Goals and Objectives
Request for Applications
Priority Countries
Monitoring and Evaluation

The enthusiasm of the students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and Ministry of Education officials who have participated in and/or observed MEPI and USAID funded civic education programs in the Near East/North Africa presents an opportunity to expand the reach of civic education. MEPI and USAID are working together to deepen civic education program offerings through the creation of the Civic Education Partnership Initiative (CEPI). This three-year program will identify and develop a comprehensive portfolio of civic education modules to reinforce the teaching and learning of civic values and skills in the education systems in priority countries in the Near East and/or North Africa (view the list of priority countries).

Goals and Objectives

Goals

• Strengthened capacity of institutions and organizations in partner countries in North Africa and/or the Near East to provide leadership in the area of civic education;

• Civic Education strengthened throughout the formal education systems in the identified partner countries focused on students in grades K – 12; and

• The development of innovative and effective materials, procedures, and modules to complement and reinforce the teaching and learning of civic values and skills in formal education systems, and to create civic links between schools and communities in the identified partner countries.

Objectives

• Higher education specialists, Ministry officials, NGOs, and other stakeholders will be engaged in the planning and implementation of civic education into the formal education systems resulting in a participatory approach to education planning and delivery;

• Existing education modules from other civic education programs will be identified and adapted for the identified partner countries, resulting in the prudent use of resources;

• Additional civic education modules will be developed as necessary to reinforce learning of culturally appropriate civic values and skills throughout the education system and to create civic linkages between schools and communities;

• Pre-service teacher training and new didactic approaches for incorporating civic education into K – 12 education will be developed as necessary to result in a more integrated and effective civic education effort; and

• Teacher training programs will promote the skills necessary to evaluate student learning, comprehension and ability to apply basic civic education principals.

Request for Applications

HED seeks applications that identify 2 to 3 countries from the list of priority countries for a program to: (1) review existing civic education modules and programs to identify strengths and opportunities for new programs; (2) engage key stakeholders in the review of these programs and in the development of new modules to address the identified opportunities; (3) institutionalize the new modules in pre-service teacher education programs in the identified countries; and (4) develop appropriate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to measure the impact of the civic education initiatives on participants.

The Awardee is expected to work closely with existing MEPI/USAID funded civic education programs. Applicants must clearly articulate MEPI and USAID's civic education achievements in the identified host countries and indicate how they will build on these achievements.

Partners will identify innovative and tested civic education modules presently used in civic education programs and present them for discussion with Ministries of Education, civil society and educational leaders. Through a process of discussion and collaboration with these partners, the successful applicant will develop new modules and approaches to achieve integrated, effective and sustainable civic education efforts. Activities are expected to expand on current offerings.

The successful applicant will demonstrate that the U.S. institution or consortium of institutions possesses a depth of experience and a wealth of contacts in the identified countries and is able to work successfully in partnership with Ministry of Education officials, academic leaders, NGOs, and other partners to achieve these objectives. Please note that applicants are strongly discouraged from contacting Ministries of Education prior to the awarding of the grant.

Applications must propose a program that develops materials, procedures and modules that complement and reinforce the teaching and learning of civic values and skills throughout the education systems. Partners must consider a wide variety of civic education approaches, including classroom-based approaches as well as approaches that specifically aim to link schools to communities (e.g., school-local government linkages, student councils engaging in service learning activities in their communities, etc.).

Proposed activities must include:

• Conducting and inventory of existing civic education modules and approaches that will later be vetted by CEPI partners. This inventory should be organized and documented in such a way that it can serve as a reference booklet.

• Workshops for key decision makers and civic education specialists in the host countries. These initial discussions will showcase existing programs and identify needs, gaps and synergies, set the stage for the development of new civic education modules, and invite leaders to identify host country specialists to participate in the development of these modules;

• Workshops where educational authorities from the Near East and/or North Africa would be introduced to the modules;

• Training workshops for master trainers from Ministries of Education and teacher training institutions where participants would learn the necessary skills to apply the modules and train others. These training workshops would prepare the master trainers, in concert with Ministries of Education, to initiate pilot programs in selected schools in the identified countries. A cadre of educators should also receive training in monitoring and evaluation methods to be applied in the assessment of the pilot programs; and

• Workshops on evaluation for educational leaders, teacher trainers and appropriate educators to impart a foundation of knowledge, skills and tools in evaluation theory and practice supplemented with the tools of the evaluation trade — qualitative and quantitative inquiry methods, survey design, communication skills, and computer database analysis experience — gleaned not only from time in the classroom, but also from internships and collaboration with evaluation professionals in real-world settings.

Activities should promote the adoption of civic education modules in pre-service teacher education programs and build a base of skills, experience and leadership in these institutions necessary to perpetuate and expand the programs.

Applicants are encouraged to explore opportunities to further civic education efforts through the innovative use of media and internet communication technologies (ICT) and through partnerships with nontraditional actors, such as the private sector. Applicants must indicate how they will ensure the active engagement of youth and students throughout the entirety of the program.

*NOTE: Applicants should budget $600,000 of the award total for the first year, with the remaining award amount for the second and third years.

Priority Countries

Applicants must identify two or three (2-3) partner countries from the Near East and/or North Africa region.

To build on previous achievements in civic education, MEPI and USAID recommend that applicants consider the following list of priority countries. While this list represents MEPI and USAID's priorities for CEPI, it is not meant to be exclusive.

Algeria
Bahrain
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Morocco
Oman
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Yemen

Monitoring and Evaluation

Applications must contain a program monitoring and evaluation plan that contains:

• Evidence of an overall monitoring and evaluation plan over the life of the award that reflects a realistic effort to assess partnership effectiveness;

  Evidence of well-defined project objectives that describe planned activities and expected outcomes and/or changes as a result of those activities;

• Provision for a concise and thorough baseline description of the identified countries’ civic education environment;

• A clear monitoring plan that tracks progress of activities related to stated goals and objectives; and

• Evidence of a mechanism and plan to evaluate impact of activities related to stated goals and objectives.