Identifying Concerns

Participant will be able to: Understand the purpose of Concern Statements Use criteria to identify and categorize Concern Statements Draft a Concern Statement

Phase I: Explore What Is Review and Finalize Migrant Student Profile Review Areas of Concern and Write Concern Statements Prioritize Concern Statements Write and Prioritize Need Indicators Consider Data Sources

Foundation of Concern Statements Began with research-based factors Input from variety of stakeholders in pilot states Compiled into seven “Areas of Concern” Concern Statements are the building blocks of the development of Needs Statements

GOAL AREA From Goal Area to Need Indicator AREA OF CONCERN CONCERN STATEMENT NEED INDICATOR

Roots of the Seven Areas of Concern Migrant workers and their families experience relatively high levels of migration (mobility) They often move from and to other countries (especially Mexico) They are low socio-economic (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) Roots of the Seven Areas of Concern (Continued)

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

Areas of Concern: Guiding Questions Is this area a concern for migrant students in your state? Why? What aspects of this area of concern are relevant here? Are there additional migrant concerns not reflected in these seven areas? Which areas are the highest priority for data-gathering?

Concern Statement Criteria Should be written to hypothesize about why migrant students, based upon their unique needs as the result of their migrant lifestyle, have performance gaps. Statement should be in the form of “We are concerned that….” Should take into account all MEP goal areas.

Criteria (Continued) Should be stated in terms of concerns of migrant students and their families. Concerns at the school or system level should be recorded and temporarily set aside. Should be simple, straightforward, and cover only one concern in each statement.

Concern Statements We are concerned that migrant students with high interstate mobility rates are not accruing adequate credits to graduate on time. We are concerned that migrant students enrolled in multiple school districts lose instructional time in the core subject areas.