Identification and Recruitment of Migratory Children

This letter serves as a reminder for school systems of the federal law requirement to identify and recruit (ID&R) every eligible migratory student residing in Texas. TEA requests the assistance of all school systems in the state to help meet this requirement, but most importantly, to ensure the benefits of the Migrant Education Program (MEP) are made accessible to the intended recipients.

Identification and Recruitment (ID&R)

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), funding to a school system operating a Title I, Part C – Education of Migratory Children is based, in part, on the number of migratory children identified. Migratory children are children ages 0 through 21, whose parents or guardians have, or the youth themselves have:

1. Made a qualifying move in the preceding 36 months to engage in migratory agricultural or fishing work.
2. Moved across school district boundaries and lived away from their home district while engaging in work.  
3. Moved due to economic necessity.

Identification means determining the presence and location of migratory children. Recruitment means actively contacting migratory families, describing the benefits of the Texas Migratory Education Program (TXMEP) to the child and his or her family, obtaining the necessary information to document the child’s eligibility, and enrolling the child in the TXMEP.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has assured the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education, that the identification and recruitment of all eligible migratory students, including out-of-school youth (OSY) and preschool migratory children, residing in every school system will be conducted on a year-round basis.

For the TXMEP, an OSY is defined as a high school-age youth 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 a K-12 institution, or may be “here-to-work” only.

For this process to be effective, ID&R should be conducted year-round from September through August. It must include balanced efforts to identify and recruit all migratory children who reside within the school district’s boundaries. Access or connection to a variety of resources, including the school system, the local community, and local employers, must be a part of such efforts.

School System Responsibility

School systems that apply for and receive Title I, Part C (Migrant) funds through the 2025-2026 ESSA Consolidated Federal Grant are required to conduct their own ID&R activities as outlined in the Texas Manual for the Identification and Recruitment of Migratory Children. TEA highly encourages all Title I, Part C-funded school systems to work cooperatively with their regional education service center (ESC) to ensure that the TXMEP reaches all eligible migratory children and that these children are properly encoded in the Texas-New Generation System (TX-NGS) database.

Each school system serving eligible migratory children should document its ID&R process in both the school system’s Identification and Recruitment Plan and the District Improvement Plan.

ESC Responsibility and Resources

TEA provides each regional ESC with funding to provide required professional development opportunities and technical assistance to their respective school systems on the ID&R process.

For those school systems that were eligible but elected not to apply for and receive Title I, Part C funds through the 2025-2026 ESSA Consolidated Federal Grant, the regional ESC has been provided funding to assist TEA with the mandated identification and recruitment activities of all migratory children, including OSY and preschool children. TEA requests that these school systems work collaboratively with their regional ESCs to ensure these students receive eligible services and that their demographic data are properly encoded in the TX-NGS database.

In addition, TEA provides each ESC with funding to assist in the identification and recruitment of OSY. At a minimum, the ESC will be responsible for determining the individual academic and support needs of each of the OSY. The responsibility of the ESC is to ensure that OSY have access to services that support a successful transition to postsecondary education or employment. TEA requests that school systems work collaboratively with their ESCs on these efforts by providing them with the requested academic records to ensure the success of these OSY.

For Further Information

As always, thank you for your assistance and support of Texas migratory students. For information regarding the MEP program, please visit the Texas Migrant Education Program (TMEP) web portal.

If you have questions regarding the Identification and Recruitment of migratory children, please contact your regional ESC or TEA MEP team at migrant.ed@tea.texas.gov.

Services Provided through the MEP

Children who qualify for the MEP may receive instructional and support services provided by the school system.  The availability of these services is determined by: 

• Funding to the school system;
• Individual student needs;
• Services offered through other funding sources.

Instructional Services provided by the School System may include:

• Tutoring;
• Summer Programs;
• Early childhood opportunities;
• State assessment preparation.

Support Services may include:

• Clothing;
• Health visits;
• School supplies or access to homework tools;
• MEP support, advocacy, and coordination in working with school personnel.