A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Background

Services to Migrant Children: Synthesis and Program Options for the Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program, was prepared in support of the National Assessment of Chapter 1--mandated under P.L. 101-305, "The 1992 National Assessment of Chapter 1 Act." The report elaborates upon the findings reported in Reinventing Chapter 1: The Current Chapter 1 Program and New Directions, which was submitted to Congress on February 22.

In recognition of the special educational needs that result from the transience, poverty, and language barriers that characterize the lives of children of migratory farmworkers, Congress authorized the federal Migrant Education Program (MEP) in 1966 as an amendment to Title I. This report describes the services provided through the MEP, characterizes the student population served and suggests policy options for improving targeting and accountability.

Key Findings

Distribution and Characteristics of Migrant Students

Roughly 1 percent of the nation's young people ages 3 to 21--about 597,000--were identified as eligible for Chapter 1 MEP services in 1990 and were counted for funding purposes through the Migrant Student Record Transfer System (MSRTS), a computerized tracking system.

• Despite legislation that currently migratory children should receive priority for MEP services, over half of those being served are formerly migrant (students whose last move was between one and five years earlier).

• Most migrant students identified and served through the MEP are enrolled in grades K through 6. These are also the grades in which students are easiest to identify, least costly to serve, and in which other compensatory education services are most readily available.

• The nation's migrant children are not evenly distributed across the country. Sixty-four percent of the children and youth receiving services from the MEP are found in five states: California, Florida, Michigan, Texas, and Washington.

Educational Needs and Migrant Services

Most migrant children have substantial needs for supplementary instructional and support services.

• Large proportions of the children are limited English proficient, many are one or more years behind their peers in school, and their teachers report that on average their reading and language arts achievement lag behind national norms.

• While MEP students are eligible for other compensatory education programs supported by federal, state, or local funds, their participation rates in those programs appear to be low--particularly when their extensive educational needs are considered. Only about 29 percent of students served by the MEP in the regular term also receive other compensatory instructional services; about 80 percent of that subset of students (or about 24 percent of all students served by MEP) receive Chapter 1 basic program services.

• State and local MEP staff view summer-term services as important, especially for currently migrant students. Summer programs assist in filling in educational gaps caused by movement during the regular term, promoting accrual of secondary-school credits, and serving as a link between regular terms. Because many local education agencies offer no district-funded summer services and many projects serve children across several school districts, MEP summer term projects are more likely to take the form of full-time programs rather than part-time activities.

MEP State Program Grant Funding

The funding formula for determining state MEP grants takes into account the number of MEP-eligible children within a state and their length of residency.

• The current formula creates a perverse incentive for states to identify in-school, formerly migrant students because, as a group, they are typically easier to locate and more likely to remain in the state (therefore, generating an FTE) than currently migrant children. Further, in-school, formerly migrant children usually cost less to serve than currently migrant children or children who are not enrolled in school.

• States with small numbers of eligible migrant students face special problems in generating sufficient funds to carry out student identification and recruitment, and other state-level administrative responsibilities--while also providing programs of adequate size and quality.

Program Options

If the MEP is to provide services to the eligible migrant students who have the greatest needs, the current state grant allocation process should provide incentives to encourage states to identify, recruit and serve currently migrant children. The MEP should also hold states and local agencies accountable for ensuring that appropriate services are available to all migrant students, whether the services are provided by the MEP or another program.

Copies of the full report, Services to Migrant Children: Synthesis and Program Options for the Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program, are available by writing to the Planning and Evaluation Service, Office of the Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Room 3127, Washington, DC 20202-8240.

-###-

Return to Elementary and Secondary Education Page

mail to esed@ed.gov

Last update September 1996 (swz).