An English Language Development Teacher in Stockton is helping migrant students learn even when they’re not in the country.
Madeline Britt is a teacher at Morada Middle School in Stockton and developed a program to help her students stay up-to-date with their school work even when they're out of the country.
The English Language Development program is part of the Migrant Education Program (MEP) under the California Department of Education (CDE).
Britt is one of many teachers who are part of MEP.
What is the Migrant Education Program?
The Migrant Education Program (MEP) is designed to support migrant students by helping reduce disruption to their education due to repeated moves. One of three migrant students in the U.S. lives in California due to it's vast and varied agriculture regions.
The program helps migrant children overcome cultural and language barriers, social isolation, health issues and any other problems that may affect their education because of having to move often. The goal of the program is for migrant students to still meet the same state academic standard as their peers and be allowed the same opportunities as other children.
"A child is considered "migratory" if the parent or guardian is a migratory worker in the agricultural, dairy, lumber, or fishing industries and whose family has moved during the past three years," According to the (CDE) website.
The program serves preschool-aged children and young people who are not enrolled in school up to age 21.
The program reaches 15 counties and more than 200 districts across the state. MEP is used in all 50 states including Hawaii, Alaska, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
So, who's paying for the MEP?
The MEP is a federally funded program. MEP is authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), according to the CDE.
ABC10 reached out to Jonathan Mendick, spokesperson for the CDE to further explain the funding process.
"The CDE is responsible for ensuring that Migrant Education Program funds are awarded to local educational agencies (LEAs) and are used by LEAs in accordance with federal and state requirements." Mendick said in an email. "Funds are determined using a yearly grant application process."
How many migrant students are there in the Sacramento region?
Migrant students make up less than two percent of the total students in the Sacramento area, according to data provided by Mendick.
There are 439 students of about 30,000 students in Yolo County-- which adds up to about 1.5 percent. In Sacramento County, there are 708 migrant students of nearly 246,000 students making up 0.3 percent of the total student population.
Placer County doesn't have any migrant students.
In numbers, San Joaquin County has a larger population of migrant students at a total of 1,189. However, migrant students only make up 0.8 percent of the total student population in the county.
MEP goes beyond high school.
The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) helps student from migrant and seasonal worker backgrounds in their first year of college. Every year, CAMP provides about 2,400 migrant participants with academic, personal and financial support.
CAMP is available at Sacramento State University.
For more information on the MEP visit the California Department of Education website.