1. Nationally Recognized Seven Areas of Concern for Migrant Students
OME -- WORKING DRAFT#5 (IN PROGRESS) FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY - MARCH 18, 2005
Lesson #3: Migrant children are thought to be at high risk of school failure due to seven
areas of concern that arise out of the educational problems associated with the migrant
lifestyle.
The four States in the pilot project (i.e.• Arizona, Michigan. Pennsylvania, and Texas) spent
considerable time and effort in identifying the conditions (directly related to the migrant
lifestyle) that prevent migrant children from performing well in reading, mathematics, or to
stay in school and graduate. For the purposes of the pilot project, these conditions are called
"concerns." Such concerns were identified in all of the States with extensive input from
individuals through strategies that included, but were not limited to: web-based surveys,
teleconferences, focus groups. consultant services, and the review of existing data. For each
of the concerns. the States then developed a number of draft "indicators" (i.e., a measure that
further defines and verifies that a particular concern actually exists for migrant children).
On the basis of this work. seven common "areas of concern" emerged and are thought to be
important for all States to initially consider in the early stages of conducting a comprehensive
needs assessment. A full discussion of the seven common areas of concern, as well as their
connection to the migrant lifestyle, follows.
The comprehensive needs assessment model used in the pilot project distinguishes between "needs" at
three levels. Level needs focus on service recipients (e.g., students), level 2 needs focus service providers
(e.g.. Staff of a school or the project). level 3 needs focus on system issues (e.g., policies, climate,
availability and use of resources). The pilot project is examining level 1 needs only, as identifying the
"special educational" needs of migrant children and the intervention to address those needs are perhaps the
most difficult aspects of a comprehensive needs assessment However, eventually, a "comprehensive"
needs assessment should examine the needs of the program at the other two levels. For example, the need
for staff training to implement a new program, the need for parental involvement to effectively support a
program. The need for a change in district policy to ensure student records are exchanged in a timely
fashion, etc. In general, level 2 and level 3 needs arise as a result of the need to implement the
interventions that are selected to address the level needs of the service recipients (e.g., in the case of the
MEP-migrant students).
Emerging Framework of the “Special Educational Needs” of Migrant Children - Office of Migrant Education (OME)

2. Roots of the Seven Areas of Concern
Many migrant workers share some common lifestyle characteristics that pose significant challenges in their lives
High levels of migration (mobility)
Moving from and to other countries
Low wages (working poor)
Low levels of education
Isolation from the larger community due to cultural adjustment problems and language differences
ROOTS OF THE SEVEN AREAS OF CONCERN
The defining characteristic of a migrant worker is "migration." Migration means moving
from one country, place or locality to another. Migrant workers move regularly in order to
find temporary or seasonal work in agriculture or fishing.
Migrant workers share a number of common lifestyle characteristics that pose significant
challenges in their lives.
They experience relatively high levels of migration (mobility)
They often move from and to other countries (especially Mexico)
They are working poor (as a result of the low wages they are paid for their
labor)
• They usually have low levels of educational attainment
• They often feel isolated from the larger community due to cultural
adjustment problems and linguistic differences (between the U.S. and their
country of origin)
The lifestyle characteristics listed above create special educational problems for children who
move with migrant workers.
• For school-age children, migration means changing schools, teachers, and
curricula. It means missing a substantial number of days of school. School
changes also diminish a student's sense of belonging at school and the extent
to which students participate in the classroom and in co-curricular activities.
• Children of migrant workers often have limited opportunities to develop the
English language as their parents are not proficient in English. The situation
is often exacerbated by the Binacional residency patterns o today's migrant
workers in that migrant children often spend considerable amounts of times in
countries (and schools) in which the English language is not commonly used.
• Low levels of education and low socio-economic status of migrant workers
combine to limit the amount and quality of education support that can be
offered in the home.
• Low paying temporary and seasonal jobs in agriculture or fishing do not come
with health insurance or wages that ensure adequate access to health care for
young children and adolescents.
• As temporary residents in many locales, fear of being deemed an outsider or
outright discrimination limits access to services to which migrant workers and
their children are entitled.
Migrant children are thought, therefore, to be at high risk of school failure due to seven areas
of concern that arise out of the educational problems associated with the migrant lifestyle.

3. 1. Educational Continuity
Because migrant students often are forced to move during the regular school year, students tend to experience a lack of educational continuity.
Migrant students experience differences in:
curriculum
academic standards
homework policies
classroom routines
course placement, etc.
SEVEN AREAS OF CONCERN
Educational Continuity
High mobility rates often mean that migrant students are forced to make non promotional
school changes during the regular school year.
Such moves result in a lack of educational continuity for migrant students
(e.g., migrant students experience differences in curricula, academic
standards, homework policies, classroom routines, course placements, etc.).

