Study of the U.S. Institutes for Secondary Educators 2024 (United States)

The SUSIs for Secondary Educators will provide multinational groups of experienced secondary level educators with a deeper understanding of U.S. society, education, culture, values, and institutions. The program will be designed to strengthen curricula and improve the quality of teaching about the United States in secondary schools and academic institutions abroad. Two of the Institutes will be for teachers; one Institute will be for secondary-level education administrators and other educational professionals, including, but not limited to, curriculum developers, ministry of education officials, teacher trainers, and textbook writers. Each Institute will have a four-week academic residency at a U.S. academic institution and a one week integrated study tour that will expose the participants to a community (or multiple communities) representing a culture and/or region distinct from that of their academic residency. Each Institute will host approximately 20 participants, for a total of approximately 60 foreign secondary educators across three Institutes.

The award recipient will be responsible for planning, overseeing, and implementing the program, including administering the three Institutes and overseeing all subaward recipients. Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization. In cases where more than one submission from an applicant appears in Grants.gov, ECA will only consider the submission made closest in time to the NOFO deadline; that submission would constitute the one and only proposal ECA would review from that applicant.

Purpose

• SUSIs for Secondary Educators are intensive academic programs whose purpose is to provide foreign secondary-level educators (administrators, curriculum developers, education ministry officials, teachers, teacher trainers, and textbook writers) the opportunity to deepen their understanding of U.S. society, education, culture, and institutions. The goal is to strengthen courses and teaching about the United States at secondary schools and teacher training institutions abroad.

Funding Information

• Fiscal Year Funds: FY 2024 – base year $1,200,000, pending the availability of funds; FY 2025 – NCC year-one $1,200,000, pending successful performance and the availability of funds; FY 2026 – NCC year-two $1,200,000, pending successful performance and the availability of funds.
• Approximate Number of Awards: One.
• Approximate Average Award: $1,200,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Minimum “Floor” of Award: None.
• Maximum “Ceiling” of Award: $1,200,000 (for the FY 2024 base year only), pending the availability of funds
• Anticipated Award Date: September 1, 2024, pending the availability of funds.
• Anticipated Project Completion Date: December 31, 2028. This date reflects the anticipated duration of the award – one base year plus two NCC years.

Participants

• Participants in the SUSIs for Secondary Educators will be secondary-level educators (administrators, curriculum developers, education ministry officials, teachers, teacher trainers, and textbook writers) with proficient English language skills. The program will host approximately 20 participants per Institute. The recipient will NOT participate in the selection of these participants. The U.S. embassy and consulates will nominate candidates, and ECA will make the final participant selections. Every effort will be made to select a gender-balanced group. ECA will send a final list of participants to the award recipient in the spring prior to the summer program.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants: U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange-of-persons, and other not for-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit applications for this competition. Applicants must have nonprofit status with the IRS at the time of application.
• Other Eligibility Requirements
  • The following additional eligibility requirements apply to this NOFO announcement:
    • ECA’s grant guidelines require that organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges be limited to $130,000 in ECA funding. ECA anticipates making one cooperative agreement, in an amount of $1,200,000 to support all costs required to implement this exchange program. Therefore, organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges are ineligible to apply under this competition.
    • All proposals must comply with the requirements stated in the NOFO, POGI, and the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI); non-compliance will result in your proposal being declared technically ineligible and given no further consideration in the review process.
    • In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number.
    • Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.