legislation
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ,Title I, Part C, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; 20 U.S.C. 6391-6399 - The No Child Left Behind Act, which was signed into law on January 8, 2002, contains the major statutory provisions that apply to the Migrant Education Program. The new law supersedes the previous law. View all of the Department of Education's major legislation on the legislation page.
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) - FERPA is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99). The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
Department of Education's General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), Section 427 - Section 427 requires each applicant for funds (other than an individual person) to include in its application a description of the steps the applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable access to, and participation in, its federally assisted program for students, teachers, and other program beneficiaries with special needs.
regulations
Code of Federal Regulations (Part 200) - As required by the statute, the U.S. Department of Education issues a set of regulations implementing the programs under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. To provide maximum flexibility to grantees implementing the programs under Title I, the regulations in Section 200.81 address only those provisions for which rulemaking is absolutely necessary. The current regulations that apply to the Title I Migrant Education Program begin in Section 200.81. download files PDF (373K)
Please note that a number of the sections of the Title I, Part A regulations affect migrant children as members of the overall student population (e.g., adequate yearly progress, public school choice, supplemental services, parental involvement, etc.), however, the particular needs of migrant children are addressed in the schoolwide program regulations [Sections 200.26(i)200.29(c)(1)].
Code of Federal Regulations (Part 299)
Federal Register Notice on Funding Formula - In the Federal Register Notice dated April 2, 2004, the Department announced that the interpretation of the statutory formula for awarding FY 2003 MEP funds to all States, including DC and Puerto Rico (previously published on June 11, 2003) will continue to apply:
to the allocation of MEP funds in FY 2004, and
to succeeding fiscal years in which the amount of funds appropriated for the MEP does not exceed the amount appropriated in FY 2002.
Federal Register Notice to clarify and improve MEP eligibility and fiscal accountability requirements - In the Federal Register Notice dated July 29, 2008, the Department announced new regulations that provide:
clear definitions of several terms used in the statutory definition of a migratory child that were previously defined only in non-regulatory guidance and thus open to inconsistent application across the States;
specific quality control procedures including periodic re-interviewing and the use of a standard, national certificate of eligibility to be used by all States to document the basis of their determinations of the eligibility of a migratory child; and
authority for ED to adjust SEAs’ FY 2006 and subsequent year MEP grant awards to reflect corrections based on State-reported estimates of the percentage of ineligible children included in the SEAs’ prior year statewide counts of migratory children.
If you have any questions about the national COE requirements, please contact your MEP program officer.
National certificate of eligibility (COE) form and instructions to be used by all States to document the basis of their determinations of the eligibility of a migratory child.
National COE form and instructions - On November 2, 2011, the Office of Management and Budget extended its approval of the information collection requirements associated with the National COE form and corresponding instructions. SEAs and their sub grantees should replace all prior versions of the COE template and instructions with the currently approved documents.
Spanish Translation of national COE template - On June 29, 2009, the Office of Migrant Education issued a Spanish translation of the national COE template. States are not required to use this document; it is provided as a convenience for States.
If you have any questions about the national COE requirements, please contact your MEP program officer.
Regulations on Standards and Assessments - The final regulations on standards and assessments require that assessment results be disaggregated within each State, LEA, and school by migrant status per 34 CFR 200.2(b)(10). They also require that a state include migratory students and other mobile students in its academic assessment system, even if those students are not included for accountability purposes per 34 CFR 200.6(c).
Other Regulations - All of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) and other pertinent regulations can be found on the Department of Education's legislation, regulations and guidance pages.
policy guidance
Non-Regulatory Guidance for Title I, Part C, Education of Migratory Children (October 2010) - The Migrant Education Program (MEP) policy guidance is designed to help state educational agencies (SEAs) and local operating agencies use MEP funds to develop and implement supplemental educational and support services to assist migratory children. The guidance in this document replaces all prior non-regulatory guidance for the MEP. The introduction, along with Chapter II: Child Eligibility, were revised recently to reflect the 2008 program regulations and Department policy. With minor exceptions, as noted in the Introduction, all other chapters remain unchanged from the non-regulatory guidance document that the Department published on October 23, 2003. This guidance does not impose requirements beyond those in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and other Federal statutes and regulations that apply to the MEP. It also does not create or confer any rights for or on any person. While States may wish to consider the guidance, they are free to develop their own approaches that are consistent with applicable Federal statutes and regulations. View all of the Department of Education's major policy guidance on the policy guidance page.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-87 - This Circular establishes principles and standards for determining costs for federal awards carried out through grants and other agreements with State and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribal governments.
flexibility provisions
Several education laws give States, school districts, and entities greater flexibility in how they use federal program funds to support State and local school improvement efforts. Flexibility initiatives, such as transferability, State-Flex, Local-Flex, Ed-Flex, and waivers, provide administrators with the opportunity to adapt federal programs to better meet their needs.