Embassy of the United States

Educational Exchange

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Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program

Deadline: 5:00 p.m. local time, June 17, 2009

The Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA) will provide international teachers with unique opportunities to develop expertise in their subject areas, enhance their teaching skills, and increase their knowledge of the United States.

TEA is a bilateral exchange program that will provide 156 secondary school teachers from Europe and Eurasia, East Asia and the Pacific, the Near East, South and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Western Hemisphere with a six-week professional development program at three U.S. universities or colleges. The international participants will travel to the United States in two cohorts of 75-78 teachers each in spring or fall 2010. Their program will include coursework and intensive training in teaching methodologies, lesson planning, and teaching strategies for the participants’ home environment, as well as the use of computers for Internet, word processing, and as teaching tools. The 6-week program will also include a 2-week internship at a secondary school to actively engage participants with American teachers and students. Trips to U.S. cultural sites and academic support will be provided for participants throughout the program.

Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA) Seeks to:

• Enhance teachers’ expertise in their teaching discipline and equip them with a deeper understanding of best practices in teaching methodologies, lesson planning, and the use of technology in teaching.
• Create among educators a more nuanced understanding of the U.S.
• Develop productive and lasting relationships and mutual understanding between U.S. and international teachers and their students.
• Contribute to improving teaching in participating countries by preparing participants to serve as teacher leaders, who upon returning home will apply and share their experience and skills with their peers and students.

Eligible Teaching Disciplines for the Programs are:

• English as a Foreign Language,
• Social Sciences (social studies, civics, history, or geography)
• Mathematics and Science

Please Return Completed Applications to:

The Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy
#1, Street 96, Sangkat Wat Phnom, Khan Daun Penh
Fax: 855-23-728-800
Telephone: 855-23-728-248
Email: chaus@state.gov
Contact Person: Chau Sa

Note: Click here (Word - 135 KB) to download the application form
Deadline: 5:00 p.m. local time, June 17, 2009

Program Dates

Application Deadline: June 17, 2009
Semi-Finalist Interviews: June 2009
Notification of Program Finalists: September 2009

TEA U.S. Program Dates:

Cohort 1: February – March 2010
Cohort 2: September – November 2010

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must:

• Be secondary school-level, full-time teachers with five or more years of classroom experience in TEA teaching disciplines;
• Be citizens of and residents in eligible TEA countries;
• Have proficiency in written and spoken English;
• Continue teaching for at least five years after completion of the program; and
• Have submitted a complete application.
• Former participants of ILEP, TEA, Partners in Education (PiE) or the
• Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program are ineligible to apply.

Applications not meeting the above eligibility requirements will not be forwarded to the selection committee.

Current IREX employees and consultants and their immediate family members (spouses, parents, children, and siblings) are not eligible to compete in any IREX-implemented grant programs, either as individuals or as the responsible party representing an institutional applicant. IREX does not discriminate against grant applicants because of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability or any other protected characteristic as established by U.S. law.

IREX reserves the right to verify all of the information included in the application. In the event that there is a discrepancy, or information is found to be false, the application will immediately be declared invalid and the applicant ineligible.

Financial Provisions Of the Fellowship

• J-1 visa support;
• A pre-departure orientation held in participant’s home country;
• Round-trip airfare to and within the U.S.;
• A Welcome Orientation in Washington, D.C.;
• Academic program fees;
• Housing (generally shared with other program fellows) and meals;
• Accident and sickness coverage;
• Transportation to the internship school (if necessary);
• A book/professional development allowance;
• A Closing Seminar;
• The opportunity to host a U.S. teacher for two weeks; and
• The opportunity to apply for follow-on grants.

Selection Process and Criteria

TEA fellows will be selected through a merit-based open competition. After the application deadline, U.S. Embassy and/or Fulbright Commission staff in the applicants’ home countries will review all eligible applications. Top candidates will be interviewed by an interview panel and must take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examination or provide valid results no more than 1 year old. The final selection will be based on the top candidates application, interview and TOEFL test results.

Selection Criteria (not in order of importance)

• Demonstrated commitment to teaching in the field of secondary education;
• Demonstrated leadership potential;
• Professional and educational experience and achievements;
• Potential for developing long-term linkages between U.S. and home country educational institutions and schools;
• Preparedness (including maturity, flexibility, and ability to function independently) for an intensive U.S.-based training program.
• Ability to express ideas clearly and effectively; and
• English language skills adequate to develop lesson plans, conduct research, audit classes in U.S. host universities, and team-teach in U.S. schools (a minimum score of 450 in TOEFL is required for TEA program participation).

Applicants who have had few or no opportunities to travel to the U.S. will be given priority.

General Application Instructions & Submission Guidelines

• Please answer all questions on the application.
• Please type or print in black ink. 
• If a question does not apply to you, enter N/A (not applicable).
• Include your full, legal name as spelled on your passport (if available) or other photo identification.
• Include complete contact information (including zip codes for all addresses and city codes for all phone and fax numbers if available).
• Write your full name, city, and country in the top right corner of each page.
• You may attach additional pages if necessary to answer the questions completely.
• Please indicate in which cohort (spring, or fall 2010) you would prefer to participate. (Please note that effort will be made to accommodate your first choice; however, applicants will be considered for both programs and placement in your first choice is not guaranteed.

Completed applications must be submitted to the Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy or Commission no later than June 17, 2009, 5:00 p.m. local time. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Recommendations and Institution Support Form

All applicants must include:

1. One completed recommendation form from a person who is familiar with your professional work. Recommendations may be from colleagues or supervisors. Recommendations must be submitted with the application. Recommendations submitted separately will not be accepted.  A family member may not write the recommendation. Please provide an English translation of recommendation letter if it is not written in English.
2. An Institution Support Form completed by the director of the school for which you are employed. This form will confirm that the school supports your participation in this program. Please provide an English translation of the Institution Support Form if it is not written in English.

The same individual may complete the recommendation form and institution support form so long as that person is the head or chair of the school at which the applicant is employed.

Applicants must submit the original application and four complete copies (for a total of five copies).  Each copy of the application should be submitted in the following order:

1. Application,
2. Curriculum vitae (see sample format),
3. Statement of purpose,
4. Completed recommendation form and letter as well as completed institution support form, and
5. A copy of your passport (or photo identification).

Each complete application should look identical and be stapled.  No other form of binding is permitted.