Migrant Children: Education and HHS Need to Improve the Exchange of Participant Information
HEHS-00-4
Published: Oct 15, 1999. Publicly Released: Nov 01, 1999.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Education's Migrant Education Program (MEP) and the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Migrant Head Start Program (MHS), focusing on: (1) the goals of the MEP and MHS programs, how they operate, who they serve, and what services they provide; (2) the extent to which Education and HHS facilitate the coordination of MEP and MHS services within each of their programs and between the two programs; and (3) how well Education and HHS determine whether MEP and MHS achieve their goals and objectives.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services | The Secretary of Health and Human Services should examine the advisability of expanding the types of activities included in MHS' definition of agricultural work to harmonize with those that are considered agricultural work under MEP. In undertaking this examination, the Secretary should consider the resource implications of broadening this definition. |
Although the official definition of agricultural work used by Migrant Education has not changed, HHS did examine the possibility of expanding the types of activities included in the definition, and has broadened its interpretation of agricultural work.
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| Department of Education | To improve services to children, the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services both should develop nationwide systems to transmit essential information about each participant, Education's system to track MEP participants from school district to school district and HHS' system to track MHS participants from center to center. |
Public Law 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, requires the Secretary of Education to ensure the linkage of migrant student record systems for the purpose of exchanging health and education information regarding migrant students.
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| Department of Health and Human Services | Because government agencies need to provide a clear picture of how their programs are working, the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services should include in their respective research and evaluation plans studies that measures the outcomes of MEP and MHS and the extent to which the programs are meeting their goals. |
In January 2004, the Head Start Bureau launched a new pilot study--"Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Research Design Development Project"--that will be used to guide the development of appropriate and effective research designs for a first-time national evaluation of Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs. Also, in September 2003, the Head Start Bureau published performance indicators for Early Head Start and Migrant Head Start Programs in order to develop outcome accountability for these programs.
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| Department of Education | Because government agencies need to provide a clear picture of how their programs are working, the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services should include in their respective research and evaluation plans studies that measures the outcomes of MEP and MHS and the extent to which the programs are meeting their goals. |
The Office of Migrant Education initiated a pilot comprehensive need assessment program in 2002 in four states to collect data on migrant students in the areas of school readiness, reading, math, and high school graduation. Once the assessment has been field tested and documented, Education will share the results with state directors of migrant education and disseminate an assessment product that they can use in their states. Also, in 2003, Education investigated the extent to which migrant students participated in state assessments and the types and quality of academic outcome data for migrant students. Findings of this investigation are presented in "The Same High Standards for Migrant Students: Holding Title I Schools Accountable."
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Topics
Aid for educationChildrenEducation program evaluationImmigrantsImmigration information systemsInteragency relationsMigrant workersMigrant health servicesStudentsMigrant children