International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) Small Grants Program A program of the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Department of State, and implemented by IREX APPLICATION MATERIALS WEAK APPLICATION SAMPLE The U.S. Department of State and IREX (the International Research & Exchanges Board) announce an open competition for ILEP alumni, U.S. teachers/administrators who have served as ILEP internship hosts, and/or host university faculty for the ILEP Small Grants Program. Projects must be implemented in fellows’ home countries. Please return completed applications to: IREX-ILEP 2121 K Street, NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20037 Fax: +1-202-628-8189 Email: ilepgrants@irex.org Note: Applications are also available on-line at www.irex.org. ILEP Small Grants will be issued on a quarterly basis. DEADLINES FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION ARE: June 30, 2009 September 30, 2009 December 30, 2009 March 30, 2010 2 ABOUT THE ILEP SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM As part of ILEP, program alumni are eligible and encouraged to apply for grants ranging from $500 to $5,000 for projects. This grant program is designed to complement the ILEP experience. ILEP will issue grants in four different categories: 1. Collaborative School Grant-This grant is designed to provide funding for programs that benefit the teachers and/or students of the primary applicants’ home country in partnership with a collaborator. A collaborator can be a teacher/administrator from an ILEP host internship secondary school, an ILEP host university administrator/faculty member and/or ILEP alumni from any ILEP program year, and any participating program country (Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, and Venezuela). Grants under this category will be awarded in amounts up to $5,000. 2. Non-collaborative School Grant-This grant is designed to provide funding for programs that benefit the teachers and/or students of the applicants’ home country and does not involve any collaborators. Grants under this category will be awarded in amounts up to $5,000. 3. Alumni Professional Development Grant-This grant is designed to provide funding for professional development activities that benefit ILEP alumni. Applicants are required to collaborate with at least one other ILEP alumnus to implement the project in their country. Grants under this category will be awarded in amounts up to $5,000. 4. Community Service Grant-This grant is designed to provide funding for programs that benefit the community at large. Alumni are encouraged to work with students and volunteers to carry out program activities. Grants under this category will be awarded in amounts up to $5000. Please see page 4 for possible project ideas for each category. GRANT PROVISIONS • All grant proposal funding requests must be in amounts between $500 and $5,000. The minimum grant award is $500 and the maximum grant award is $5,000 regardless of the number of collaborators. • Grant funds may not be used for student exchanges or computer hardware or equipment of any kind (printers, photocopiers, fax machines, etc.). Grants are not meant to supplement applicants’ income and will not support honoraria or salary expenses of any kind. • Grants may cover travel costs including: airline tickets, ground transportation, visa expenses, per diem and hotel costs, and travel insurance. Travel must be well-justified in the project proposal and budget narrative. Travel must follow IREX’s travel rules and regulations. • Grant applicants are highly encouraged to demonstrate their ability to leverage in-kind donations (such as books, materials, rental space, volunteer time from colleagues or community members to work on the project, etc.) by outside sources such as the applicant’s or collaborator’s school. International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) Small Grants Program Application Instructions 3 • Successful projects may be asked to make changes to their proposed budget and technical proposal prior to the final award decision. IREX reserves the right to alter an applicant’s budget or fund some, but not all, components of an application. ELIGIBILITY • Applications can be submitted by an individual or up to three individuals in the case of collaborative grants. The primary applicant must be an ILEP alumnus. • Proposed projects must be implemented in ILEP participating countries (Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia or Venezuela). • The duration of the proposed project should be a minimum of two weeks and maximum of four months, including the planning, preparation, implementation and reporting time. • Alumni applicants must be in good standing and have successfully fulfilled all program requirements. • Applicant(s) must be currently teaching full-time at a secondary school in their home country (a support letter substantiating this must be submitted at the time of application or if selected at the time of the award). • Applicants must submit a complete application packet including completed application form, budget, timeline, CVs, and support letters*. Applications not meeting the above technical eligibility requirements will not be forwarded to the selection committee. * If school support letters are not submitted with the application, it is the responsibility of the finalist to secure the support letter in order to receive the award funds. SELECTION CRITERIA Each eligible application will be reviewed by a selection committee in Washington, DC. The committee will evaluate proposals based on the following criteria: • Potential impact of project on secondary education in