ED471490 2002-12-00 Identification and

Recruitment of Migrant Students:

Strategies and Resources. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Development Team

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Identification and Recruitment of Migrant Students: Strategies and

Resources. ERIC Digest.................................................... 1

KNOWING THE REGION/STATE........................................... 2

PLANNING AND LOGISTICS................................................ 2

TRAINING........................................................................ 3

AUDITS........................................................................... 5

CONCLUSION.................................................................. 5

REFERENCES.................................................................. 5

ERIC Identifier: ED471490

Publication Date: 2002-12-00

Author: Melecio, Ray - Hanley, Thomas J.

Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools Charleston WV.

Identification and Recruitment of Migrant

Students: Strategies and Resources. ERIC

Digest.

THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

ED471490 2002-12-00 Identification and Recruitment of Migrant Students: Strategies and

Resources. ERIC Digest.

Page 1 of 7
INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT

ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC

Interrupted schooling, low socioeconomic status, as well as language and cultural

differences are primary causes for many migrant children's poor performance in school

(Lopez, Scribner, & Mahitivanichcha, 2001; U.S. Department of Education, 1994). The

goal of the federal Migrant Education Program is to minimize the negative health,

developmental, and educational effects caused by constant mobility and interrupted

schooling. A primary activity of the program involves considerable efforts to identify and

recruit children eligible for services. Finding migrant children, however, is not an easy

task. This Digest provides an overview of how to develop a realistic and workable

system for quickly finding and enrolling eligible students.

KNOWING THE REGION/STATE

The first step for the recruiter is to develop a picture of the region's agriculture,

processing, and fishing industries to facilitate the search for migrant children. There are

many sources for this information:

Department of Agriculture. Provides current information on land use, types of crops

grown and processed, future harvesting trends, crop expansion (or reduction), and

more.

State Department of Labor (DOL). Provides information on the whereabouts of farm

labor. When farmers use more than a certain number of farm laborers, they are required

by law to report this information to the DOL. A list of such farms can be obtained.

Cooperative Extension Programs. Provide information on a variety of farm-related

issues through county extension agents who visit local farms and through key contacts

at land grant colleges and universities. Agriculture faculty at these institutions often can

provide valuable insights on changing harvesting trends, use of labor, mechanization of

crops, and the human and political implications of these changes.

Other Regulatory Agencies. Provide information on regulations they monitor. For

example, knowing the state's regulations regarding housing can facilitate finding eligible

families by providing answers to questions such as "Is housing provided by the farmer?"

or "Is housing adequate for families or for single men?"

PLANNING AND LOGISTICS

After gathering information about agricultural and fishing activities in the region, a

recruitment plan should be developed (Johnson & Rivera, 1989). The plan should take

into account input from those already working with the migrant population and provide

strategies for administrators and recruiters. The plan should include at least the

following components:

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Page 2 of 7 ED471490 2002-12-00 Identification and Recruitment of Migrant Students: Strategies and

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Hiring recruiters. Successful recruiters typically possess an empathy and dedication that

motivates them to do whatever it takes to meet the needs of migrant children and their

families (Lopez et al., 2001). Hiring such people thus becomes key to a successful

recruitment program. Other qualities of a good recruiter include being patient,

down-to-earth, and willing to work flexible hours (California Department of Education,

1997; Johnson, 1989; Johnson & Rivera, 1989; Migrant Student Records System

[MSRS], 2001; Virginia Migrant Education Program, 2001). The job requires a person

who is willing to drive back roads, work at night, knock on doors in rural and poor

neighborhoods, fend off barking dogs, and enter residences alone to solicit personal

information to fill out an eligibility form. This job is not for the faint of heart. Good

recruiters are people who are as comfortable talking to a school principal at the central

office as to a recently arrived immigrant in a tomato field.

Because the migrant education program provides services to families from many

different cultures and countries, it is best to hire recruiters of the same cultural or

language group as the families being served. Speaking the same language and

understanding the culture of the clients help facilitate the recruitment process (Johnson,

1989). Sometimes, though, it is difficult to find such people. In these cases, trained

translators should be available to assist recruiters.

