Migrant Education

Migrant Education Program

Identification and Recruitment

In Texas, migrant children and youth are identified and recruited for the Migrant Education Program (MEP) through a face to face interview process.

A Certificate of Eligibility (COE) form is completed during each interview. The COE is an official, legal document that contains all the information needed to determine eligibility.

By enrolling eligible students in the MEP

Recruiters help migrant students obtain education assistance they need
Migrant students have more resources available to help lessen the negative educational consequences associated with migration
Recruiters have the opportunity to connect migrant children to the greatest number of educational services.

Specific conditions in order to be considered a migratory child.

WHO
- Is the child under the age of 22?
- Is the child lacking a U.S. issued high school diploma or equivalency certificate?
- Is the child, or does the child have a parent, guardian or a spouse who is, a migratory agricultural worker or migratory fisher?
WHAT
- What is the qualifying temporary employment or seasonal employment in agriculture or fishing?
WHERE
- - Did the family move due to economic necessity from one school district to another?
WHY
- Was one of the purposes of the move to seek or obtain qualifying work?
WHEN
- - Did the child move on his/her own or move to accompany, or join a parent, spouse or guardian, within the preceding 36 months?

If the answer to all of these questions is "Yes," then a qualifying move has been made and the child(ren) is (are) eligible for recruitment into the MEP.

Out of School Youth

The Region 7 Education Center Out of School Youth (OSY) recruiting program is designed to assist migrant young men and women who dropped out of school for whatever reason to work in the farms, fields, dairies, or fisheries.

This program will help these individuals obtain assistance and information about going back to school. If going back to school is not an option, then our staff will assist them in taking advantage of different options available to them within the community including getting enrolled in GED ESL classes.

The OSY Migrant Program assists young people who may not have had the opportunity to complete high school due to economic necessity that may have resulted from a variety of reasons including the need to help their parents financially, pregnancy or parenting, or moving to the United States from another country. Our staff strive to help these individuals understand that obtaining their high school diploma or GED is still a possibility for them and will allow them to have the opportunity to obtain a higher-paying job.

This program is also directed to migrants who are here to work and have never been enrolled in school. For those who are unable to enroll in school due to a daytime work schedule, then they have the option to go to night school to learn English and take GED classes. In some cases, the GED exam is given in Spanish.

Region 7 Migrant and OSY programs are trying to reach all communities in the region to make them aware of the benefits of these two programs that are reaching out to the most vulnerable side of our communities such as the migrant workers who moved around in order to get jobs in agriculture, dairies and or fish farms.

We encourage migrant families who have young people who are not enrolled in school to fill out our OSY survey so that our staff can better assist them in taking advantage of the educational, financial, and work opportunities available to them. In addition to assisting these youth in enrolling in school or a GED program, we will also provide eligible youth with school materials, school clothes, immunizations, and vision and dentist office visits as needed.

To be eligible for the OSY services, individuals must meet the following requirements:

Be under the age of 22
Changed school districts in the last 36 months
The youth or one or both parents must hold some type of agricultural work that may include plant farms, fisheries, poultry farms, dairies, cattle ranches, and field work picking vegetables and/or fruits.

Let us help you!

Required Forms

2025-2026 Forms

2024-2025 Forms

Archived Forms

Needs Assessment

Areas of Concern

Resources

TEA Title I, Part C

TMEP

TEA Federal Program Compliance Division

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education reports on effective educational programs, practices, and products. For example, information is available about reading, mathematics, middle school curriculum, dropout prevention, early childhood education, and English learners. For more information, visit https://www2.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml

The Handbook for Educators Working with Children of Mexican Origin can be found at http://people.uncw.edu/martinezm/Handbook/html/index.htm

Colorín Colorado, a nationally recognized bilingual site for families and educators of English learners, is found at http://www.colorincolorado.org/

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with a focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8 http://www.naeyc.org

The National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education (NASDME) offers its annual National Migrant Education Conference held in the spring. At this event, staff learn strategies in curriculum and instruction, parent involvement, assessment, identification and recruitment, and program administration. For more information, see https://www.nasdme.org/

The National Center for Families Learning offers information and materials on migrant family literacy. http://www.familieslearning.org/

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages offers everyone involved in English language teaching and learning an opportunity to be part of a dynamic community, where professionals connect with and inspire each other to achieve the highest standards of excellence. http://tesol.org/

The National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH) is a private, not-for-profit corporation headquartered in Texas that is dedicated to improving the health status of farmworker families by providing information services, training and technical assistance, and a variety of products to community and migrant health centers nationwide, as well as organizations, universities, researchers, and individuals involved in farmworker health. http://www.ncfh.org/

The iSOSY MEP Consortium supports the delivery of services to migrant OSY. http://osymigrant.org

Requirements by Universities for undocumented students to enroll in college

Contact Us

Tara Evers, M.Psych. Bilingual Specialist II, Federal Programs

Email Tara Evers, M.Psych. 903.988.6983

Marisol Mancha Technology Specialist I, Migrant, State & Federal Programs

Email Marisol Mancha 903.988.6847