Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; Partners in Education Program

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

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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.

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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]

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