Deploying recruiters. Because the migrant education program has limited resources, the

strategic deployment of recruiters is crucial. One efficient strategy is to obtain a list of

recently arrived families from school districts (this can be difficult for non-school-based

recruiters). The list can then be reviewed to identify families engaged in agricultural or

fishing activities.

Building a recruitment network. A strategy such as the one mentioned above depends

upon maintaining good relationships with local organizations and individuals who have

direct contact with the farmworker population, such as schools, agencies, churches,

migrant parents, and employers (Johnson, 1989; Lopez et al., 2001; MSRS, 2001;

Rudes & Willette, 1990). These organizations and people become a recruiter's eyes and

ears in the field (MSRS, 2001; Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program, 1999).

Migrant program administrators can help by contacting school superintendents,

employers of agricultural workers, and directors of other organizations that work with

migrants to inform them about the program and its benefits to migrant children and

youth. Recruiters can also help establish an interagency council of service providers.

Staying informed about program services. Because recruiters are the program's

frontline force, they both "represent" the migrant program and, in many cases, "are" the

program. Recruiters must have a detailed working knowledge of all the services offered

by the program and other agencies (Johnson & Rivera, 1989; Wright, 1986).

TRAINING

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ED471490 2002-12-00 Identification and Recruitment of Migrant Students: Strategies and

Resources. ERIC Digest.

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Training of recruiters is key to the quality of any recruitment effort. Recruiters need to

know about the statutes and regulations, and they need a variety of other skills including

those described below:

Determining eligibility. Perhaps the most important role of the recruiters is to determine

the eligibility of children into the migrant program (Johnson & Rivera, 1989; U.S.

Department of Education, 1994; Wright, 1986). Recruiters must document basic

demographic data, information related to the family's movement, and questions that

pertain to the type of agriculture or fishing work done by the adolescent migrant worker

or parents.

Assessing families' needs. Although the recruiter will enroll all eligible children and

youth ages 0-21, the migrant education program has limited resources and cannot

address all the children's and families' identified needs. Therefore, the program must

develop a profile of the families' resources to meet the immediate needs as quickly as

possible. The recruiter can be key in helping to conduct this initial assessment and also

in helping a migrant family address its immediate concerns, providing referrals and

information, and making them feel welcome in the new community.

Appropriately serving all eligible migrant children. While not all enrolled migrant children

will receive the same level of services from the program, recruiters are still required to

enroll all migrant children in their area. Migrant children, whether or not they receive

direct or "visible" services (such as extended day or summer program) will still receive

some of the "invisible" services provided by recruiters. Some of these services include

advocacy in schools, referrals to other agencies, and parent training activities. However,

recruiters must be well trained in documenting eligibility to avoid problems in program

audits.

Working within language and culture customs. While it is preferred to have recruiters

who can speak the families' native language or understand their cultural nuances, hiring

such recruiters is not always possible. In these cases it is important that staff members

are trained in the basics of the culture and language of the migrants they are recruiting

in order to avoid misconceptions or misunderstandings. Questions such as, "Can a male

recruiter enter a house without the father at home?" or, "Is it appropriate to

accept/refuse food in the family's house?" should be discussed in training sessions.

Having a basic knowledge of the "do's" and "don'ts" of the culture can go a long way

when the recruiter is acting as the initial ambassador for the program (Pennsylvania

Migrant Education Program, 1999).

Staying safe. Because of the type of job performed, recruiters probably face more

hazards than other employees in a school system (Johnson, 1989). Examples of

common policies implemented to protect recruiters include working in pairs in certain

locations, not driving in hazardous conditions, and avoiding recruiting when

temperatures are too high or too low. Safety issues will vary by region.

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Resources. ERIC Digest.
Community-based recruitment. Although many eligible migrant children can be found at

school during the school year, preschool children, school-aged children during the

summer, children of illegal immigrants, and young adults who do not attend school can

be missed by a school-based recruiter. Identifying these populations requires a

year-round community-based approach. Local Head Start programs, churches, and

social service agencies are some places out-of-school children and youth may be found

(MSRS, 2001; Virginia Migrant Education Program, 2001).

