VDOE :: NCLB :: Title I Part C: Education of Migratory Children

Purpose
Objectives
Program Services & Descriptions

The purpose of the Migrant Education Program is to design and support high-quality and comprehensive educational programs that provide migratory children with the same opportunity to meet the challenging state academic content and student achievement standards that are expected of all children. In addition, the Migrant Education Program works to ensure that all migrant students graduate with a high school diploma (or complete a General Education Diploma) that prepares them for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment. Federal funds are allocated by formula to states based on each state’s per pupil expenditure for education and counts of eligible migratory children, age 3 through 21, residing within the state.

The objectives of Virginia’s Migrant Education Program are:

Identify, enroll, and serve all eligible migratory students in the commonwealth;
Support high-quality and comprehensive educational programs for migratory children to help reduce the educational disruptions and other problems that result from repeated moves;
Ensure that migratory children who move among the states are not penalized in any manner by disparities among academic content and student academic achievement standards;
Ensure that migratory children are provided with appropriate educational services (including support services) that address their special needs in a coordinated and efficient manner;
Ensure that migratory children receive full and appropriate opportunities to meet the same challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards that all children are expected to meet;
Design programs to help migratory children overcome educational disruptions, cultural and language barriers, social isolation, various health-related problems, and other factors that inhibit their ability to do well in school, and to prepare them to make a successful transition to postsecondary education or employment; and
Ensure that migratory children benefit from state and local systemic reforms.

Program services are provided to migratory students around the state through seven local and regional programs. Priority for services goes to migratory children who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL), and whose education has been interrupted during the regular school year. Strategies for providing services to meet the needs of the population vary throughout the state depending upon the availability of other programs and services and upon the fiscal resources of the Migrant Education Program. Based on the number of migratory students in a school division, programs are either offered year-round and/or during the summer. Supplemental services may include, but are not limited to: English as a Second Language instruction; computer literacy instruction; family literacy; general education diploma (GED) preparation; and outreach/advocacy work to increase the quality of nutritional, health, and dental care.

MEP Contact Information (PDF)

Identification & Recruitment
Migrant Student Database Collection
Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX)

The US Department of Education (USED) has developed criteria to define an eligible migratory child, which must be used when certifying children to be served in the Title I, Part C, Migrant Education Program.

The Virginia Department of Education is responsible for the identification and recruitment of all eligible migratory children in the state. Local migrant coordinators and recruiters implement recruitment strategies based on program needs as defined through the Virginia Department of Education Recruiter’s Manual (PDF). The manual outlines how to prepare for and conduct recruiting, how to identify migrant students, and how to determine eligibility.

The Virginia Department of Education is required to document every migrant child's eligibility for the Migrant Education Program on the National Certificate of Eligibility (COE) (PDF) created by the US Department of Education (USED). The COE serves as the official record of the state's eligibility determination for each individual child. The second page of the national COE has been changed to collect additional information required by other state and federal collections.

Through the Virginia Migrant Student Data Collection (MSDC), school divisions are able to enter and maintain the migrant student data. The application also provides facility to transmit the data to the federal Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX) as required by USED. The MSDC can be accessed through the Single Sign-on for Systems (SSWS) Web application.

The US Department of Education (USED) implemented the Migrant Student Information Exchange Initiative to ensure the appropriate enrollment, placement, and accrual of credits for migrant children. The Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX) allows all states to share educational and health information on migrant children who have student records in multiple states' information systems. MSIX works in concert with the existing migrant student information systems that states use to manage their migrant data. MSIX downloads the migrant data from states’ existing migrant student information systems and makes it available to other state migrant personnel through a secure log in.

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