BILLINGS (Montana) GAZETTE

July 5, 2008

Migrant program among best

By MOLLY PRIDDY
Of The Gazette Staff

The Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University has named the Montana Migrant Education Program as one of the nation's best programs.

Angela Branz-Spall, the director of MT MEP for 25 years, said the national recognition is rewarding for the entire staff.

"It certainly validated all the things we believe are true about summer learning," Branz-Spall said.

The program, funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, focuses on summer and supplemental learning for the children of migrant workers in Montana.

The children miss out on educational opportunities because their families migrate to work before the end of the school year. By the time they get back home, the school year has already started, Branz-Spall said.

"We've known for a long time that the summer is an important time for children of mobility and poverty," she said.

MT MEP was one of three programs chosen from dozens of applicants across the country to receive the award. The recognition does not come with a monetary prize, but Branz-Spall said other rewards are just as valuable.

"It's validated what I believe about education and supplemental education," she said about the award.

Ron Fairchild, executive director of the Center for Summer Learning, said MT MEP was chosen because the program met a critical need and did it in a compelling way.

"The program really exemplified what an excellent and outstanding summer program looks like," Fairchild said.

Fairchild commended the program's success with math and reading scores, as well as the system it built for teachers to track migrant students' academic backgrounds. By winning the award, MT MEP joined a select group of programs that Johns Hopkins University works with to support and lift up as examples for the rest of the country, Fairchild said.

"This program really impressed us," he said.

MT MEP, which focuses on math and reading, has centers in Fromberg, Sidney, Polson, Dillon, Huntley Project and Missoula. Staffers also haul a high-tech trailer with a computer lab around the state for students to use.

Many of the centers have preschool and elementary programs during the day and offer night classes for older students who work during the day. When students arrive, they are tested to determine their math, reading and language skills.

At summer's end, a similar test is given. Last year, MT MEP reported that 77 percent of its students increased their reading scores, and 88 percent increased their math scores.

Student demographics have changed with Montana's agricultural shift, Branz-Spall said. In the beginning, most of the families came up from southern Texas to hoe and thin sugar beet fields in the southern and eastern parts of the state. Now many of the workers are in Western Montana picking cherries. These families come almost exclusively from Washington state.

Branz-Spall said 70 percent of the students do not speak English. For many, Spanish is their first language.

The recent focus for MT MEP has been honing math skills. Tutors go out to the orchards in Western Montana to play math games with the children in "Picnic Table Math."

"It's kind of like stealth learning," Branz-Spall said.

In its 40-year duration, MT MEP has also tried to give the high school students the opportunity to graduate. Because of their mobility, the dropout rate is high among the older students. Branz-Spall said the program is there to show them career options.

"They don't want to be working in fields the rest of their lives," she said.

MT MEP helps their high school students keep track of their credits and they try to complete a semester's worth of credit each summer.

Branz-Spall gives credit to the teachers and directors in the different cities for the success of the program.

"It's sort of like a calling for them rather than a job," she said.

Daniel Farr has been directing the MT MEP in Sidney for five summers. During the school year, he is the principal at Sidney High School.

"I love it. It's so much different than the normal school year. It's not as fast-paced," Farr said.

Farr said the Sidney center develops a 10-year plan with the older students, so they can finish high school and look into postsecondary education options.

"We're just keeping them in line," he said.

Sidney is one of the centers around Montana with a diminishing population of migrant workers. In past years, the town had 110 to 130 students. This year, there is only half that number. Farr said it was because fewer acres of beets had been planted and a new beet variety that requires less attention.

Despite lower numbers of students, Branz-Spall is proud of the program and the students it serves.

"We're down to just a small number of folks," she said. "We're holding our own."