AUDITS

An important part of any quality control system is an independent review or "friendly"

audit. As diligent as states or districts might be in their efforts to ensure the integrity of

their Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and the honesty of their recruiters, an occasional

review by people who are not a regular part of the system is generally considered to be

beneficial. Sampling the COEs for accurate eligibility data and other concerns should be

a part of the process. The establishment of a monitoring process, either formal or

informal, can help any program update and improve its quality control measures.

CONCLUSION

A good recruitment system, like agriculture itself, is changing and dynamic. It needs

adequate resources dedicated to its maintenance. By hiring the right people, preparing

them with quality training, supporting them with caring administrators, and constantly

monitoring the system for improvement, it can ensure that the migrant children and

families who are eligible for the migrant education program will receive the services they

are entitled to.

REFERENCES

California Department of Education, Migrant Education Office. (1997). California

handbook for identification and recruitment. Sacramento, CA: California Migrant

Education Office.

Johnson, L. (1989). Recruiting migrant students: Recruiter's guide. Harrisburg, PA:

Pennsylvania Migrant Education.

Johnson, L., & Rivera, V. A. (1989). Recruiting migrant students: Administrator's guide.

Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Migrant Education.

Lopez, G. R., Scribner, J. D., & Mahitivanichcha, K. (2001). Redefining parental

involvement: Lessons from high-performing migrant-impacted schools. American

Educational Research Journal, 38(2), 253-288.

Migrant Student Records System (MSRS). (2001). Identification and recruitment

handbook. Sunnyside, WA: Washington State Migrant Education Program.

ERIC Resource Center www.eric.ed.gov

ED471490 2002-12-00 Identification and Recruitment of Migrant Students: Strategies and

Resources. ERIC Digest.

Page 5 of 7
Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program. (1999). National identification and

recruitment: Recruiter's guide. Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Rudes, B. A., & Willette, J. L. (1990). Handbook of effective migrant education

practices. Final report. Volume I: Findings. Report prepared for the U.S. Department of

Education, Office of Planning, Budget and Evaluation. Arlington, VA: Development

Associates, Inc. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED321945)

U.S. Department of Education. (1994). Preliminary guidance for migrant education

program, Title I, Part C, Public Law 103-382. Washington, DC: Improving America's

Schools Act of 1994 (IASA). Retrieved December 13, 2002, from

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/MEP/PrelimGuide/eseaptc.html

Virginia Migrant Education Program. (2001). Recruiter's manual. Richmond, VA: Virginia

Department of Education.

Wright, A. (Ed.). (1986). Systematic methodology for accounting in recruiter training:

SMART manual. Louisiana Department of Education.

-----

Ray Melecio works with ESCORT and the Region XIV Comprehensive Center in

Tampa, Florida. He has worked as a coordinator for ID&R and student record transfer

systems and as a migrant tutor/advocate. He holds a Ph.D. on Curriculum and

Instruction from Penn State University.

Thomas J. Hanley is a Principal Education Specialist at ESCORT. He works as the lead

contact for all the comprehensive center partners (including Region II, III, IV, and XIV)

as well as a number of state specific contracts. He works with the National Migrant

Education Hotline in areas of identification and recruitment, and continuously provides

support to states on issues related to migrant education program administration,

recruitment, advocacy, and comprehensive needs assessment. He holds a B.A. from

SUNY at Binghamton, and a M.P.A. from Alfred University.

This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and

Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract no. ED-99-CO-0027. The

opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI,

the Department, or AEL.

Title: Identification and Recruitment of Migrant Students: Strategies and Resources.

ERIC Digest.

Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs)

(071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);

Available From: ERIC/CRESS, P.O. Box 1348, Charleston, WV 25325-1348. Tel:

www.eric.ed.gov ERIC Custom Transformations Team

Page 6 of 7 ED471490 2002-12-00 Identification and Recruitment of Migrant Students: Strategies and

Resources. ERIC Digest.
800-624-9120 (Toll Free). For full text: http://www.ael.org/eric/digests/edorc02-10.pdf.

Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Identification, Information Sources,

Migrant Children, Migrant Education, Migrant Youth, Planning, Preschool Education,

Professional Training, School Community Relationship, Social Networks, Student

Recruitment

Identifiers: ERIC Digests, Migrant Education Program, Recruiter Role

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