1. Module 14: Managing the Migrant Education Program
New Directors’ Orientation Tutorial

2. Table of Contents Section Slide # Getting Started 3
Migrant Education Program - The Big Picture 8
Managing the Work 13
Wrapping Up 28

3. Getting Started In This Section Tutorial Objectives
How to Use the Tutorial
Icons to Guide You

4. Tutorial Objectives Module 14 will help state directors to
organize the work required to manage the Migrant Education Program (MEP),
identify people who can guide and support them, and
prioritize their tasks.

5. How to Use the Tutorial
For optimal benefit from the tutorial, you should
allow sufficient time to read the slides, reflect on the information, and complete all activities on the slides or on the Quick Resource and Reflection Sheets (QRRS) that can be downloaded as worksheets;
read each slide as well as the information referenced in the slides;
engage with the “What Do You Think?” slides to facilitate interaction with the information (Answers will be provided directly following each of these slides.);

6. How to Use the Tutorial
For optimal benefit from the tutorial, you should (continued)
pause to reflect on your state program at the “Check-in” slides (A QRRS document will typically accompany these.);
complete the “Pop Quiz!” slides to reinforce key concepts;
review your state’s MEP documents and reports as directed;
develop an action plan using the worksheets provided;
add actionable items to your MEP planning calendar (See QRRS 14.2); and
contact your OME Program Officer for follow-up questions.

7. Icons to Guide You
The following icons will guide you in making the best use of this tutorial:
What Do You Think?
Check-in
Pop Quiz!
Quick Reference and Reflection Sheet (QRRS)
Action Planning
Calendar Item

8. Migrant Education Program - The Big Picture
In This Section
A Complex Program
Role of the State Director

9. A Complex Program The MEP has Many components, e.g., Many layers
ID&R
Local operating agency (LOA) oversight
Program Planning
Child Count and Data Collection
Cross-program Coordination
Interstate Coordination
Intrastate Coordination
Participation in National Activities
Parent Involvement
Many layers
Federal
State
Regional and/or Local
Many stakeholders
Migrant children
Parents
Educators
Program administrators
Service providers

10. Role of the Migrant Education Program State Director
The state director is the official within his/her State educational agency (SEA), responsible for:
Professional development and training,
Cross-program coordination, and
Oversight of the MEP,
Monitoring and quality control.
Program planning,
Fiscal management,
Contract management,
Data collection,
Coordination of all MEP components,

11. What Do You Think?
What do you think are your three biggest challenges as a MEP state director?
See QRRS 14.1 – Addressing the Challenges of Being a State Director

12. What Do You Think? - Reflection
Following are common challenges state MEP directors have identified. How many of your challenges are on this list?
Understanding the many requirements for the program.
Coordinating all components.
Needing more expertise in a variety of areas.
Meeting the needs of a wide range of stakeholders.
Finding sufficient time and support to carry out responsibilities.

13. Managing the Work In This Section Organizing the Work
Identifying Supportive Contacts
Creating Capacity
Prioritizing Activities
Keeping Abreast of New Information and Emerging Issues
Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

14. Organizing the Work Strategies
Develop a master calendar based on the action plans in the tutorials.
Review all QRRS Action Planning sheets from the modules and compile a master action plan and calendar.
The master calendar may need to cover three to five years.
This activity will give you an idea of what resources, expertise, and capacity you need to carry out tasks.
Develop an organization chart for the MEP so that you and other staff members can see how all components interrelate and what the lines of responsibility are.
See QRRS 4.2 – MEP Master Calendar

15. Organizing the Work Strategies
Organize the following information for easy reference:
Law, regulations, guidance;
Technical assistance documents; and
State MEP documents and reports.

16. Organizing the Work Strategies
Familiarize yourself with these federal and state administrative requirements and protocols:
Federal reporting requirements,
Local monitoring,
Fiscal management,
Contracting, and
Data collection.

17. Identifying Supportive Contacts
Strategies
Identify and utilize people in the SEA who can guide you and help navigate administrative channels.
Keep all local, state, and national MEP contact information up-to-date and accessible.
Identify and utilize state directors in other states who can share practical information on implementing the MEP.
Identify and utilize experienced LOA administrators and recruiters who can assist with understanding state and local contexts for implementing the MEP.
Identify and utilize people who can provide additional expertise you need in areas such as data analysis, evaluation, staff supervision, or team facilitation.
Work on creating partnerships – within your agency and with others who work in your agency, in LOAs, and in nonprofit organizations.

