NSLI-Y Evaluation U.S. High School Administrator/Teacher Interview Protocol

NSLI-Y Evaluation

U.S. High School Administrator/Teacher Interview Protocol

Thank you for agreeing to participate in an interview for the NSLI-Y evaluation. As you know, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) has contracted the Dexis Consulting Group to conduct an independent evaluation of NSLI-Y programs between 2008 and 2017. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess NSLI-Y’s progress to date and to provide ECA with lessons learned and recommendations to improve the impact and effectiveness of programs in the future. You have a unique perspective to contribute to this evaluation. We would like to learn about your observations of and experience with your NSLI-Y program to better understand the progress, successes, and challenges of NSLI-Y so far. This interview will take approximately 25-30 minutes to complete.

Please note that your participation in this interview is voluntary. You should be aware that:

• Any response you provide may be reported in the final report as part of aggregated quantitative analysis or de-identified qualitative insights from comments.

Thank you in advance for your time and input!

Before we start, please tell us a little bit about your role in the school and your experience with NSLI-Y program and other exchange programs to date. [Probe on title, years of experience with the school, experience with the NSLI-Y program, any other exchange programs that school has participated in/supported, and the number of students per year who participate in exchange programs (as best they know).]

The NSLI-Y Program Experience

1. How did you first learn about the NSLI-Y scholarship program? How do you typically learn about study abroad and exchange opportunities for high schoolers?

2. As you may recall, NSLI-Y provides fully funded language study in both summer programs and academic year-long programs. What appeals to you about the NSLI-Y program? What, if anything, makes it stand out from the other study abroad opportunities you are familiar with?

3. Based on your experience with NSLI-Y [and other programs targeting the same age group], are there particular aspects of the program that you would change or new elements you would add to enhance the program? (EQ 1.c) If so, what are they? [Probe on pain points for administration, recruitment of participants, length of time of the program, navigating state or district requirements, etc.]

4. What do you think motivates students to apply to the NSLI-Y program? [If they don’t bring it up themselves or in the previous question, probe on whether NSLI-Y has any unique appealing factors vs other exchange programs]

5. Did your school provide credit for students’ participation in the NSLI-Y program? If yes, how? [focus on process] If no, why not? What would help in providing credit? [final sub question leads into related q5]

Information Sharing

6. When students have returned from the NSLI-Y program, have they shared that experience with their peers and teachers at school?

   1. If so, what kinds of information have they shared, and how useful has that been for others? For you?

Impacts on Alumni and Communities

7. How would you describe the change in language proficiency for most participants over the course of their program? (EQ 2.a) [Probe on summer program and academic year program]

8. Other than increased language proficiency, what kinds of changes, if any, have you seen in the NSLI-Y participants? (EQ 5, EQ 2) [Probe on knowledge of host country, academic interests, career interests, community service interests, leadership skills, self-awareness, self-confidence, critical thinking skills, world view, etc.]

9. From your perspective, how, if at all, has NSLI-Y allowed alumni to benefit their international host communities and their home communities? (EQ 4) [Probe on increases in student exchange participation, international days celebrated, sister city arrangements (if known), increased enrollment in foreign language classes (in school/out of school), etc.)

Conclusion

10. Would you be willing to be contacted by ECA about this or other exchange opportunities?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION and support for international exchange!

OMB Control Number: 1405-XXXX Burden Estimate:  35 minutes Expiration Date: XX-XX-XXXX

PRA Statement Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 35 minutes per response, including time required for searching existing data sources, gathering the necessary documentation, providing the information and/or documents required, and reviewing the final collection.  You do not have to supply this information unless this collection displays a currently valid OMB control number.  If you have comments on the accuracy of this burden estimate and/or recommendations for reducing it, please send them to: Evaluation Division, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 2200 C St NW Washington, DC 20037.