DEADLINE December 1, 2009: Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) Program Reciprocal Exchange

Under the Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA), the U.S. Department of State and IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board) announce a competition for middle and high school teachers from the United States to participate in a two-week professional exchange program.

The program is fully funded and provides: visa support, round-trip domestic airfare, lodging and meals to attend the TEA U.S. Conference, round-trip airfare from the U.S. to the assigned country, emergency medical evacuation plan, and lodging and a daily stipend in the host country.

Applications are due December 1, 2009 for travel in spring or summer of 2011. If you have started an application, we encourage you to complete and submit your application before the deadline. If you have not started an application, please click click here:

http://www.irex.org/programs/tea/tea_us.asp

Selection will be made January, 2010 and grantees will be expected to meet with their TEA International counterparts at a conference in the US in either March or November, 2010.

Who can apply?
• Secondary-level (middle or high school) teaching professionals with five or more years of classroom experience;
• Teachers who spend 75% of their work week in a direct classroom instruction role in one of the following disciplines: English as a Second Language, English Language or Literature, social studies, math, or science;
• U.S. citizens, and;
• Able to travel in spring or summer 2011 to one of the aforementioned countries.

Where can I go?
Grants are available for travel to Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, or Ukraine.

Please note that teachers are matched to the needs of the host country based on the strengths of the grant recipient, so you may not be guaranteed your preferred destination.

For more information, contact tea[at]irex.org.