[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 236 (Thursday, December 9, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69060-69063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-31967]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 3169]


Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; Partners in Education 
Program

NOTICE: Request for proposals.

SUMMARY: The Office of Global Educational Programs of the Bureau of 
Educational and Cultural Affairs of the

[[Page 69061]]

U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for the Partners 
in Education (PiE) program assistance award, not to exceed $1,420,000. 
Public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions 
described in IRS regulation 26 CFR 1.501(c) may submit proposals to 
administer a six-week professional internship program for approximately 
115 English-language proficient secondary school teachers, 
administrators, and teacher trainers from Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan 
and Kyrgyzstan, as well as a three-week program designed for 22 non-
English-speaking NIS school directors. The exchange should involve at 
least 45 Russian, 40 Ukrainian, 20 Kyrgyzstani, and 10 Uzbekistani 
teachers and administrators, and 12 Russian and 10 Ukrainian school 
directors. Selection of participants is merit-based with a fair 
representation of large and small oblasts. The U.S. grantee will also 
be responsible for the consecutive exchange of 24 U.S. educators who 
have hosted the NIS teachers, trainers, and administrators during their 
stay in the United States for a two-week program to consult on best 
practices and implement linkage activities designed to strengthen the 
partnership between the U.S. and NIS schools.
    The six-week internship program and three-week school director 
programs should provide the NIS educators with thorough exposure to 
civic education and the social sciences at the secondary school level. 
Proposals relating to the teaching of English or English as a foreign 
language (EFL) are not eligible. The program should encourage 
participants to establish contacts in the U.S. that will foster ongoing 
school and community partnerships upon their return to the NIS.
    The proposed program will span three academic semesters, starting 
in the spring of 2001. The contracted organization (grantee) will be 
expected to recruit in Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan in 
consultation with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and 
the Office of Public Affairs within U.S. embassies in the NIS 
countries.
    The goal of the teacher/administrator component of the PiE program 
is to provide NIS participants with opportunities to learn about 
secondary-level curriculum development and civic education and social 
science teaching methodologies in the U.S. After an academically-
focused orientation in Washington, DC, NIS grantees will be placed in 
small groups at various school districts in the U.S. and provided with 
internships at local high schools. The proposed internship activities 
for the 115 teachers and administrators would include: observing social 
science classrooms, civic education curriculum development, and 
computer-based and other teaching methods; participating in at least 
five days of professional development seminars that incorporate 
computer-based teaching, designed by the host schools or by the local/
regional schools of education; delivering presentations to students and 
faculty at the host schools and communities on NIS educational systems 
and cultures, either alone or together with their NIS colleagues; 
reviewing and collecting teaching materials for possible use in their 
home schools; and collaborating with U.S. school administrators or 
faculty of education to gain an understanding of the U.S. educational 
system and local control of education in the U.S. 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 local schools, 
deliver presentations at those schools as well as to local civic and 
community groups, and attend PTA and school board meetings.
    The school director program should include 22 Russian and Ukrainian 
non-English-speaking directors who will participate in a three-week 
program that integrates the core civic education and social science 
curriculum of the PiE teachers, as well as specific seminars and 
workshops in community-based school governance. The school directors' 
program may begin at the same time as the teachers', trainers', and 
administrators' programs, or they may be programmed separately. To 
maximize impact, the school directors should be recruited from existing 
lists of NIS schools that have participated or from schools that are 
about to participate in the PiE teacher/administrator program. The 
applicant is encouraged to submit a proposal that provides a detailed 
explanation of how the non-English-speaking participants and their NIS 
schools will fully benefit from the U.S. exchange.