target country(ies); • Originality of project idea; • Strength of project design; • Feasibility of project and timeline; and • Cost effectiveness of the proposed budget and extent of demonstrated cost-share. TIMELINE ROUND 5 • Application Deadline: September 30, 2009 • Grant Award Recipients Announced: November 2, 2009 • Project Completion Deadline: April 30, 2010 • Final Report: May 31, 2010 DISBURSEMENT OF GRANT FUNDS • Grant Funds – All grant funds, except for International travel funds will be disbursed to recipients by wire transfers. Grant recipients are responsible for completing and submitting their bank wire information to IREX. • International Plane Tickets -According to U.S. government regulations, all grant-funded international travel must comply with the Fly America Act. U.S. air carriers must be used for international travel and tickets must be purchased directly by IREX. 4 • Taxes -Grant recipients are responsible for all taxes and/or bank processing/wiring fees incurred by receiving a small grant. However, taxes and wire fees may be included in the project budget. Some countries consider a grant from a non-commercial organization to be taxable income. Grantees should refer to the local tax and banking systems of their target country (ies) as they are developing their project budget. POSSIBLE SMALL GRANTS PROJECT IDEAS Collaborative School Grant “Teaching Expeditions” in which internship mentor teachers or host university faculty travel to their counterpart’s home town to team-teach lessons at different schools or grades or participate in other projects. Cross-training projects between alumni of different program countries. Development of a sister-school relationship between the U.S. host and international school or between the alumni schools in ILEP countries. Training workshop on incorporating technology in the classroom conducted by both a host university faculty member and international alumni at the alumni’s school. Or other projects as deemed appropriate by the selection committee. Non-collaborative School Grant Teacher training events in foreign participants’ home countries on topics such as lesson planning, teaching methodologies, or alternative education programs. Developing and/or pilot-testing of teaching materials. Establishing of teacher training resource centers, school newsletters or school-community related projects. Establishing parent-teacher associations or student government. Projects to purchase materials for alumni schools. Or other projects as deemed appropriate by the selection committee. Alumni Professional Development Grant Alumni training event on educating students with special needs. Alumni training on classroom management strategies. Training on how to be a leader in the community. Alumni conference where alumni demonstrate portions of their lesson plans that they have developed and pilot-tested since their ILEP program. Developing peer mediation or tolerance education programs in foreign participants’ home schools. Conducting seminars on gender equity and gender sensitivity in the classroom. Or other projects as deemed appropriate by the selection committee. Community Service Grant Organize a trip to a historical location for children from underprivileged schools Organize a national crafts workshop for children with disabilities Organize a series of leadership and team-building activities for children with disabilities Organize a day of fun and games at an orphanage or children’s hospital Organize a one-day soccer camp for teens at a rehabilitation center Develop a one-day training on healthy lifestyles for teenagers Develop a public awareness campaign on a social issues (i.e. Anti-drug campaign) Organize a book drive/toy drive Organize a volunteer event (i.e. cleaning a schoolyard or a park) Develop a mentoring program at school for children with disabilities Or other projects as deemed appropriate by the selection committee. State Alumni All ECA alumni are encouraged to register and use the State Alumni Web site, at https://alumni.state.gov. State Alumni is a Web-based interactive directory for alumni of Department of State exchange programs. It extends the exchange experience for alumni after they return home from the U.S. This site also allows alumni to stay in contact with one another-and with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs-through networking and the sharing of useful information about professional opportunities. State Alumni may help Project Smile applicants when formulating a project idea or disseminating information about your project to other alumni. ECA alumni are strongly encouraged to register. 5 WEAK APPLICATION SAMPLE BASIC PROJECT INFORMATION: Primary Applicant: 1) Ramesh Kumar Collaborative Applicant One (if applicable) 2) Collaborative Applicant Two (if applicable) 3) Project Title: Save Your Teeth Campaign Project Country: India Total Amount Requested from IREX: $ 383 Total Cost Share: $ 100 Grant Total (Requested from IREX + Cost Share ) $ 438 Type of Grant Applying for Continued (check one) Collaborative School Grant Non-Collaborative School Grant Alumni Professional Development Grant Community Service Grant Brief Project Description: Please provide a one paragraph description of your proposed project. International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) Small Grants Program Application A program of the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Department of State and implemented by IREX This project will work with two schools and surrounding communities to carry-out a raise awareness campaign to promote dental hygiene among the people in the community. 