Identification and Recruitment of Migratory Children

The purpose of this letter is to remind local educational agencies (LEAs) of the requirement under federal law for identification and recruitment (ID&R) of every eligible migratory student residing in Texas.

Identification and Recruitment (ID&R)

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), funding to an LEA operating a Migratory Education Program (MEP) is based, in part, on the number of migratory students identified.

Identification means determining the presence and location of migratory children. Recruitment means describing the benefits of the MEP to the child and his or her family, obtaining the necessary information to document the child’s eligibility, and enrolling the child in the MEP.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has assured the US Department of Education that migratory students would be actively recruited year-round in every district in the state, including out-of-school youth (OSY).  

For the purposes of the MEP, an OSY is defined as a high school-age youth up through age 21 who is not currently enrolled in a K-12 institution. The youth may have dropped out of school, may be working on a high school equivalency program outside of a K-12 institution, or may be “here-to-work” only.

Program Availability

For ID&R to be effective, it must be ongoing throughout the entire year, not just the school year. It must include balanced efforts to identify and recruit all migratory children and their families who reside within the LEA’s boundaries. A variety of resources, including the LEA, local community, and local employers, must be included in such efforts.

ESC Responsibility and Resources

Each regional education service center (ESC) is provided funding to assist the state with providing professional development in the ID&R process.

All LEAs that receive migrant funds are required to conduct their own ID&R services for the program. TEA encourages all migrant-funded districts to work cooperatively with their regional ESCs to ensure that the MEP reaches all eligible migratory children and that the children are properly reported in the Texas-New Generation System (TX-NGS) database.

The 20 regional ESCs are responsible for assisting all non-migrant-funded districts with the ID&R of their migratory children. If your district does not receive migrant funds, TEA requests that you work collaboratively with your regional ESC to recruit all eligible migratory students residing in your area, including OSY, and to encode the children into the TX-NGS database.

Each ESC is provided with funding to hire a recruiter dedicated to region-wide recruitment of OSY. At a minimum, the ESC OSY recruiter will be responsible for determining individual academic and support needs of each OSY, identifying available resources, and making referrals to address said needs (such as tutoring or Certificate of High School Equivalency), as appropriate. The ESC OSY recruiter’s purpose is to help ensure that the OSY has access to services to make a successful transition to postsecondary education or employment.  

For Further Information

As always, thank you for your assistance and support of Texas migratory students. 

If you have questions regarding the ID&R of migratory children, please contact the following:

• MEP staff at your regional ESC
• TEA at (512) 463-9499 or migrant.ed@tea.texas.gov.