Full Text PAR-95-013 NCRR MINORITY INITIATIVE: K-12 TEACHERS AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS NIH GUIDE, Volume 23, Number 45, December 23, 1994 PA NUMBER: PAR-95-013 P.T. 34, FF Keywords: Biomedical Research, Multidiscipl Behavioral/Social Studies/Service Biomedical Research Training National Center for Research Resources Application Receipt Date: March 29, 1995 PURPOSE As part of its continuing commitment to strengthen the quality of precollege health science education, the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) encourages the submission of applications for a program aimed at increasing the pool of underrepresented minority high school students who are interested in pursuing and academically prepared to pursue careers in biomedical/behavioral research and the health professions. The program will include both K-12 inservice and preservice teachers and minority high school students. This program, the "NCRR Minority Initiative: K-12 Teachers and High School Students," was first announced in FY 1994 to replace the S03 "Minority High School Student Research Apprentice Program" (MHSSRAP), which is being phased out and will not be available for FY 1996. This program announcement represents the third and final phase of this transition. The main component of this program is to provide structured summer science research experiences under the direction of active biomedical/behavioral researchers for both teachers and minority high school students. The individualized research experiences and other activities are intended to: (1) allow teachers to keep pace with the explosive growth of scientific knowledge in health-related areas, enable them to develop new discovery-oriented educational strategies, and transfer this new knowledge to their students; and (2) provide students with a personalized, hands-on exposure to health-related research that stimulates their research interest and encourages decisions towards careers in the health sciences. A long-range goal of the program is to establish and/or strengthen partnerships between biomedical research institutions and K-12 schools by developing mentoring ties among teachers, minority students, and biomedical/behavioral researchers that will result in creating more pathways for minority students to establish careers in the health sciences. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Health People 2000," a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This Program Announcement, NCRR Minority Initiative: K-12 Teachers and High School Students, is related to many of the areas discussed in this publication. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or "Healthy People 2000" (Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applications may be submitted by domestic, for-profit and non-profit organizations, public and private, such as universities, colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of State and local governments, and eligible agencies of the Federal government. Foreign institutions and high schools may not apply. Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply as program directors. Underrepresented minorities are defined as individuals belonging to a particular ethnic or racial group that has been determined by the grantee institution to be underrepresented in biomedical or behavioral research. Individuals who have been found to be underrepresented in biomedical or behavioral research nationally include Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Students are defined as those who are enrolled in high school during the current academic year, or who have just graduated from high school. Participants must be U.S. citizens or have a permanent visa. Inservice teachers include elementary, middle, junior, and senior high school science teachers. In order to maximize the program's impact on minority students, teachers must be members of a minority group or teach a significant number of minority students. Preservice teachers are those teachers in training and enrolled in preservice education programs and who have expressed an interest in teaching life sciences at the K-12 level with a focus on minority students. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT Awards under this Program Announcement will use the education project (R25) grant mechanism. Responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution of the proposed project will be solely that of the applicant. The total project period for applications submitted in response to this Program Announcement may not exceed three years. Because of the wide range in the size and type of institutions that may apply, it is anticipated that the sizes of the awards may also vary. The earliest anticipated award date is December 1, 1995. Applications must request support for both students and teachers, with a minimum of eight students per year unless justification is provided. Indirect costs, other than those awarded to State or local government agencies, will be reimbursed at eight percent of total allowable direct costs. State and local government agencies will receive reimbursement at their full indirect cost rate. Allowable costs Funds for personnel costs may only be requested for eligible students and teachers and must be paid as salaries and wages for work performed; stipends are not allowable costs under this program. Applicant organizations must establish the rate of salary and fringe benefit compensation to be provided for students and teachers employed on the grant activity; however a maximum of $2,000 per student, $3,000 per preservice teacher and $5,000 per inservice teacher may be requested for salary and fringe benefits for a summer experience. Part-time experiences during the academic year would be reimbursed at the same hourly rate. Students' salaries should be based on the prevailing scale for comparable type work, but should not be less than the Federal minimum hourly wage. Funds to defray other costs such as supplies can be requested as a lump sum of up to $250 per participant per year. