BMEI Survey

2010-2011 State MEP Director Survey

Binational Migrant Education Initiative (BMEI)

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1.25 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain benefit (US Code 20 USC 6398). Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden; please write directly to Tara Ramsey, U.S. Department of Education, Room 3E309, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20202-6135 or email [email protected] and reference the OMB Control Number 1810-0670.

In order to best respond to this survey, please complete electronically. This is a locked Microsoft Word Form and you cannot edit the instructions or questions; input text boxes will expand to the size of your text if completed electronically. You may attach a separate sheet if necessary. Completed surveys should be emailed [email protected] or faxed to (512) 245-0588.

I. Directory Information

To update the directory of Binational Migrant Education Initiative coordinators, please provide the current contact information for the person responsible for Binational activities in your state:

Name:      

Position:      

Address:      

City:       State:       Zip:      

Email:       Phone:       Fax:      

If a person other than the person listed above completes this survey, below please include the name, position and email for that person:

Position: Migrant state program director/administrator Other:      

Name:       Email:      

The Apostille is the seal or other certification to legalize a document. In most U.S. states, this requires that the document is first notarized. Then the document is sent to the agency that gave the notary their seal; the agency confirms the authority of the notary and further certifies the document.

A Binational student is an eligible migrant student who makes a qualifying move between Mexico and the U.S. with his/her parents or as an emancipated youth at least once in the last 36 months. Please note this definition is not the same as the definition of a migrant child according to Mexican standards.

Free Textbooks are donated by the Mexico Department of Education every year. Thereby, the survey respondents play an active role in the receipt and distribution of those donated textbooks.

Services are a subset of all allowable activities that the MEP can provide through its programs and projects. “Services” are those educational or educationally related activities that: (1) directly benefit a migrant child; (2) address a need of a migrant child consistent with the SEA’s comprehensive needs assessment and service delivery plan; (3) are grounded in scientifically based research or, in the case of support services, are a generally accepted practice; and (4) are designed to enable the program to meet its measurable outcomes and contribute to the achievement of the State’s performance targets. Activities related to identification and recruitment activities, parental involvement, program evaluation, professional development, or administration of the program are examples of allowable activities that are NOT considered services. Other examples of an allowable activity that would not be considered a service would be the one-time act of providing instructional packets to a child or family, and handing out leaflets to migrant families on available reading programs as part of an effort to increase the reading skills of migrant children. Although these are allowable activities, they are not services because they do not meet all of the criteria above.

The Transfer Document is a commonly used form within migrant programs, which allows schools or districts to collect data on migrant students (i.e. the number of credits earned by students) that transfer between schools in Mexico and the US. Currently, the Transfer Document is used for grades 1 through 9 in the United States and through secundaria in Mexico.

II. Definitions/Notes

III. State Agreements

1. Does your state have an agreement (e.g. memorandum of agreement, memorandum of understanding, etc.) with Mexico or any Mexican state regarding activities of the BMEI?

Yes No

If you answered “no” to this question, skip to Section V. If you answered, “yes,” please address the following question.

1. Briefly summarize the parties and contents for the agreement(s):      

IV. Binational Migrant Student Demographics

Please assist us in determining the number of Binational migrant students participating in your state Migrant Education Program (MEP). (For questions requiring a written response, please write as long a response as you would like—the space will expand as you write)

1. Indicate the number of Binational migrant students from your 12-month count that were identified and the number served in your state. After each one check whether the number is an estimate or actual count.

      a. Number of identified Estimated Actual

      b. Number of served during the summer Estimated Actual

      c. Number of served during the regular school year Estimated Actual

      d. Number of designated as having “Priority for Service” Estimated Actual

2. Please briefly describe the procedures you use to determine the count of Binational migrant students in your state:      

3. Based on the results of your Comprehensive Needs Assessment process, if you have found that your Binational migrant students have unique needs, what are the unique needs of Binational students that are above and beyond the needs of interstate/intrastate migrant students?      

4. If you choose to address these needs in your Service Delivery Plan, what are the specific services you provide to address the unique needs of Binational migrant students? Check the aspects of the Binational Migrant Education Initiative (BMEI) that your state participates in, and include any additional services you provide.

Yes No

a. Free Textbook Distribution Program

If your state does not participate in this activity, please explain why:      

b. Distribution/Use of the Transfer Document

If your state does not participate in this activity, please explain why:      

c. Teacher Exchange Program—Teachers COMING FROM Mexico

If your state does not participate in this activity, please explain why:      

d. Teacher Exchange Program—U.S. Teachers/administrators GOING TO Mexico

If your state does not participate in this activity, please explain why:      

e. Other activities? (Please explain)      

Depending on your answers to the items above, please complete only the following corresponding sections of this survey (i.e. if your program does not participate in the Free Textbook Distribution you would not need to complete that section).

V. Free Textbook Distribution

1. Please rate the extent to which you use the free textbooks: Not at All; Somewhat; A Lot; Do Not know.

1. teachers/instructors used the books with students.

2. teachers/instructors used the books for adult literacy.

