[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 179 (Thursday, September 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50324-50326]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-24076]
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UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
Civic Education Curriculum Development and Teacher Training
Program for Secondary Schools in Georgia; Notice: Request for Proposals
SUMMARY: The Advising, Teaching and Specialized Programs Division, of
the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the United States
Information Agency announces an open competition for a Civic Education
Curriculum Development and Teacher Training Program for Secondary
Schools in the Republic of Georgia. For applicants' information, on
October 1, 1999 the Bureau will become part of the U.S. Department of
State without affecting the content of this announcement or the nature
of the program described. At that time, the Advising, Teaching and
Specialized Programs Division will be renamed the Office of Global
Educational Programs. Public and private non-profit organizations
meeting the provisions described in IRS regulation 26 CFR 1.501c may
submit proposals to cooperate with the Bureau in the administration of
a three-year project to support the development and implementation of
new curriculum units for fifth through ninth grade civic education
courses in the Republic of Georgia. The grant awards up to $500,000 to
facilitate the project. The grantee will work with Gaia, a Georgian
non-profit organization involved in in-service teacher training
programs in human rights and civic education in Georgia. The Georgian
and U.S. partner organizations will coordinate with the Ministry of
Education and his appointees in Georgia and the public diplomacy
section at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi. The program will comprise four
phases of activity: (1) Selection of a small curriculum development
team of Georgian educators and preliminary consultations in Tbilisi;
(2) a three-month U.S.-based curriculum development workshop in which
the team will produce draft curriculum units; (3) follow-up
consultations in Georgia to assist in the review and field-testing of
the draft curricular materials and in the training of a larger group of
Georgian practitioners; (4) cooperation with Gaia in the further review
and dissemination of the draft materials as needed, and to provide
broader training of Georgian teachers and administrators for
utilization of the revised curriculum units in Georgian classrooms.
The Bureau solicits detailed proposals from U.S. educational
institutions and public and private non-profit organizations to develop
and administer this project. Grantee organizations will consult
regularly with the Bureau and with the public diplomacy section at the
U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi with regard to participant selection, program
implementation, direction, and assessment. Proposals should demonstrate
an understanding of the issues confronting education in Georgia as well
as expertise in civic education and curriculum development.
The funding authority for the program cited above is provided
through the Freedom Support Act. Programs and projects must conform
with Bureau requirements and guidelines outlined in the Solicitation
Package. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' programs and
projects are subject to availability of funds.
Program Information
Overview: The goals of the project are to assist Gaia in Tbilisi,
Georgia, to develop up-to-date curriculum units to be taught at the
fifth through ninth grade levels, and to assist in training teachers
for the implementation of these units. The rationale for this project
is that improving citizenship education at the secondary school level
will better prepare Georgian students to participate actively in
building a pluralistic, democratic society and will promote democratic
relations among members of the school community, including students,
teachers, school administrators, and parents. Applicants may suggest
topics to be developed by the curriculum team in their proposals;
however, final determination of appropriate topics will be made by the
curriculum development team and Gaia in cooperation with the grantee
organization during the first phase of the project
Guidelines
Program Planning and Implementation
Grants should begin on or around February 1, 2000, with Phase I of
the project, in which a curriculum development team of six
practitioners (e.g., classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, and
the project director of Gaia, who will serve as the Georgian project
director for this grant) will be chosen by a selection committee in
Georgia comprised of Gaia staff, local civic education specialists,
members of the U.S. grantee organization and the public diplomacy
section of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi. A Ministry of Education
official may be invited to serve as a liaison between the project
directorate and the Georgian government. In Phase I, the team will
undertake preliminary work in Tbilisi over a period of 3-6 months.
Members of the curriculum development team, in consultation with a
specialist from the grantee organization and the Georgian Project
Director, will familiarize themselves with civics curricula and
teaching materials used in the U.S., and will select the topics to be
explored in the draft curriculum units.