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Background Relative to their representation in the general population, minority Americans are severely underrepresented in scientific and health fields at every level, from the professional workforce - physicians, dentists, research scientists - through all levels of the educational system. Although there are a number of factors for this underrepresentation, it is generally agreed that the long-term resolution of this problem centers at improving science education of minority youths at the early stages of the educational process. With the rapid pace of technological innovations and the increasing number of occupations that require a knowledge of scientific principles, as well as the predicted increase in the minority population, it is imperative that precollege education further enhance the capacity and capability of minority youth to become more productive and competitive in tomorrow's work force. The primary objectives of this program are to improve the quality of precollege science education and to increase the pool of minorities interested and prepared to enter college and pursue a career in the biomedical/behavioral sciences. Program Characteristics The Program Director will be responsible for the selection and recruitment of students, teachers, and mentors, as well as for the overall direction of the program. The Program Director must be a biomedical/behavioral scientist or an experienced science educator employed by the applicant organization. The program has two major activities. The first is for minority high school students; the second is for K-12 inservice and preservice teachers. While the proposed program should be best suited to an institution's own strengths and characteristics, at a minimum, each program should include: o a description of the proposed overall program plan (specific research projects should not be described); o a description of the research environment (ongoing research activity, availability of equipment, facilities, resources); o methods and criteria for student, teacher, and mentor recruitment and selection; o methods to assign students and teachers to mentors; o the length of the research experiences; o other special enrichment activities available to students and teachers; o plans to evaluate program progress; o prior accomplishments of the institution in precollege education; o the impact of other precollege programs, if any, for the proposed program; and o the level of institutional commitment to precollege programs and partnerships. Criteria for selection of mentors must include: commitment to improving the quality of precollege science education, the ability and time to work with high school students and teachers to instill an understanding of research and the technical skills needed. Mentors must have active biomedical or behavioral research support and/or a recent publication history in biomedical/behavioral research. Research support can include NIH or other Federal agency support or private or institutional grants. An evaluation component must be included as part of the application. Methods, formative in nature, should be devised to evaluate whether or not the program is making progress in meeting the program goals. For example, information should be collected to learn if the program is helping teachers integrate new concepts in health sciences into the classrooms. Student participants should be assessed to determine if it has increased their awareness and/or interest in the health sciences. To the extent possible, the progress of students should be tracked to determine if they attended and/or graduated from college and, if so, their major academic area of concentration. Specific characteristics regarding the student and teacher activities are as follows. Student Activities The most important aspect of this program is the research laboratory experience. In this program, high school students, no more than two students to one mentor, work in an active research laboratory for approximately six to eight weeks in the summer. It is expected that the applicant will describe a research program that will provide: o an independent, hands-on, mentored laboratory experience with attainable goals which introduces the students to some of the latest concepts in biomedical science; o mentoring and career guidance by biomedical/behavioral scientists; o an opportunity for students to participate in various laboratory activities and to acquaint them with the environment and resources of the institution. A program of special summer scientific enrichment activities must be proposed. Such activities may include, but are not limited to: programs on research opportunities and careers within the health sciences, bioethical issues in biomedical/behavioral research, or implications of the human genome effort. A final forum should be held where students present their research results. Students are expected to devote sufficient effort to the research project and related activities during the period of support to gain insight into the process of scientific discovery. In order to maximize the long-term effects of the summer experience, follow-up activities such as seminars, workshops or Saturday study groups may occur during the academic year if the students are located within reasonable distance of the research institution. Mentors should also try to visit students' schools to meet with teachers, recruit future candidates for the program and help build effective partnerships between the research institutions and secondary schools. Recruitment and selection criteria for students should include: the student's motivation, ability, scholastic aptitude, and accomplishments. In addition, consideration should be given to science