6 APPLICANT(S) INFORMATION: Primary Applicant* Co-Applicant 1 (Optional) Co-Applicant 2 (Optional) Full Name (Last, First, Middle) Ramesh Kumar Telephone Number: 91-822-452-5656 Mailing Address 123 L Boulevard, Kerati, India Mobile Number: 91-822-452-5656 E-mail Address: rkumar@gmail.com Work Institution and Title: Kerala High School, Senior Science Teacher Role in ILEP: (Check one) IEP 2007 Alumni ILEP 2008 Alumni ILEP 2009 Alumni IEP 2007 Alumni ILEP 2008 Alumni ILEP 2009 Alumni U.S. Collaborator IEP 2007 Alumni ILEP 2008 Alumni ILEP 2009 Alumni U.S. Collaborator 7 PROJECT PROPOSAL 1. Statement of Need Describe the needs or challenges facing the school/community that your project will address. Why do you want this grant? One of the areas of secondary education that is largely un-addressed in Kerati is health education. In our community there is no forum for people to obtain accurate information about general health. One of the ways that this is most clearly reflected is in dental health. It is common to see people of all ages walking around with rotting teeth and excruciating toothaches. This is an issue that needs to be tackled. 2. Project Goals and Objectives-The project goal must highlight what is the overall/overarching purpose of your proposed project. The objectives of your project must highlight what will be achieved or accomplished as a result of your project. What skills will be learned? What will people be able to do as a result of participating in your project? The general goal of the project is to increase the level of education within the region about dental health. The project will: • Train student and teacher volunteers to set-up a seminar for their classrooms and home communities. • Provide student and teacher volunteers with the materials to conduct an awareness raising campaign about proper dental health. 8 3. Targeted Beneficiaries-Please provide information about the demographics of the direct and indirect beneficiaries of your project (Who, how many, and where are they located) The project will train 10 volunteer teachers and 10 volunteer students about dental health. In addition, once the teachers and students are trained they will reach about 500 people in the school; they will also educate a lot of people in the community about how to take care of their teeth. 4. Project Collaborator(s) Roles-Please describe the role for the primary applicant and collaborator(s) during the project implementation. Applicant: • Organize the workshop logistics • Train the teacher and student volunteers • Purchase and distribute materials to teacher and student volunteers to conduct awareness raising campaigns • Write report 9 5. Project Activities-Outline how the project will be implemented and the different activities that will take place. Be sure to describe in detail any trainings, materials, services, etc., you will complete as a result of this project. Please include a detailed agenda for any proposed workshops. The first Save Your Teeth workshop will be conducted October 16-17 2009 for ten volunteer teachers and ten volunteer students. A local dentist has been identified to instruct the group on dental health and how to talk to people about it. The dentist will cover general information about how to take care of teeth, tooth aches and decay. The second day of the workshop the volunteers will be trained on how to conduct a workshop and campaign in their classrooms and/or communities promote dental hygiene. Save Your Teeth workshop. We will finish these two days by having each teacher and student fill out an evaluation form, giving feedback on the seminar. Follow-up will be conducted by the applicant to help teacher and student volunteers individually to set up their campaigns 10 6. Monitoring and Evaluation-Please describe how you plan to evaluate the success of the proposed project activities (i.e., pre and post project surveys, observation activities, etc.). How will you know you have succeeded? How will you measure success? The success of this project will be assessed by conducting observations visits during school and community events. The success of the workshop will be measured by the number of participants present in the workshops or campaign events. An observation tool will be developed to assess the teacher and student volunteers’ knowledge of the content and how well they are delivering the material. 11 7. Project Timeline-The project timeline should specify the period over which you plan to implement the project and how long it will take you to complete proposed project activities. Please be sure to include dates for specific activities, such as preparations, conferences, trainings, workshops, debriefs, monitoring and evaluation, report writing, etc. Dates Activity Person Responsible 9/10/09 – 9/15/09 Plan workshop Ramesh 10/16/09 -10/17/09 Conduct Save the Teeth workshop for teacher and student volunteers Ramesh 10/10/09 -10/20/09 Work with teacher and student volunteers to plan their school and community events Ramesh 10/30/09 -11/21/09 Volunteers conduct school and community events Ramesh 10/30/09 Conduct monitoring and evaluation of school and community events Ramesh 11/15/09 Write final project report and submit to IREX Ramesh 12 8. Project Budget with Notes. Complete the budget template thoroughly. Be sure to include financial information in U.S. dollars and to include all anticipated expenses, including taxes and wire fees, if applicable. Total funding requested cannot exceed $500 for community service grants and $5,000 for all other grants. Please see the budget and budget notes instructions for more detailed information. 