In Phase II, members of the curriculum development team will spend
approximately three months in a highly structured U.S.-based workshop
to be sponsored and organized by the U.S. grantee organization, and
will attend focused curriculum seminars, observe relevant aspects of
the U.S. educational system, and draft teacher and student materials
for the curriculum units in consultation with U.S. specialists. The
grantee organization will be responsible for introducing the Georgian
team to leading U.S. civic educators with expertise that is pertinent
to the topics to be explored,
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and to a broad range of relevant resources. The workshop schedule
should incorporate significant time for both individual and group work
on drafting materials as well as intensive training on specific
approaches to the teaching of civic education topics. In addition, the
workshop should include field experiences which are relevant to the
materials being produced (such as visits to schools, matching the
Georgian educators with U.S. mentor teachers, and attendance at
professional association meetings).
In Phase III, the curriculum development team will work in Georgia
with Georgian teacher trainers, Gaia staff members, U.S. specialists
from the grantee organization, and other Georgian organizations to
provide introductory training for a larger group of practitioners in
methods for testing and utilizing the draft curriculum units in the
civics classrooms. The grantee organization will cooperate with the
curriculum development team and Georgian educators to design and
implement a pilot-test program for select secondary schools in Georgia.
Revision of the draft curricular materials based on the results of
field test will be completed by the grantee organization and the
Georgian curriculum development team.
Phase IV activities will consist of further review of the
curricular materials by the U.S. and Georgian teams, the printing and
publication of the materials, and the development of a self-sustaining
teacher-training program in the use of the civic education materials.
Visa/Insurance/Tax Requirements
U.S. lecturers and consultants participating in the project must be
U.S. citizens. Programs must comply with J-1 visa regulations. Please
refer to Program Specific Guidelines (POGI) in the Solicitation Package
for further information. Administration of the program must be in
compliance with reporting and withholding regulations for federal,
state, and local taxes as applicable. Recipient organizations should
demonstrate tax regulation adherence in the proposal narrative and
budget.
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 budget for the entire
program. Awards may not exceed $500,000. 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 and administrative budgets should be
accompanied by a narrative which provides a brief rationale for each
line item. The total administrative costs funded by the Bureau must be
limited and reasonable.
Allowable costs for the program include the following:
(1) Administrative Costs, including salaries and benefits, of
grantee organization.
(2) Program Costs, including general program costs and program
costs for each Georgian participant in the U.S.-based curriculum
development seminar. Also included are program costs associated with
the field-testing of materials in Georgia and with the initial training
of Georgian teachers. Please refer to the Solicitation Package for
complete budget guidelines and formatting instructions.
Announcement Title and Number
All correspondence with the Bureau concerning this RFP should
reference the above title and number E/ASU-99-21.
For Further Information, Contact
The Specialized Programs Branch, E/ASU (as of October 1, 1999, the
Humphrey Fellowships and Institutional Linkages Branch, ECA/ASU), Room
349, U.S. Department of State, 301 4th Street, SW, Washington, DC
20547, tel. 202-619-6492 and fax 202-401-1433, or emathews@usia.gov 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 Bureau Program Officer Erin Mathews 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 Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs by 5 p.m. Washington, DC time on Wednesday,
December 15, 1999. Faxed documents will not be accepted at any time.
Documents postmarked 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.: E/ASU-00-09, Office of Grants Management, ECA/EX/PM,
Room 336, 301 4th Street, SW., Washington, DC 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 public diplomacy section at
the US Embassy for its review, with the goal of reducing the time it
takes to get Embassy 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
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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 complaint
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.
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 diplomacy section 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 expertise
in civic education.
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
participants, program venue and program evaluation) and program content
(orientation and wrap-up sessions, program meetings, resource materials
and follow-up activities).
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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 is recommended. Successful applicants will be
expected to submit intermediate program and financial reports after
each project component is concluded or quarterly, whichever is less
frequent.
9. 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 of Russia and Emerging
Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1993 (Freedom
Support Act). 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: September 9, 1999.
William P. Kiehl,
Acting Deputy Associate Director for Educational and Cultural Affairs.
[FR Doc. 99-24076 Filed 9-15-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8230-01-M
