: Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk,
Khmeinytskyy, Lviv, Mariupol, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sevastopol, Simferopol,
Ternopil, Uzhorod, and Zaporizhia. The recipient organization will be
responsive for:
--Formulating applications and publicizing the program;
--Reviewing the Russian and Ukrainian dossiers, and conducting
interviews; and
--Placing the teachers and administrators in appropriate assignments
after securing the approval of each candidate by the hosting school
district.
Selected participants will be fluent in English. Teachers need to
have a minimum of two years experience and should be from such
disciplines as the social studies and history. Administrators need to
have been in leadership positions in their home schools for a minimum
of two years. Special emphasis should be placed on candidates
displaying the commitment to follow-on activities who will apply
elements of the exchange experience to his/her classroom or school
activities with a demonstrated impact on students, other district
teachers and the community.
B. Logistics, Orientation and Maintenance
The recipient organization will be responsible for:
--Arranging in-bond and out-bound international travel for all
participants;
--Coordinating domestic transportation in Russia and Ukraine to and
from the point of international travel with USIS in Moscow and Kiev, if
requested by USIS;
--Arranging U.S. domestic and local travel for all participants;
--Preparing and sending necessary pre-departure orientation materials
to all participants;
--Conducting an orientation seminar on the U.S. educational system upon
arrival in the U.S.;
--Disbursing stipends and administering tax withholding and reporting
as required by Federal, State, and local authorities and in accordance
with relevant tax treaties;
--Providing assistance to Russian and Ukrainian participants regarding
tax procedures;
--Enrolling participants in USIA insurance programs and preparing
insurance identification cards:
--Communicaitng clearly the guidelines and information regarding visa
regulations and the participants' expedient return upon completion of
the program.
Programs must comply with J-1 visa regulations. Please refer to
program specific guidelines (POGI) in the Solicitation Package for
further details.
C. Identifying and Coordinating the Activities of the Host U.S. School
Districts
The recipient organization will be responsible for:
--Identifying, recruiting, and selecting up to ten school districts, to
collaborate, on a sub-contractual basis, in hosting selected groups of
teachers for the school-based internships;
--The sub-contracted organizations will also organize homestays and
participant visits to several local high schools during the five weeks
following an orientation/workshop in Washington, DC.
Each segment has approximately 30 participants, and takes place
during one school semester (there will be three segments conducted in
three sequential semesters). We envision a program agenda guided by the
following:
Six-Week Program Agenda
(30 Working days--12 weekend days)
--Three groups of 8-12 arrive in Washington, D.C., preferably, for an
intensive orientation/workshop that will include sessions on cross-
cultural training, education in the U.S., curricula and methodology in
U.S. schools, and administrative matters [each group will include one
or more administrator(s)].
--Groups then proceed to school districts, for twenty working days, to
shadow professional colleagues, observe educational and
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administrative activities, and talk and teach about their respective
professional expertise.
--At least five days, during the assignment to school districts, must
be devoted to workshops, in-service training, curriculum development
training, etc. Training can be interspersed during the program or
conducted in five consecutive days.
--Working days:
Orientaiton/Workshop--3-4 days
Training--5 days
In classroom--20 days
(Weekends are reserved for traveling and homestays)
The grantee organization is expected to solicit the services of
educational/curriculum specialist(s) to design and advise about program
content. The advisor(s) will also serve as a consultant for program
participants to enhance the professional aspects during the training
days. We envision the following thematically focused professional
activities:
(1) Civic Education: Visit local, municipal government and learn
about local control of education. Interact with civic education
teachers, observe their classes, and collect curricula materials.
(2) Methodology/Curriculum Development Seminar: Participate in
local, or district workshop/seminars on methodology and curriculum
development/implementation.
(3) Site Visits: Visit local professional organizations,
educational institutions in order to supplement the learning
experience.
All hosting U.S. high schools will be required to submit a brief
written proposal that outlines commitment and program goals. The
grantee organization will be authorized to offer a financial incentive
(not to exceed $5,000) for each participating U.S. school district.
Proposed budget: The contracted organization must submit a
comprehensive line-item budget based on the specific guidance in the
Solicitation Package. There must be a summary budget as well as a
break-down reflecting both the administrative budget and the program
budget. For better understanding or further clarification, applicants
may provide separate sub-budgets for each program component, phase,
location, or activity in order to facilitate USIA decisions on funding.
Administrative costs should be kept low; this will be an important
factor in grant competition. Also, the ability to maximize the number
of grantees within budget guidelines will enhance competitive
proposals.