4. Consequences of Lack of Educational Continuity
Students who change high schools even once are less than half as likely to graduate.
Over a period of six years, students who have moved more than three times can fall a full academic year behind other students.
The educational consequences of diminished educational continuity are well
documented. Students who change high schools even once are less than half
as likely as stable students to graduate from high school (Hartman, 2002).
Not surprisingly, the negative effects of educational discontinuity are even
more daunting when viewed over time. Over a period of six years, students
who have moved more than three times can fall a full academic year behind
stable students.
Given the negative effects of such mobility (and that for migrant children the
moves are necessitated by economic factors not associated with positive
change for the family or student), efforts to ameliorate the effects of curricula
incoherence are needed to strengthen education continuity.

5. 2. Instructional Time: Mobility also impacts the amount of time
students spend in class
and their attendance
patterns.
2. Instructional Time –
Research has documented that increases in instructional time will
consistently produce increases in student achievement when staff use this
time effectively (Moore, Funkhouser, 1990).

6. Instructional Time
Such decreases in the time students spend engaged in learning leads to lower levels of achievement.
Ways to ameliorate the impact of family mobility and delays in enrollment procedures are essential.
Unfortunately. the converse is
also true; decreases in the time students are exposed to instruction in a
subject will lead to lower levels of achievement in that subject. To the extent
that migrant children are missing days of school (and/or extended time
opportunities) due to their family's mobility and/or delays in school
enrollment procedures, the less migrant students will achieve academically.

7. 3. School Engagement
Migrant students are frequently faced with adjustments to new school setting, making new friends, and social acceptance challenges, which are generally grouped as
behavioral,
emotional and
cognitive
(based on Fredricks, Blumenfeld
and Paris, 2003)
3. School Engagement –
Mobile migrant students also experience difficulties adjusting to new school
settings, making new friends, and fitting in socially in a new school situation.
Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris (2003) defined three types of school
engagement-behavioral, emotional, and cognitive, as excerpted below:

8. School Engagement
Behavioral engagement focuses on the opportunities for participation, including academic, social or extracurricular activities.
It is considered a crucial factor in positive academic outcomes and preventing school dropout.
Behavioral engagement draws on the idea of participation including
involvement in academic, social, or extracurricular activities; and is
considered crucial for achieving positive academic outcomes and preventing
dropping out of school. Behavioral engagement has been defined in several
ways and includes positive conduct (such as following rules, adhering to
classroom norms, and the absence of disruptive behaviors such as skipping
school or getting into trouble), participation in classroom learning and
academic tasks (e.g., homework). It also includes such behaviors as
persistence, effort, attention, and asking questions. Finally, it focuses on
participation in school-related activities such as athletics or school
governance.

9. School Engagement
Emotional engagement emphasizes school’s appeal for the student.
Positive and negative reactions to teachers, classmates, academic materials, and school in general determine whether or not ties are created.
Such responses influence identification with the school and a sense of belonging and feeling valued.
Emotional engagement draws on the idea of appeal. It includes positive and
negative reactions to teachers, classmates, academics, school, and is
presumed to create ties to the institution and influence willingness to do
school work. This dimension is often conceptualized as identification with
the school, including a sense of belonging, feeling important to the school,
and valuing, or an appreciation of success in school-related outcomes.

10. School Engagement
Cognitive engagement hinges on investment in learning and may be a response to expectations, relevance, and cultural connections.
Cognitive engagement draws on the idea of investment; it includes being
thoughtful, willing to exert the necessary effort for comprehension of
complex ideas and mastery of difficulty skills. It also encompasses a
psychological investment in learning, a desire to go beyond the requirements
of school, and a preference for challenge.

11. Without engagement, students may be at risk for school failure.
Migrant students need avenues that ensure they are valued and have the opportunities that more stable students have.
In essence, Fredricks, Blumenfeld, and Paris posit that "the many dimensions
of engagement help explain how children behave, feel, and think in school."
And, research indicates that if a student does not remain engaged in class and
in school, (s) he may be at risk for school failure.

12. 4. English Language Development
English language development (ELD) is critical for academic success.
In the school setting, ELD focuses on the literacy skills applicable to content area learning.
4. English Language Development-
The complexity of language, especially when a child has to use it for
learning complex academic subjects, has long been recognized by
researchers concerned with the education of language minority students. Of
particular importance is the ability to use language in school subject matter
learning (i.e., cognitive academic language proficiency). For many migrant
children, gaining "academic" English language proficiency is necessary for
school success.