Program Information

Overview

    The goal of the PiE program is to expose NIS educators to U.S. 
teaching methodologies and curriculum development processes, and 
establish professional partnerships with U.S. teachers and teacher-
trainers in schools, universities, and communities. The rationale of 
the program is to promote democratic relations among members of NIS 
school communities and build upon the Bureau's previous and existing 
linkages with NIS secondary schools.
    For the PiE teacher, administrator, teacher-trainer program, the 
grantee should recruit English-speaking social science and civic 
education teachers, faculty, and administrators from secondary schools 
and pedagogical institutions, including educators who incorporate civic 
education principles as part of a social science curriculum. These 
educational leaders will be placed in clusters around the United 
States, hosted by schools, school-university partnerships, or private-
sector institutions to experience U.S. educational communities and 
related democratic institutions. The Bureau is interested in the 
grantee soliciting U.S. host proposals that are academically oriented 
and foster long-term linkages between U.S. high schools and comparable 
schools in Russia, Ukraine, and other NIS countries. Where possible, 
U.S. host proposals should include institutions that have provided 
superior programming for other NIS secondary-level teacher training 
programs (lists are available from the program office).
    For the secondary school director program, the grantee should 
develop a comprehensive, academically oriented program that will engage 
the NIS school directors in democratic school reform issues and 
community-school relations, as well as exposing the participants to the 
teaching methodologies for civic education and the social sciences. The 
school directors should travel in one or more groups and should be 
provided with simultaneous translation. The Bureau will consider a 
school director component that exposes the participants to up to two 
U.S. communities or school districts during the three-week program.
    The grantee will also be responsible for facilitating the exchange 
of 24 U.S. teachers, preferably two U.S. host teachers from each host 
site who were involved in the PiE teacher/administrator six-week 
program. The U.S. educators will travel to the NIS community(ies) from 
which the NIS teachers came, and will engage in a substantive two-week 
program to be designed by the NIS participants in collaboration with 
the grantee. The goal of the U.S. participants' program in the NIS is 
to strengthen the partnerships established during the U.S.-based 
program, build long-term linkages, and provide opportunities for the 
U.S. educators to engage the educational communities of their NIS 
colleagues. There is no commensurate NIS-based program for the U.S. 
hosts of the school director component of the PiE program.

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Guidelines

Program Planning and Implementation
    The grant should begin on or around June 5, 2000 and the grantee 
should complete all exchange activities by December, 2002. The 
recipient organization will be responsible for activities related to 
recruitment, screening, orientation coordination, monitoring in the 
U.S., program evaluation, and alumni activities. The grantee 
organization will also be responsible for the competitive recruitment 
of up to 12 U.S. host school districts for participation in the PiE 
teacher/administrator program, as well as up to two sites for the 
school director program. The recipient organization will maintain 
overall oversight for the program. Please refer to additional program 
specific guidelines in the Project Objectives, Goals, and 
Implementation (POGI) document.

Budget Guidelines:

    Grants awarded to eligible organizations with less than four years 
of experience in conducting international exchange programs will be 
limited to $60,000.
    Applicants must submit a comprehensive line-item budget for the 
entire program based on the specific guidance in the Solicitation 
Package. Awards may not exceed $1,420,000 for program and 
administrative costs. There must be a summary budget as well as 
breakdowns reflecting both administrative and program budgets. 
Applicants may provide separate sub-budgets for each program component, 
phase, location, or activity to provide clarification. The summary and 
detailed program administrative budgets should be accompanied by a 
narrative which provides a brief rationale for each line item. 
Administrative costs should be kept low; this will be an important 
factor in grant competition.
    Allowable costs for the program include the following:

I. Teacher/Administrator/Trainer Participant Costs: Total $6,700 (per 
participant)  x  115 participants: $770,500
II. U.S. Teachers Participant Costs: Total $3,000 (per participant)  x  
24 participants: $72,000
III. NIS School Directors Participant Costs: Total $6,900 (per 
participant)  x  22 participants: $186,300
IV. General Program Costs: Total: $68,000

    This includes sub-contracts with U.S. host sites, fees for one 
program curriculum advisor, costs for recruitment and advertising, and 
alumni activities.
    The per participant costs include administrative costs. Please 
refer to the Solicitation Package for complete budget guidelines and 
formatting instructions. The Bureau reserves the right to reduce, 
revise, or increase proposed budget in accordance with the needs of the 
program.
    Announcement Title and Number: All correspondence with the 
Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs 
concerning this RFP should reference the above title and the number 
ECA/A/S/X-00-02.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Office of Global Educational 
Programs, Teacher Exchange Branch, ECA/A/S/X, Room 349, U.S. Department 
of State, S.A. 44, 301 4th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20547, tel. 
202-619-4556 and fax 202-401-1433, [email protected] to request a 
Solicitation Package. The Solicitation Package contains detailed award 
criteria, required application forms, specific budget instructions, and 
standard guidelines for proposal preparation. Please specify Office of 
Global Educational Programs, Program Officer Dehab Ghebreab, on all 
other inquiries and correspondence.
    Please read the complete Federal Register announcement before 
sending inquiries or submitting proposals. Once the RFP deadline has 
passed, Bureau staff may not discuss this competition with applicants 
until the proposal review process has been completed.
    To Download a Solicitation Package Via Internet: The entire 
Solicitation Package may be downloaded from the Bureau's website at 
http://e.usia.gov/education/rfps. Please read all information before 
downloading.
    Deadline for Proposals: All proposal copies must be received at the 
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs by 
5 p.m. Washington, D.C. time on Monday, February 28, 2000. Faxed 
documents will not be accepted at any time. Documents postmarked on the 
due date but received on a later date will not be accepted. Each 
applicant must ensure that the proposals are received by the above 
deadline.
    Applicants must follow all instructions in the Solicitation 
Package. The original and 10 copies of the application should be sent 
to: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural 
Affairs, Ref.: ECA/A/S/X-00-02, Program Management Staff, ECA/EX/PM, 
Room 336, S.A. 44 301 4th Street, S.W., 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. These documents must be provided in ASCII text (DOS) 
format with a maximum line length of 65 characters. The Bureau will 
transmit these files electronically to the appropriate public affairs 
offices at U.S. embassies for their review, with the goal of reducing 
the time it takes to get posts' comments for the Bureau's grants review 
process.

