Dr. Adela Solis

Serving Migrant Students – Podcast Episode 7 | Classnotes Podcast 7

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Classnotes Podcasts (February 14, 2007) Migrant students are perhaps the most educationally disenfranchised group of students in our schooling system. They are highly mobile and have diverse linguistic backgrounds, which pose challenges that our educational system is minimally prepared to address. Teachers and schools that integrate students’ culture and rich array of experiences into the curriculum find it beneficial to all students. But oftentimes, teachers of migrant students are unaware of the resources available to them.

IDRA has created an interactive CD and guide that provides insights about migrant students in classrooms and best practices within migrant education programs. Dr. Adela Solís, an IDRA senior education associate, discusses common misconceptions about educating migrant students and strategies educators need to use to serve them successfully. Adela is interviewed by Bradley Scott, Ph.D., director of the IDRA South Central Collaborative for Equity.

Show length: 21:05

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Resources

IDRA: Serving Migrant Students
http://www.idra.org/services_to_educator/serving-migrant-students/

What Every Teacher Should Know about Migrant Students: The Harvest of Hope is in Your Hands
Interactive CD and guide ($10) developed by the Intercultural Development Research Association
http://www.idra.org/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,33/
category_id,1/manufacturer_id,0/publications/

U.S. Office of Migrant Education
Administers grant programs that provide academic and supportive services to the children of families who migrate to find work in the agricultural and fishing industries.
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/ome/index.html

ESCORT – national resource center dedicated to migrant education
http://www.escort.org/

Migrant Services Directory: Organizations and Resources (2003)
The directory of services provides summaries and contact information for federal programs and national organizations that serve migrant farmworkers and their families.
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/ome/migrantdirectory.pdf

The Help Kit for Secondary Teachers of Migrant English Language Learners
Developed with funds from U.S. Office of Migrant Education

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Show Notes

  • 01:48 Bradley welcomes and introduces this show’s guest, Adela Solís, Ph.D., senior education associate at IDRA. Adela notes that migrant students have been part of U.S. school systems for many years, and that IDRA has worked closely with school districts and administrators, counselors and, especially, teachers -- on the issues of migrant education since 1994, with a particular focus on the area of day-to-day instruction.

  • 04:58 Adela says that teachers often don’t know what the needs of migrant students are, specifically their instructional needs.

  • 06:00 Adela talks about a CD and guide that IDRA unveiled in 2006 called “What Every Teacher Should Know About Migrant Students.”

  • 07:51 Adela talks about the two key misconceptions of migrant students – (1) that they’re immigrant students and (2) that their mobility results in failure in the schools.

  • 09:23 Adela emphasizes that migrant students are just like all other students and need to be served by the same curriculum; they must be held to the same educational high standards.

  • 10:12 Adela: “It is the system, the schools that need to do something; it is not the students themselves that need to be fixed.”

  • 11:03 Adela notes that the IDRA guide talks about support for migrant students and gives examples of what a supportive family for a migrant student looks like. “The resiliency of children,” Adela says, “actually comes out of the resiliency that parents show.”

  • 12:16 Bradley asks Adela to describe the key challenges that teachers and school administrators need to be mindful of in serving migrant students in a way that allows them to meet the same rigorous requirements as non-migrant children.

  • 14:18 Adela says that part of IDRA’s work with migrant students includes a focus on their cultural and language needs.

  • 14:55 Bradley asks Adela how teachers and administrators can separate all of the prejudices against migrant students and remain focused on providing proper schooling for these children.

  • 17:59 Bradley asks Adela for her key walkway recommendations for teachers and administrators in educating migrant students.