Teaching and Supporting Migrant Children in Our Schools

Dr. Reyes L. Quezada is a professor in the Department of Learning and Teaching in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences where his research focus is in bilingual education, equity, cultural proficiency, parent involvement, international education, inclusion and diversity. Born in San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico, he immigrated to the U.S at the age of seven. His father was a migrant farmworker who participated in the U.S. Bracero program (U.S. Guest Worker). Dr. Fernando Rodríguez-Valls is associate professor at California State University, Fullerton. He has created partnerships with school districts, local educational agencies and universities to develop and implement community-based [bi]literacy programs. Dr. Rodríguez-Valls’ work focuses on equitable instructional practices for second language learners and migrant students as well as on the socio-cultural factors affecting their academic achievement, educational continuity and school engagement.Dr. Randall B. Lindsey is emeritus professor at California State University, Los Angeles. He has a practice centered on educational consulting and issues related to diversity. He has served as a teacher, administrator, and executive director of a non-profit corporation. He worked for seventeen years at California State University, Los Angeles in the Division of Administration and Counseling. He served as chair of the Division of Administration and Counseling and as director of the Regional Assistance Centers for Educational Equity, a regional race desegregation assistance center. He has co-authored several books and articles on cultural proficiency.

• Foreword: Roger RossenthalAcknowledgments PART I: Tools to Support Use of this book Chapter 1: The Context in Educating Children of Migrant FarmworkersChapter 2: The Tools of Cultural Proficiency for Educator UseChapter 3: Learning Communities + Culturally Proficient Leadership = Students from Migrant Families Being Well ServedChapter 4: Educators’ Rubric for Inclusion and Support of Migrant Education Students, Families and Communities - Moving Beyond RhetoricPART II: Essential ElementsChapter 5: Assessing Cultural Knowledge-From Self-Centered Learning to Socially Just Student- and Community-Asset LearningChapter 6: Valuing Diversity is Reflected in the Beliefs and Values You and Your School’s Hold and How You Share those Beliefs and Values with Your CommunityChapter 7: Managing the Dynamics of Difference to Make a DifferenceChapter 8: Adapting to the Diversity as a Team in the Schools and Communities We Serve Chapter 9: Institutionalizing Cultural Knowledge—for You, Your School, and the Migrant Communities You Serve PART III: Next StepsChapter 10: Professional Communities Learning Together to Improve Migrant Student’s Academic and Social OutcomesAppendix: Resources in Support of Migrant EducationReferencesAbout the Authors Index

Although often overlooked in schools and curricula, the children of farmworker families nonetheless bring rich cultural and linguistic strengths to their education. By describing how a culturally proficient framework can bridge the gap between migrant children and those entrusted with teaching them, Quezada, Rodriguez-Valls, and Lindsey make a compelling case that these children deserve an education that is culturally responsive, deeply engaging, and respectful of their particular sociocultural realities.