Allowable costs for the program include the following:
(1) Participant Costs: Total (per participant)= $6,175.
--Stipends: $3,000
--Airfare (international/domestic): $1,900
--Health Insurance: $75
--Book Materials Allowance: $1,000
--Misc: $200
(2) Program Expenses: Total = $75,000.
--Sub-Contracts with School districts: $50,000
--Academic Advisor: $25,000
(3) Orientation/workshop Costs: Total (per participant) = $660.00.
--Per diem and logistical expenses: $165 a day
Please refer to the Solicitation Package for complete budget
guidelines and formatting instructions.
Review Process
USIA will acknowledge receipt of all proposals and will review them
for technical eligibility. Proposals will be deemed ineligible if they
do not fully adhere to the guidelines stated herein and in the
Solicitation Package. Eligible proposals will be forwarded to panels of
USIA officers for advisory review. All eligible proposals will be
reviewed by the program office, as well as the USIA Office of East
European Affairs and the USIA post overseas, where appropriate.
Proposals may be reviewed by the Office of the General Counsel or by
other Agency elements. Funding decisions are at the discretion of the
USIA Associate Director for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Final
technical authority for assistance awards (grants or cooperative
agreements) resides with the USIA grants officer.
Review Criteria
Technically eligible applications will be competitively reviewed
according to the criteria stated below. These criteria are not rank
ordered and all carry equal weight in the proposal evaluation:
1. Quality of the program idea: Proposals should exhibit
originality, substance, precision, and relevance to Agency mission and
principles in the Freedom Support Act.
2. Program planning: Detailed agenda and relevant work plan should
demonstrate substantive undertakings and logistical capacity. Agenda
and plan should adhere to the program overview and guidelines described
above.
3. Ability to achieve program objectives: Objectives should be
reasonable, feasible, and flexible. Proposals should clearly
demonstrate how the institution will meet the program's objectives and
plan.
4. Multiplier effect/impact: Proposed programs should strengthen
long-term mutual understanding, including maximum sharing of
information and establishment of long-term institutional and individual
linkages.
5. Support of Diversity: Proposals should demonstrate substantive
support of the Bureau's policy on diversity. Achievable and relevant
features should be cited in both program administration (selection of
U.S. participating institutions, program venue and program evaluation)
and program content.
6. Institutional Capacity: Proposed personnel and institutional
resources should be adequate and appropriate to achieve the program or
project's goals.
7. Institution's Record/Ability: Proposals should demonstrate an
institutional record of successful exchange programs, including
responsible fiscal management and full compliance with all reporting
requirements for past Agency grants as determined by USIA's Office of
Contracts. The Agency will consider the past performance of prior
recipients and the demonstrated potential of new applicants.
8. Follow-on Activities: Proposals should provide a plan for
continued follow-on activity (without USIA support) which ensures that
USIA supported programs are not isolated events.
9. Project Evaluation: Proposals should include a plan to evaluate
the activity's success, both as the activities unfold and at the end of
the program. A draft survey questionnaire or other techniques plus
description of a methodology to use to link outcomes to original
project objectives is recommended. Successful applicants will be
expected to submit intermediate reports after each project component is
concluded or quarterly, whichever is less frequent.
10. Cost-effectiveness: The overhead and administrative components
of the proposal, including salaries and honoraria, should be kept as
low as possible. All other items should be necessary and appropriate.
11. Cost-sharing: Proposals should maximize cost-sharing through
other private sector support as well as institutional direct funding
contributions.
12. Value to U.S.-Partner Country Relations: Proposed projects
should receive positive assessments by USIA's geographic area desk and
overseas officers of program need, potential impact, and significance
in the partner country(ies).
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Notice
The terms and conditions published in this RFP are binding and may
not be modified by any USIA representative. Explanatory information
provided by the Agency that contradicts published language will not be
binding. Issuance of the RFP does not constitute an award commitment on
the part of the Government. The Agency reserves the right to reduce,
revise, or increase proposal budgets in accordance with the needs of
the program and the availability of funds. Awards made will be subject
to periodic reporting and evaluation requirements.
Notification
Final awards cannot be made until funds have been appropriated by
Congress, allocated and committed through internal USIA procedures.
Dated: January 31, 1997.
Dell Pendergrast,
Deputy Associated Director for Educational and Cultural Affairs.
[FR Doc. 97-2906 Filed 2-5-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8230-01-M