WHY
GIVE SPECIAL HELP TO MIGRANT CHILDREN?
Most school programs (including those supported by Title 1) are set upon
nine- month academic year. However, when migrant children move with
their families, their education, as well as their lives, are interrupted.
They may come from large families with inadequate living space and
low incomes. Poor nutrition, housing and sanitary conditions may
cause a high incidence of health problems. They often have limited
English skills and/or little experience with success at school. These
problems combined with irregular attendance often lead to frustration
and low-academic performance, causing many children to drop out of
school in their early teens. Because migrant youth have limited knowledge
of, and preparation for, other kinds of jobs, they face a high risk
of unemployment or become part of the migrant labor force. With help
from the Migrant Education Program, migrant children can develop
their self-confidence and begin to feel good about themselves. They
can begin to enjoy school, attain an education and overcome the many
difficulties in their lives.
WHAT
IS A MIGRANT WORKER?
Migrant workers seek temporary or seasonal jobs in agriculture, fishing
or related work including food processing. They follow the growing
seasons across the country and are largely responsible for the cultivation
and harvest of fruits, vegetables and many other food products. Many
migrant workers have an average annual income below the national
poverty level. The migrant population is made up of diverse ethnic.
Nationally, Hispanics, blacks, whites, Native Americans and Asians
complete the overall population. Each part of the country has its
own ethnic composition, with such distinct groups as Russian Old
Believers in the northwest, Haitians and Puerto Ricans on the east
coast, and Indochinese in the Pacific and Gulf coastal states. Mexican
Americans and Central Americans follow migration patterns all over
the country.
WHO
IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE MIGRANT EDUCATION PROGRAM?
To qualify for the program, a migrant child must have moved within the
past three years across state or school district lines with a migrant
parent or guardian to enable the child (in the case of secondary youth),
the child’s guardian or parent, or member of the child’s immediate
family to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in an agricultural
or fishing activity. The child may be in any grade between preschool
and grade 12 and must not be above 21 years of age.
THE
MONTANA MIGRANT PROGRAM
The Montana Office of Public Instruction(OPI) receives a grant annually
from the Office of Migrant Education (OME),United States Department
of Education (USDE) based on the number of identified migrant students
that reside in the State of Montana. In 2002-2003 the Montana Migrant
Education Program (MEP) identified approximately 1800 migrant students.
A very large percentage of these students migrate from the states
of Montana and Washington. Other students migrate both within the
state across school district and county boundaries and from Montana
to other states.
Since these children enroll temporarily in various schools, the Montana
MEP has a major responsibility to ensure that coordination across program,
school district and state lines occur. The Montana MEP has the responsibility
to ensure that migrant students at all grade levels and their families
have their needs met and are able to access all services for which they
are eligible.
The statuatory purposes of the MEP set forth in Section 1301 of the law
are:
"(1) support high quality and comprehensive educational programs for migratory
children to help reduce the educational disruptions and other problems that result
from repeated moves;
(2) ensure that migratory children are provided with appropriate educational
services (including supportive services) that address their special needs
in a coordinated and efficient manner;
(3) ensure that migratory children have the opportunity to meet the same
challenging State content standards and challenging State student performance
standards that all children are expected to meet;
(4) design programs to help migratory children overcome educational disruptions,
cultural and language barriers, social isolation, various health-related
problems, and other factors that inhibit the ability of such children
to do well in school, and to prepare such children to make a successful
transition to post secondary education or employment; and
(5) ensure that migratory children benefit from State and local systematic
reforms."
The Montana MEP is 100 percent federally funded. Under this mandate,
the federal funds that Montana receives are distributed to the school
districts based on the needs of the children identified and their concentration
within a particular school district or county. Approximately fifteen
school districts, and /or local operating agencies and fiscal cooperative
arrangements are currently receiving these funds to operate migrant programs.
The
Goal of the Montana Migrant Education Program
The goal of the Montana Migrant Education Program (MEP) is to provide
leadership to the field regarding programs and services that promote
academic excellence and equity for the migrant students of Montana.
To achieve this goal, the Montana MEP strives to create conditions
which empower educators working with migrant children to collaborate
in designing programs which build upon student strengths, eliminate
barriers, provide continuity of education, and produce levels of
performance for migrant students that meet or exceed those of the
general student population. Parental involvement is viewed as an
essential part of the educational process, and home-school-community
partnerships provide the support necessary to improve student achievement.
The Mission of the Montana Migrant Education Program
Because
issues of mobility, language and poverty affect
the migratory student's opportunities to receive
excellence and equity in the classroom, the MEP
strives to provide an educational experience
which can help children reduce the educational
disruptions, and other problems that can result
form repeated moves. During the regular school
year, in areas with concentrations of migrant
children, migrand education projects can operate
in support of, and in coordination with, the
regular school program. During the summer, at
the peak of Montana’s agricultural season,
educational programs are set up exclusively for
migrant children since regular school programs
are not in operation for the most part during
that time. In Montana migrant education projects
are located in counties all across the state.
To ensure that migrant children are provided appropriate services including
support services that address their special needs in a coordinated and
efficient manner, the MEP with the assistance of local operating agency
personnel have identified the following areas of focus to be addressed
by the Montana Migrant Education Program:
- Identification
and Recruitment of all eligible children who
reside in the state on an on-going basis; Identification
and Recruitment (Ages 3-21);
- An
assurance of sequence and continuity between
schools in the instructional program by coordinating
the use of curriculum, instructional methods,
assessment systems through participation in
programs such as Project SMART-Summer Migrants
Access Resources through technology, www.tea.state.tx.us/SpecialPopulationa/MigrantEducation/Documents)
an instructional television broadcast for migrant
students; Project ESTRELLA (www@estrella.org),a
lap-top computer project for mobile youth;
and PASS, Portable Assisted Study Sequence,(www.pass@migrant.net);
- Special
teachers, tutors or aides to work with students
individually or inn small groups on areas of
academic weakness;
- Summer
school programs to supplement the regular school
program;· Participation in the New Generation
System of electronic record transfer (New Generation
System (Ages 0-21);
- Supportive
health services, including emergency medical
or dental services; nutritional services, in
coordination with other agencies;· Preschool
and kindergarten programs designed to prepare
migrant children for a successful school experience;
- Assistance
with Bilingual or ESL instruction for those
children who speak little or no English in
cooperation with other federal ESL and Title
VII services;
- Intercultural
education, including participation in the Binational
Education Initiative, teacher exchange and
textbook initiatives;(www.escort.org);
- Coordination
with Department of Labor Program for adults
and secondary youth.
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