teachers' recommendations. Teacher Activities K-12 teachers are the key individuals in increasing the pool of scientifically skilled minority high school students. However, most preservice teaching programs do not require a hands-on laboratory experience; most elementary school teachers have had no opportunity for training in science; and most middle, junior, and senior high school teachers need retraining in the latest scientific concepts. To address these deficiencies, the proposed program should provide inservice and preservice teachers with an intensive hands-on mentored laboratory research experience of four weeks or more that: o exposes them to contemporary concepts in the health sciences o introduces them to modern laboratory techniques, including computers; o enables them, in collaboration with their research mentor, to prepare new discovery-based lesson plans. Unless the teachers' schools are geographically remote, the teacher programs must include follow-up components in which the participants discuss their experiences in implementing new scientific activities into the classroom. An important aspect of the program is to develop continuing partnership relationships between teachers and mentors to improve the teaching of life sciences at the precollege level and to stimulate students' interest in health science careers. Recruitment and selection criteria for inservice teachers should include: experience and teaching responsibilities, level of interest in participating in a research program, expected impact on their teaching programs, ability to stimulate minority students to pursue scientific careers, and future plans for continued interaction with the research institution. Recruitment and selection criteria for preservice teachers should include the commitment to participate in a research program and the expressed interest to teach life sciences at the K-12 level with a focus on minority students. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91). Application kits are available in most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be requested from the Office of Grants Information, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, 5333 Westbard Avenue, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone (301) 710-0267. The title and number of the program announcement must be typed in Section 2a on the face page of the application. Applications must follow the instructions provided in the form PHS 398 form except for the following: Form Page 1 Item 2b. - Type "R25" in 2b. Item 4. Human Subjects - Not relevant (no project description). Item 5. Vertebrate Animals - Not relevant (no project description). Item 6. The project period start date should be no earlier than 12-01-95, and should allow sufficient time to permit grantees to adequately plan and implement the activity for the summer 1996. The length of the project period may not exceed three years. Form Page 4 - Detailed Budget for Initial Budget Period. Personnel Category - Follow the instructions provided in the PHS 398 regarding the Principal Investigator/Program Director. Students and teachers must be treated as employees (not trainees) at the grantee organization during the period of their grant-supported research experience. Use successive lines in the Personnel Category to indicate the number of positions being requested for students, preservice, and inservice teachers. For each of these classifications, provide the requested information for all columns in the Personnel category. If students and/or teachers will be working during the academic year as well as the summer, use separate lines to display the summer/academic information, following the instructions provided on pages 16 and 17 of the PHS 398 kit. Since the student and teacher work experiences may be measured by the grantee in weekly or monthly employment terms, applicants may reflect the columnar information in such a manner. Following the Personnel category columns, an example might be: Name: 8 students - summer; Role on project: lab worker; Type Appt: 8wks; Effort on project: 40 hrs/wk; Inst. base salary: $/hr. Calculate and enter the salary, fringe benefit, and total dollars requested information. Continuing the example, the next line might reflect: 2 students - academic year, 1 wk, 20 hrs/wk, etc. Other Expenses - Up to $250 per student and teacher participant may be requested as a lump sum to defray costs such as supplies required for their research experiences. Form Page 5 - Budget for the Entire Proposed Project Period - Follow instructions provided on page 19 of the PHS 398 kit. Justification - Applicants must clearly describe and provide sufficient detail regarding the support requested for students, preservice, and inservice teachers to permit the reviewers to evaluate the requested costs compared to the proposed length of the research experience. A suitable example would separately describe the number and types of student and teacher positions being requested for summer and, if applicable, academic year activity, and would include for each the number of hours/week, total number of weeks of the experience, and the rate of compensation. Applicants should also explain any increases or decreases over the initial budget period, e.g., if students and/or teachers are expected to return for a portion of a succeeding period and will require salary and other support during this period. Again, provide sufficient detail to permit the reviewers to evaluate the proposed request. Additional Form Pages Biographical Sketch Page - Provide a biographical sketch for the Program Director and each proposed mentor, strictly adhering to the 2 page limitation for each. Other Support Page - Provide the information requested for the Program Director and each proposed mentor. Resources and Environment Page - Follow the PHS 398 instructions. Specific Instructions - Research Plan The following instructions should be used in lieu