State Title I Migrant Participation Information, 1997-98.

The Migrant Education Program (MEP) is a federal formula grant to states for educational services to migrant children, ages 3-21, who made an eligible move in the past 3 years. States use MEP funds to address effects of continual educational disruption by providing instructional or supporting services. This report summarizes participation information provided by state education agencies for 1997-98 and presents individual state profiles. In 1997-98, the number of eligible children increased 2 percent, based on the 12-month count, and states actually served 621,464 students (unduplicated count), up 7 percent. California, Florida, and Texas together served half of participants, 85 percent of whom were Hispanic. Regular-term participation increased 11 percent, with 43 percent of participants in grades 1-6. Among instructional services, the largest percentage of participants received reading services (23 percent), followed by mathematics (19 percent). Among supporting services, nearly half of students received social work or outreach services, and 20 percent received guidance and counseling services. Staff increased 3 percent to 7,871 full-time-equivalent units. Similar data are provided for the summer term. For each state, two pages of tables and figures present child counts, participants by race/ethnicity and grade span, percentage of migrant students receiving each service, staffing information, projects by term type, and information on extended-time and schoolwide projects. Appendices list states not providing MEP services and include the reporting form. (Contains 31 data tables and 9 figures in addition to those in state profiles.) (SV)