Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs: Juntos hacemos la diferencia

by Sharon Yandian

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs, nationally administered from the Region 12 Migrant and Seasonal Program Branch, are designed to provide comprehensive services to eligible mobile migrant and seasonal farmworker families and their children, birth to compulsory school age.

Geographically spread out in over 37 states, there are currently over 68 MSHS agencies in the United States. These programs serve approximately 3,000 seasonal children and 31,000 migrant children, of which 40% are under the age of three. Of the total population enrolled in MSHS programs, 97% are Hispanic, and Spanish is the dominant language for 9 out of 10 children.

Migrant Head Start was established in 1969 to serve migrant farm worker infants/toddlers, preschoolers and their families. The program was initiated because both parents worked full-time for part of the year in the agricultural fields and children were often at high risk for being exposed to weather conditions as well as environmental hazards such as pesticides.

Seasonal farmworker services were added in 1998 when it was recognized that migrant families who no longer moved in search of agricultural work also deserved to be eligible to be served in migrant programs. They have similar characteristics but no longer move from one place to another.

As with all Head Start programs, migrant and seasonal parents are an integral part of the management and administrative decision-making structure. Parents actively participate in all aspects of program operations in grantee and delegate agencies. They are volunteers at centers, staff, and members of parent committees and Policy Councils.

MSHS programs are extremely complex. Different programs in different states may serve the same family as it changes location. Programs operate on different schedules. Program length (number of months) and hours of operation are diverse, with some programs operating over 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. The shortest reported length of a program is 5 weeks and the longest program length is 11 months. Programs use the location of the grantee/delegate and the type of crops being harvested, cultivated or processed to determine when the program will be open.

Because of changes in the agricultural industry, migrant streams are in flux and many families have found it necessary to change what is typically known as their “Home Base” state to another state entirely. For example, some families find themselves traveling westward toward the central United States instead of from south to north as was typically the case. This pattern is expected to continue since the agricultural industry itself is in a state of constant change.

Promoting the Home Language and English

Migrant and Seasonal Programs go to great lengths to support and foster the home language of families, primarily Spanish, and at the same time strive to provide a classroom environment that supports the acquisition of English from an early age. Migrant and Seasonal program staff believe that children benefit from exposure to two languages. The potential advantages of being bilingual in today’s world are enormous, and Migrant and Seasonal staff foster bilingualism wherever possible. Though hiring qualified temporary staff is often very challenging, MSHS programs are committed to having Spanish and English role models in the classroom.

MSHS program staff facilitate second language acquisition by respecting young children as individuals and by planning learning experiences that address their individual strengths, needs and interests. Classroom staff equip their classrooms with materials that invite verbal exchanges and work to engage each child in many types of communication each day. In addition, classroom staff use their understanding of each child’s background to initiate and sustain communication. MSHS teachers ease the pain of relocation by talking about the experience in positive ways:

• What we (you) saw on the way...
• How the new location is exciting….
• What we (you) left...

Above all, classroom staff facilitate second language acquisition by creating safe environments in which young children can try out and experiment with the new language—and in which they can continue to develop their first language. By continuing to support the development of the child’s first language while gradually and carefully introducing a second language, classroom staff offer preschool children appropriate supports for a lifelong process. Starting in the spring of 2004, the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs participated in the NRS. Four- and five-year-olds who were enrolled for four months or more and were eligible for kindergarten were assessed. (see Schultz, page 52).

Creating Administrative Practices

MSHS programs encourage and support second-language acquisition and know that learning a second language cannot be the sole responsibility of program staff. Two actions that have worked for MSHS programs and that are particularly beneficial for staff and parents are to: (1) develop a program wide language acquisition policy statement; and (2) promote and support ongoing professional development for staff in knowledge of first- and second language acquisition (see Gonzales, http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm). Both send a clear message that children’s language development is important and a priority for the program.

The policy statement makes clear exactly how the program will support the home language and culture within the context of demonstrataing progress towards listening, speaking and understanding English. It should also make clear that progress for each child differs. The policy statement helps establish what the organization believes and generates discussion among staff and parents as well as helping them educate each other. Professional development activities ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to facilitate children’s first- and second-language development.

While working with Migrant and Seasonal children provides unique challenges to Head Start staff, it also presents a unique opportunity for fostering bilingual education with preschool children.

The proportion of Head Start children who hear Spanish at home is increasing at a rapid pace. Head Start's Hispanic Implementation Initiative calculated county populations by age and Hispanic origin for 2010 and 2020 to indicate how local client bases might change in coming years.

To view the changing demographics of your county, go to Brad Edmondson's article, Immigration is a Powerful Force - How Does It Affect Head Start? (http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit.htm)

There are two types of Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs.

Home Based programs:

• Serve families in the areas families call home
• Are located in the southern part of the United States (e.g., Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, southernmost California, and Texas)
• Provide services to mobile farmworker families as they return to the place they call home primarily from September through May.

Upstream programs:

• Provide services to migrant families as they move (generally northward) in search of agricultural work
• Provide direct services in a shorter time frame
• Provide service that always encompasses the summer months
• Are located in, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Washington, and other states.

Sharon Yandian is the Director of the Region XII Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Center at the Academy for Educational Development. T: 202-884-8729; E: syandian@aed.org