of the PHS 398 instructions for this section of the application. The Research Plan section of the application must strictly adhere to a limit of 15 pages, excluding a maximum of three letters of institutional support. Include sufficient information to facilitate an effective review; be specific, informative, and avoid redundancies. The outline suggested below should be followed in describing the program. A. Background If the applicant institution has held a MHSSRAP grant in the past, describe the history of the program, the type and size of the program (number of students and teachers) and any program accomplishments including tracking data for the students, if available. Information may be provided in tabular form. Prior accomplishments of the institution in other precollege science activities may also be included. B. Proposed Program Provide information regarding: 1. A description of the proposed program; 2. A description of the research environment and how it relates to the proposed program (e.g., ongoing research activity, availability of equipment, facilities, and resources); 3. Methods and criteria for student, teacher, and mentor recruitment and selection; 4. Methods to assign students and teachers to mentors (specific research projects should not be described) but a description of the general scientific skills to be learned should be included); 5. The length of the student, preservice, and inservice teacher research programs; 6. Other special enrichment activities available to the students and teachers; 7. Plans for formative evaluation of the program. C. Institutional Supporting Data Include a minimum of one and a maximum of three letters of institutional support. The letter(s) should be from a highly placed institutional official, at the level of Dean or above (or similar high level administrative official), who is in a position to commit the institutional resources necessary to assure effective conduct of the program. Appendix - No appendix material will be allowed. The signed, typewritten original of the application, including the Checklist, and three exact photocopies of the signed application must be submitted to: Division of Research Grants National Institutes of Health Westwood Building, Room 240 Bethesda, MD 20892** At time of submission, two additional copies of the application must also be sent to: Dr. Marjorie A. Tingle Biomedical Research Support Program National Center for Research Resources Westwood Building, Room 848 Bethesda, MD 20892 Applications must be submitted by March 29, 1995. Applications submitted after this date will be returned to the applicant. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness by DRG and responsiveness by the NCRR. Incomplete applications will be returned to the applicant without further consideration. If staff find that the application is not responsive to this program, it will be returned without further consideration. Applications that are complete and responsive to this program announcement will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer review group convened by the NCRR in accordance with the review criteria stated below. As part of the initial merit review, a process (triage) may be used by the initial review group in which applications will be determined to be competitive or non- competitive based on their scientific merit relative to other applications received in response to this program announcement. Applications judged to be competitive will be discussed and be assigned a priority score. Applications determined to be non- competitive will be withdrawn from further consideration and the principal investigator/program director and the official signing for the applicant organization will be notified. Review Criteria o quality of the overall scientific and educational content of the proposed program including research laboratory and special enrichment activities; o appropriateness of the plans considering the size, strengths, and characteristics of the institution; o the qualifications of the Program Director and the proposed mentors; o the quality of the method of recruitment, selection and assignment of students, teachers, and mentors; o the quality of the institution's plans for a formative evaluation of the program; o the extent of the institutional commitment to providing a quality research experience and to precollege education partnerships; and o the extent of prior accomplishments in precollege education. The second level of review will be provided by the National Advisory Research Resources Council in September 1995. AWARD CRITERIA The following will be considered when making funding decisions: the quality of the proposed application as determined by peer review, availability of funds, program balance among the types of institutions, and geographic distribution of the awards. INQUIRIES Inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Dr. Marjorie A. Tingle Biomedical Research Support Program National Center for Research Resources Westwood Building, Room 848 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 594-7947 Email: BRSPK12@EP.NCRR.NIH.GOV Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Ms. Mary V. Niemiec Office of Grants and Contracts Management National Center for Research Resources Westwood Building, Room 849 Bethesda, MD 20892 Telephone: (301) 594-7955 Email: MaryN@EP.NCRR.NIH.GOV AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance No.93.922. Awards will be made under authorization of the Public Health Service Act, Title III, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended, 42 USC 241) and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Part 74. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements for Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. The Public Health Service (PHS) strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people. .
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