18. Creating Capacity Strategies
Devote sufficient time to train state MEP staff, LOA administrators, and ID&R coordinators and recruiters so that they can carry out their responsibilities effectively so that less of your time will be required for ongoing technical assistance.
Delegate tasks as appropriate to other MEP staff (e.g., LOA administrators may be willing to present at state conferences or mentor new administrators).

19. Prioritizing Activities
In the course of the day, you are likely to face a number of challenges and tasks that need attention.
Keep in mind that not all tasks are of equal importance.
Often, taking care of something important in a systematic and comprehensive way will take more time now but will prevent the issue from becoming a crisis later.
Utilize a master action plan and calendar to keep you on track with what you need to accomplish by certain deadlines.

20. Prioritizing Activities
One way to approach multiple demands is to look at Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Effective People. Covey suggests that work can be categorized into four quadrants:
Urgent (needs immediate attention),
Not Urgent (does not need immediate attention),
Important (must be taken care of), and
Not Important (does not need to be taken care of)
Note: In the next slide, these quadrants might look for the work you do.

21. Prioritizing Activities
Urgent
Not Urgent
Important
Quadrant I
Submitting a report by a deadline
Addressing incorrect COEs
Following up on a parent complaint
Quadrant II
Creating a policy for interstate records exchange
Conducting recruiter training
Monitoring LOAs
Not Important
Quadrant III
Attending mandatory meetings not related to the MEP
Searching through files to find information in preparation for federal monitoring
Quadrant IV
Responding to every as it arrives in your office, rather than prioritizing which ones need to be answered immediately
Traveling to a face-to-face meeting when a conference call would suffice

22. Prioritizing Activities
More on Covey’s Quadrants:
Effective people try to spend as much time as they can in Quadrant II and to limit time spent in Quadrant IV.
Prioritizing your work by determining in which quadrant the task would fall can help you decide where to spend your time.
A number of tasks may begin in Quadrant II but become crises for Quadrant I tasks if not addressed.

23. Check-in
Instructions: Estimate what percentage of your time each day on the job that you spend on activities in each of the quadrants below. What improvements do you need to make?
Urgent
Not Urgent
Important
Quadrant I
Quadrant II
Not Important
Quadrant III
Quadrant IV
Listing daily activities in the appropriate quadrants will help you prioritize your work.
See QRRS 14.3 – Prioritizing Your Work

24. Keeping Abreast of New Information and Emerging Issues
Migrant education is constantly changing and reflecting the nature of the migrant population. New research, demographic trends, and strategies can inform services, and federal laws and policies can impact educators and migrant families. It is important that you build into your schedule sufficient time to stay current on all relevant issues.

25. Keeping Abreast of New Information and Emerging Issues
Strategies for keeping up to date:
Attend as many migrant-specific national conferences and national trainings as possible.
Stay abreast of your state’s migrant-specific data needs; bookmark the MSIX website.
Join LISTSERVs that will keep you informed of new research and policy developments.
Build in time each week to review new information.

26. Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
Above all, keep in mind that the focus of the work is to enable migrant children to be successful in school and beyond. The work you do should make a difference in the lives of migrant children and families.
In a world of competing agendas and shrinking resources, missions can get overlooked.

27. Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
Questions to keep in mind:
Do I feel like the work I do benefits the lives of migrant children?
On a day-to-day basis, do I feel like the majority of the small tasks I do contributes to improving the MEP?
Which of my tasks do not contribute to improving the MEP, and how can I minimize the time devoted to these tasks?

28. Wrapping Up
In This Section
Key Points
Action Planning
Resources

29. Key Points
Working from a master action plan and calendar will provide you with direction for accomplishing required tasks across program components.
Spending time gathering technical assistance resources and state MEP documents will save time later when you need these for quick reference.
Having a system for prioritizing your time will enable you to choose the tasks that are most important and will help avoid crises.
It is important to remind yourself frequently what the work is really about.

30. Action Planning
Revisit QRRS 14.1 to generate strategies that will help you address your challenges in serving as the MEP state director.
Add items to your MEP master calendar.
Utilize the template provided in QRRS 14.3 on a regular basis to categorize tasks in the quadrants according to their importance and urgency.
Add any actionable items to your MEP planning calendar.

31. Resources for Managing the Work
MEP Guidance on Education of Migratory Children under Title I, Part C, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 – Explanation of guidelines to implement the laws and regulations related to the MEP
Covey, S.R. (1990). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. NY: Simon & Schuster.
Includes inspiration and strategies for using time effectively.

32. Migrant Education Program Resources
MEP Officers – List of OME contact information (
Glossary of Terms – Alphabetical listing of key terms applicable to migrant education ( manual/section/glossary/glossary)