9. Curriculum Vitae (CVs). Application packages must include the most recent CVs for each applicant. Please keep the CVs as brief as possible, highlighting educational and professional experience and only the work experience that directly relates to the project proposal (two page maximum per CV). 10. Supporting Materials. Fellows must provide the following supporting materials: • Support letter from participating U.S. and international schools; • Support letter from primary applicant’s home school that also certifies full-time teaching employment; • Support letter from institutions/individuals providing in-kind donations for the project; • Detailed agendas for any proposed workshops, conferences, or other events. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Applicants can submit their completed signed applications by email to ilepgrants@irex.org. If you have any questions, you may contact your IREX program contact or ilepgrants@irex.org. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT: I certify that the information provided in this application is complete and correct and that I have carefully read and understood all notes and disclaimers provided therein. Printed Name and Signature of Lead Applicant Date Printed Name and Signature of First Co-Applicant Date Printed Name and Signature of Second Co-Applicant Date Budget and Budget Notes Instructions You can either use the budget template on the next page of the application or the attached Microsoft Excel template (if you are downloading the application from the IREX website please download also the Excel budget template). If you encounter any problems downloading or using the template, please feel free to send questions to ilepgrants@irex.org. Please read the guidelines/instructions below carefully. If you intend to use the application form budget template on the next page please make sure that your calculations and total amounts are accurate. You will need to submit ONLY one budget either in Word format or in Excel format. 1. Please complete the information at the top of the worksheet including the Lead applicant, Coapplicant(s), and Project County information to properly identify your budget. 2. The budget MUST BE completed in US dollars, not in the applicant’s local currency. 3. The “Item Description” and “Unit Type” columns have preset categories and types to help guide the budget process. Some categories may not be applicable to your project: if this is the case do not enter any information in those cells. If there are categories that do need to be added, please do so under the cell labeled “other expense 1, 2, 3…” Change the name of the “Item Description” and enter the “Unit Type” in the appropriate cells. 4. The applicant MUST complete the columns labeled “Unit Cost” and the “Units Needed” in the budget. a. The term “unit cost” refers to the price that each individual item will cost you. b. The term “units needed” refers to how much of the individual item or service you will need to achieve your project. 5. For Excel template the applicant DOES NOT have to enter any information in the “Total” column of the project. This column has pre-set formulas that will automatically calculate the total cost in each line item when the applicant enters information in the “Unit Cost” and “Units Needed” columns. For the template on the next page the applicant will need to carefully calculate the total amounts and enter the information in the “Total” column. 6. Please refer to the Alumni Small Grant Application How-to-Guide for a description of the types of expenses that may be included in each category. 7. Cost-Share (In Kind Donation) column: Enter the value for goods (i.e. materials, equipment, food, etc) and/or services (parents or colleagues time volunteered to carry-out project activities) that you will receive from other sources such as your school, community or private business. 8. Notes Column: The notes column of the budget is to include a narrative explanation of each expense identified in the budget. Budget notes should include any assumptions about the expense and clearly explain how the figures used were arrived at. 14 Unit Type Unit Cost Units Needed Total Requeste d from IREX Cost Share In-Kind Donations Notes Round Trip International Airfare round-trip ----Round Trip Domestic Airfare round-trip ----round-trip ----round-trip ------per-day ----per-day ----per-day ------per-day ---100 The venue for the teachers and student volunteers will be donated by the school Participant Transportation per-person ----per-person ----per-person 2 2 0 4 0 -The anticipated cost of purchasing refreshments for the two day workshop is estimated at $2 per person. one-time 300 1 3 00 -The cost to purchase workshop materials and supplies is about $300. The materials and supplies that will be purchased include poster boards markers, pens, color paper, scissors, per-person ----toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. per-month ----each ----5% 18 1 1 8 -It is anticipated that the applicant will have to pay $18 in taxes to the government from funds received for this award. per project 25 1 2 5 -The anticipated cost for monitoring and evaluation is about $25, this includes the cost of transportation to "Save Your Teeth" events conducted by the student and teacher volunteers Subtotal Other Costs 3 83 100 3 83 100 Venue Rental Participant lodging Primary Applicant: Ramesh Kumar Co-Applicant(s): Project Country: India Project Expenses Project Budget Meals and Incidentals Other Costs Item Description Travel expenses Subtotal Per Diem Subtotal Travel Ground Transportation (US) Ground Transportation (Int'l) Hotel Room (in-transit) Per Diem Hotel Room (in-country) Total costs Taxes Activity meals and refreshments Monitoring and Evaluation Materials & Supplies Visa Fees Communications Equipment rental