13. English Language Development
Since many migrant students have a home language other than English,
migrant programs must find avenues to ameliorate the difficulties faced by migrant students in ELD, due to their unique lifestyle
while not supplanting Title III program activities.

14. 5. Educational Support in the Home
Home environment is often associated with a child’s success in school, reflecting exposure to reading materials, a broad vocabulary, and educational games and puzzles.
Such resources reflect parent educational background and socio-economic status.
5. Education Support in the Home-
Many factors found in the home environment are associated with the
likelihood of a child's success in school.
Status variables such as socio-economic status, family income, parents' level
of education describe who parents are and the resources they have available
to support academic achievement.
Dynamic (or process) variables such as reading to a child, taking children to
the library, helping with homework describe what parents do in the home to
support academic achievement. In contrast to the status variables, dynamic
variables may be more amenable to manipulation through improving home
processes or offering supplement school services.
While low socio-economic status, limited English proficiency, and limited
educational attainment often limit migrant parents' ability to help their
children prepare for and participate in school, efforts must be made to increase,
improve, and, where necessary, supplement effective education support in
the home.

15. Educational Support in the Home
While many migrant parents value education for their children, they may not always know how to support their children in a manner consistent with school expectations or have the means to offer an educationally rich home environment.
Efforts to inform families are crucial.

16. 6. Health
Good health is a basic need that migrant students often do not attain.
The compromised dental and nutritional status of migrant children is well documented.
6. Health-
Good health is essential for the well-being of migrant farm workers' children
and directly affects their educational performance (Huang, 1993). A number
of researchers have documented the compromised dental and nutritional
status of migrant children. Published reports also document that migrant
children have (1) higher proportions of existing acute and chronic health
problems, and (2) higher childhood and infant mortality rates than their non-migrant
peers (Weathers, et al, 2003, Huang, 1993).

17. Health
They have higher proportions of acute and chronic health problems and there are higher childhood and infant mortality rates than those experienced by their non-migrant peers (Huang, 1993).

18. Health
Migrant children are at greater risk than other children due to occupation-related issues like pesticide poisoning, farm injuries, and heat-related illness.
Migrant children are at greater risk than other children of developing health
problems due to (1) occupation-related issues like pesticide poisoning, farm
injuries, and heat-related illnesses, and (2) poverty-related issues like
malnutrition, parasitic infestations, respiratory diseases, and acute dental
problems (Huang, 1993).

19. Health
They are also at risk for by poverty-related health issues like malnutrition, parasitic infestations, respiratory diseases, and acute dental problems.

20. Health
They are more likely to be uninsured and have difficulties with health care access.
Families often need assistance in addressing health problems that interfere with the student’s ability to learn.
In addition, migrant families are more likely to be uninsured and experience
difficulties in accessing health care because of the expense, language
barriers, lack of awareness of services, and cultural barriers (Ruducha, 1994).
Uninsured children are less likely than insured children to have a relationship
with a primary care physician, which makes it less likely that they will
receive preventative and primary care services and have access to acute care
when they are ill. Healthy children miss fewer days of school, are more
attentive, and are better able to take advantage of educational opportunities.
Children who are insured are more likely to receive regular care, reducing
the likelihood of serious or recurring illnesses (GAO, 1997).
Some migrant projects currently offer a health component that emphasizes
remediating health problems that interfere with the student's ability to learn
and are not available through existing community resources (e.g., emergency
medical and dental treatment, physical examinations).

21. 7. Access to Services
Newcomer status and home languages other than English often decrease access to educational and educationally-related services to which migrant children and their families are entitled.
7. Access to Services –
The delivery and receipt of all educational and educationally-related services
to which migrant children are entitled will be required to successfully
address the needs of migrant children.
Newcomer status and limited English proficiency is likely to decrease
migrant families' awareness of other Federal, State, and local services in the
community they may need and be entitled.

22. Access to Services
Since they are not viewed as permanent residents, services become more difficult to obtain.
Newcomer status, limited English proficiency, and acculturation issues may work to inhibit the
assertiveness often needed to request or demand services.
In other situations. local officials may decide not to offer services because
migrant families are not seen as permanent residents.

23. Seven Areas of Concern:
Educational Continuity
Instructional Time
School Engagement
English Language Development
Educational Support in the Home
Health
Access to Services
Review of 7 Areas of Concern