Dive Brief:
- The Indiana Department of Education is partnering with digital library myON to make over 5,000 new digital books accessible to migrant students and families.
- The department has placed significant effort recently on the state's migrant population, opening seven federally funded migrant education centers since May 2014.
- Families using the myON website will have free access to these picture books, first readers, novels and informative texts 24/7.
Dive Insight:
According the Indiana Department of Education, migrant students used 26,000 books and spent a total of 4,000 hours reading books on the myON website during a trial period.
"Migrant" typically defines those who haven't legally crossed international borders, and the program targets children who have moved between states or districts with their families, who are typically in search of agricultural jobs.
The nation's migrant farmers have received much recognition from National Farm Workers Association Co-Founder Cesar Chavez, who chronicled his own experiences and hardships. The constant moves take their toll on students who are frequently forced to switch schools — in the case of Chavez, he ended up dropping out of the 8th grade to tend farm with his family.
Chavez's migrant farmers movement shed light on the injustice of the lifestyle and led to the creation of the State Migrant Education Programs (MEP) and High School Equivalency Programs (HEP) in 1967. The goal of these programs is for migrant children to receive the same access to public education as their non-migrant peers. The programs have gone through various iterations, but in 2002, under No Child Left Behind, federal grants were offered to states with MEPs.