A Study On California Migrant Education Program In The United States

With the population of migrant farm workers increasing in China, the education of migrant farm workers’ children ("migrant students" for short) is becoming more and more serious, and the inequality of their education is one of the important tasks of our government. As one state with the largest migrant population in U.S., California once faced migrant students’ education problem, too. To solve this problem, California Department of Education established California Migrant Education Program (MEP for short), and developed a series of migrant education programs and plans. Since1965, through the endless efforts of California, migrant students’education problems in California have been well solved and to some extent, California set an example for other states.The main structure of this dissertation is made up of five chapters.First, the background of Migrant Education Program. It is introduced from three aspects:the dilemma of migrant students in the earlier time, the complexities of migrant education and continuous appeal for education equity of educational policies. The dilemma of migrant students in the earlier time is inflected in little concern about migrant education, inexperienced teachers and insufficient education funds. The complexities of migrant education include high migrating rate, lack of school records, the differences in curriculum between schools and states as well as lack of family involvement, and so on. The continuous appeal for education equity is another aspect of the background.Second, the main contents of California MEP. This chapter is divided into two parts:the goal, purposes of California MEP and the main educational programs and plans of California MEP. The plans include Identification&Recruitment Program, Comprehensive Needs Assessment, Mini-crops Program, Migrant Student Information Network, The California Portable Assisted Study Sequence Program and-Migrant State Parent Advisory Council. These plans coordinate with each other, which inflects the efficiency and typical feature of California MEP.Third, the effectiveness of California MEP. Based on the data from U.S. government and California State government, this chapter assesses the effectiveness of California MEP from the three aspects of Education Equity Theory. The increasing number of migrant students who benefit from California MEP highlights equal education starting point, the increase of educational funds and teaching resources reflects equal education process and the improvement of academic record of migrant students ensures equal education results.Fourth, the features of California MEP. California MEP is characterized by the following three points:targeted service objects, nationwide implementing forces and personalized education designs.Finally, the enlightenments for migrant students’ education problems in China. Through the discussion and analysis of California MEP, this dissertation tried to explore some useful solutions of education problems of migrant farm workers’ children in China:1. Perfecting government function to provide policy and legal protection for migrant students’ education;2. Improving the mechanism of educational funds to make efficient use of it;3. Facilitating teacher professional development to offer strong software support to migrant students;4. Building electronic school files for migrant students to ensure their learning continuity;5. Forming joint social forces to improve migrant students’ education environment;6. Setting up a leading office to take charge of migrant education.