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The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education has initiated a comprehensive needs assessment (CNA) process that is designed to assist states with improving the quantity and quality of data collection on their migrant students. The data must then be analyzed in order to establish achievement gaps--between migrant students and their non-migrant peers--that the state migrant education program will then strive to close through the development of a specific research-based action plan that will enable the MEP to measure progress of their migrant students. Danielle Anderson-Thomas is the State Director of Migrant Education in New Jersey, and is committed to continuing the CNA process that was begun in collaboration with the Region III Comprehensive Center in 2005. Pamela Wrigley will be representing MACC in facilitating the CNA process. The Migrant Education Program State Director with the assistance of a Management Team and the MACC facilitator will focus on collecting accurate data and developing new data sources in order to establish measurable benchmarks to track migrant student achievement. This Migrant Management Team will provide information and updates to the New Jersey SEA senior leadership and the members of the Maryland State Committee when it is formed. This activity is designed to build state capacity in the area of using data to identify the academic needs of a sub-population of students (Migrant students) so that the SEA can appropriately address the needs of Migrant students in its technical assistance to districts needing improvement.
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