3. parents used the books to help their children learn.

4. training and/or professional development was provided to educators on how to use the books.

If staff from your state participated in professional development on the use of the Free Textbooks, please provide responses for i, ii, and iii.

1. How many staff in your state participated in professional development on the use of the Free Textbooks in the last year?      

2. On average, how many hours did each staff member participate in professional development on the use of the Free Textbooks in the last year?      

3. Describe the type of professional development activities that occurred.     

5. given to migrant parents to read with their children

6. given to migrant students

7. as supplementary curriculum materials

8. donated to school library

3.       Number of boxes of Free Textbooks received for distribution (The boxes hold 50 books)

4.       Costs your state incurred for shipping the materials to each site during 2010-2011.

5.       If your state did not incur costs, which agency did?
(Mark one): LEAs Consulate Other:      

6. Are there other textbooks from Mexico that you have found useful in serving Binational migrant students other than books from the Free Textbook Distribution Program?

Yes No If yes, please list them:      

VI. Transfer Document

1. Between the fall of 2010 and the summer of 2011, to what extent did schools/districts in your state complete the Transfer Document?

2. Approximately how many transfer documents were received in your state?      

3. Approximately how many transfer documents were sent from your state?      

4. How is the use of the Transfer Document documented by schools in your state?      

5. If schools and/or districts in your state are completing the Transfer Document, from whom are they obtaining the documents? State Migrant Director Local Mexican Consulate Other? (Please describe)      

6. Have you completed any training with MEP staff about the Transfer Document and its use? Yes No

VII. Apostille

1. Between the fall of 2010 and the summer of 2011, approximately how many Apostilles did your state program obtain for Binational migrant students?      
   
   
   

2. If you assisted Binational migrant students in obtaining an Apostille, what was the cost incurred per Apostille?      

3. In processing the Apostille, what barriers did you encounter, if any?      

4. Have you completed training with MEP staff about the Apostille and its use? Yes No

IX. Teacher Exchange Program – Teachers coming from Mexico

1. List the districts in your state that hosted educators from Mexico in 2010-2011. Report all exchange participants whether or not the exchange was facilitated through the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE). Use a separate sheet if needed.

School or District in your State that hosted Mexican Teachers	# of Educators Hosted	Teacher=T Administrator=A	City/cities and state(s) visited in U.S.	Services provided (i.e. taught students, conducted training, worked w/parents)
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     

2. How many migrant students did the teachers actually serve in:

Math       Spanish Language       Arts       History of Mexico     

Other academic subjects       Cultural dances & music      

3. Through what type of status, were exchange teachers granted entrance into the United States? (check all that apply):

J-1 Visa (Cultural Exchange) H-1 (Work Visa) Legal Resident or U.S. Citizenship

1. If you used visas, through what organization did you acquire visas?      

2. What was the average cost per visa?      

4. Did you go through the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE) program to exchange teachers?

Yes No

5. Based on your experience and observations, please rate the following items either: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent or Do Not Know.

1. quality of training provided in Mexico about teacher role/responsibilities in U.S. schools:

2. opportunities for cultural/educational exchange:

3. services provided by the exchange teachers from Mexico:

4. usefulness of the information received about the Teacher Exchange Program to help you request teachers:

5. extent to which the skills of the exchange teachers matched the needs of BMEI project sites:

Check the box(es) indicating the most useful aspects of the Teacher Exchange Program:

increased students’ achievement in math by (indicate percentage of increase):      

increased students’ achievement in reading (indicate percentage of increase):      

increased students’ achievement in writing (indicate percentage of increase):      

increased students’ achievement in history (indicate percentage of increase):      

increased students’ self esteem

increased students’ language/cultural identity

increased staff knowledge about Mexico’s school system

increased students’ motivation toward school

increased parents’ involvement

other:      

X. Teacher Exchange Program – U.S. Educators going to Mexico

1. List the districts in your state that sent educators to Mexico in 2010-2011. Report all exchange participants whether or not the exchange was facilitated through the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations (SRE). Use a separate sheet if needed.

School or District in your State that sent Staff to Mexico	# of Educators Sent	Teacher=T Administrator=A	City/cities and state(s) visited in Mexico	Services provided (i.e. taught students, conducted training, worked w/parents)
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     
     	     	     	     	     

2. Based on your discussions with educators and/or your knowledge about the exchange program for educators going to Mexico, please rate the following items either: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent or Do Not Know.

1. orientation provided in the U.S. preparing educators:

2. orientation/information provided while in Mexico:

3. opportunities for cultural/educational exchange:

4. overall quality of the exchange for educators going to Mexico:

3. Overall, what do you feel are the most useful aspects of the Teacher Exchange Program?      

XI. General Questions and Final Comments

1. Please describe any ideas you have to improve the quality of, and participation in, the Binational Migrant Education Initiative (i.e., Teacher Exchange Program, Free Textbook Distribution Program, Access to Schools).

     

2. Please list any resources needed to increase participation in the Binational Migrant Education Initiative.

     

3. Other comments and suggestions, including suggestions to revise this survey.

     

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