Diversity, Freedom and Democracy 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 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. Public 
Law 104-319 provides that ``in carrying out programs of educational and 
cultural exchange in countries whose people do not fully enjoy freedom 
and democracy,'' the Bureau ``shall take appropriate steps to provide 
opportunities for participation in such programs to human rights and 
democracy leaders of such countries.'' Proposals should reflect 
advancement of this goal in their program contents, to the full extent 
deemed feasible.

Year 2000 Compliance Requirement (Y2K Requirement)

    The Year 2000 (Y2K) issue is a broad operational and accounting 
problem that could potentially prohibit organizations from processing 
information in accordance with Federal management and program specific 
requirements including data exchange with the Bureau. The inability to 
process information in accordance with Federal requirements could 
result in grantees being required to return funds that have not been 
accounted for properly.
    The Bureau therefore requires all organizations use Y2K compliant 
systems including hardware, software, and firmware. Systems must 
accurately process data and dates (calculating, comparing and 
sequencing) both before and after the beginning of the year 2000 and 
correctly adjust for leap years.

[[Page 69063]]

    Additional information addressing the Y2K issue may be found at the 
General Services Administration's Office of Information Technology 
website at http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov.

Review Process

    The Bureau 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. All eligible proposals will be 
reviewed by the program office, as well as the U.S. Department of 
State's Office of the Senior Coordinator for the Newly Independent 
States and the public affairs offices of U.S. embassies overseas, where 
appropriate. Eligible proposals will be forwarded to panels of Bureau 
officers for advisory review. Proposals may also be reviewed by the 
Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser or by other Bureau 
elements. Final funding decisions are at the discretion of the 
Department of State's Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural 
Affairs. Final technical authority for assistance awards (grants or 
cooperative agreements) resides with the Bureau's 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 the Bureau's 
mission, and responsiveness to the objectives and guidelines stated in 
this solicitation. Proposals should demonstrate substantive experience 
in the social sciences and civic education.
    2. Program planning and ability to achieve program objectives: 
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. Objectives should 
be reasonable, feasible, and flexible. Proposals should clearly 
demonstrate how the institution will meet the program's objectives and 
plan.
    3. 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.
    4. 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 
participants, program venue and program evaluation) and program content 
(orientation and wrap-up sessions, program meetings, resource materials 
and follow-up activities).
    5. Institutional Capacity and Record: Proposed personnel and 
institutional resources should be adequate and appropriate to achieve 
the program or project's goals. Proposals should demonstrate an 
institutional record of successful exchange programs, including 
responsible fiscal management and full compliance with all reporting 
requirements for past Bureau grants as determined by the grants staff. 
The Bureau will consider the past performance of prior recipients and 
the demonstrated potential of new applicants.
    6. Follow-on Activities: Proposals should provide a plan for 
continued follow-on activity (without Bureau support) ensuring that 
Bureau supported programs are not isolated events.
    7. 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 technique plus 
description of a methodology to use to link outcomes to original 
project objectives are recommended. Successful applicants will be 
expected to submit intermediate reports after each project component is 
concluded or quarterly, whichever is less frequent.
    8. Cost-effectiveness/Cost-sharing: 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. Proposals should maximize cost-sharing through other 
private sector support as well as institutional direct funding 
contributions.

    Authority: 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 above is provided through the Freedom for Russia and 
Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1993 
(Freedom Support Act).

Notice

    The terms and conditions published in this RFP are binding and may 
not be modified by any Bureau representative. Explanatory information 
provided by the Bureau 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 Bureau 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 Department of State 
procedures.

    Dated: December 1, 1999.
Evelyn S. Lieberman,
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
[FR Doc. 99-31967 Filed 12-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-45-U