Webinars & Meetings
2023 Annual Directors’ Meeting
The Annual Directors’ Meeting (ADM) took place Wednesday, March 1 and Thursday, March 2, 2023, at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington, D.C. The meeting was designed to provide opportunities for engagement similar to what the Migrant Education Program (MEP) community has experienced in previous annual meetings.
2023 Annual Directors’ Meeting Sessions
Download the agenda for the 2023 Annual Directors Meeting.
8:30 – 9:00 am ET
Registration and Informal Meet and Greet Among Colleagues
9:00 am – 9:15 am ET
Welcome and OME Staff Introductions
Tara Ramsey – Director, Office of Migrant Education (OME) OME Staff
9:15 am – 9:30 am ET
Keynote Address
Dr. Bernadine Futrell - Deputy Assistant Secretary for Equity, Discretionary Grants and Support Services, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
9:30 am – 10:30 am ET
OME Updates
Tara Ramsey – Director, OME Patricia Meyertholen – Migrant Education Program (MEP) Group Leader, OME
The Office of Migrant Education (OME) leadership will share timely updates from the U.S. Department of Education (Department) on issues relevant to the Migrant Education Program (MEP). Participants will be provided opportunities throughout the session to raise questions and reflect on the topics covered.
10:30 am – 10:45 am ET
Break
10:45 am – 12:00 pm ET
Intra- and Interagency Coordination Part I: Key Partners
Sarah Martinez – MEP Team Lead, OME Patricia Meyertholen – MEP Group Leader, OME Millicent Bentley-Memon – HEP/CAMP Group Leader, OME Jessica Stein – HEP/CAMP Program Officer, OME Bryan Thurmon – Office of School Support and Accountability (SSA) Sophie Hart – SSA Guadalupe Cuesta – Director, National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Collaboration Office
During Part I of this two-part session, participants will gain a new or deepened understanding of several Federal programs that overlap with the MEP in terms of eligibility criteria and/or services that can address the needs of migratory children and their families: College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), High School Equivalency Program (HEP), Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS), and McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program (McKinney-Vento). Participants will engage directly with program representatives to ask questions and will take away resources and contact information for future engagement.
Intra- and Interagency Coordination Part I: Key Partners Presentation Slides
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm ET
Lunch
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm ET
Intra- and Interagency Coordination Part II: Roundtable Discussions - Partnerships in Practice
Sarah Martinez – MEP Team Lead, OME Patricia Meyertholen – MEP Group Leader, OME Facilitators: MEP Program Officers
During Part II of this two-part session, participants will take the information learned during Part I and engage in thoughtful discussions with colleagues about how to coordinate with the featured Federal programs more efficiently and effectively. Participants will support one another in developing actionable steps for creating new partnerships or strengthening existing partnerships across programs to identify and serve migratory children.
2:15 pm – 2:30 pm ET
Break
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm ET
Consortium Incentive Grant (CIG) Open House
Michael Meltzer – MEP Program Officer, OME Tracie Kalic – iSOSY Jessica Castañeda – IDRC Bill Bansberg – MPEC Michele Cheney and Carmen Medina – I2MPACT
The CIG Open House will provide MEP State Directors with an opportunity to meet representatives from each of the four CIG consortia. The Open House will include information about current activities, tools, and resources that have been developed by the consortia, and representatives will be able to discuss updates and answer questions related to their projects as they enter the last year of their three-year grant cycle.
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm ET
Regional Discussions Part I
Preeti Choudhary – MEP Program Officer, OME (Mid-Continent: CO, KS, MO, NE, ND, and SD) Jessenia Guerra – MEP Program Officer, OME (Southwest: AR, LA, NM, OK, and TX) Sarah Martinez – MEP Team Lead, OME (Northwest: AK, ID, MT, OR, and WA) Michael Meltzer – MEP Program Officer, OME (Northeast: ME, MA, NH, NY, and VT) Dr. Benjamin Starr – MSIX Project Lead, OME (North Central: IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, and WI)
In lieu of a quarterly regional call, MEP State Directors will meet with their regions and Program Officers during scheduled time slots. Participants should refer to the agenda to determine which day has been assigned to each State. For MEP State Directors that do not have a meeting scheduled on this date or non-Director participants, please use this time to attend the Program Evidence, MSIX, and/or RESULTS Resource Desks, or network informally with your peers.
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm ET
Program Evidence, Migrant Student Information Exchange (MSIX), and RESULTS Resource Desks
Erin Pollard – Education Research Analyst, Institute of Education Sciences (IES) MSIX Operations and Maintenance Team, Deloitte LLC MSIX Help Desk Team, Sanametrix RTI International Team
Participants will be able to meet with Department staff and contractors at several resource desks: 1) Staff from the Department’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) will share resources to support the use of evidence in programs; 2) The MSIX Team will be available to answer questions, including those related to the review and processing of States’ MEP child count data; and 3) Staff from the RTI International will be available to address questions related to the RESULTS website.
4:30 pm – 4:45 pm ET
Closing
Tara Ramsey – Director, OME
8:30 – 9:00 am ET
New Director Networking
Facilitators: Coordination Work Group (CWG)
Coordination Work Group (CWG) members will coordinate this networking session aimed at orienting State Directors new to the MEP. All State MEP Directors are invited to attend and to network with new MEP State Directors. OME MEP staff will also be in attendance.
9:00 am – 10:30 am ET
Monitoring and Cross-Cutting Fiscal Requirements
Jessenia Guerra – MEP Program Officer, OME Shane Morrisey – Director, Management and Support Office (MSO) Daniel Behrend – Audit Liaison Specialist, MSO David Downey – Management and Program Analyst, Grants Management and Policy Division (GMPD)
This session will include an overview of cross-cutting fiscal requirements and Uniform Guidance. Participants will gain a new or deepened understanding of how the Department monitors recipients of Federal grant funds for compliance with cross-cutting fiscal requirements, common monitoring findings, and effective strategies for monitoring subgrantees for compliance. Participants will also learn about common scenarios related to allowable use of funds.
Monitoring and Cross-Cutting Fiscal Requirements Presentation Slides
10:30 am – 10:45 am ET
Break
10:45 am – 11:30 am ET
MSIX Updates for School Year (SY) 2022-23
Preeti Choudhary – MEP Program Officer, OME Sarah Storm – MSIX Team
During this session, OME will provide an update on Minimum Data Elements (MDEs) and discuss the transition of the EDFacts File Specification (FS) 121 subcategories data collection to MSIX. OME staff, along with the MSIX team, will demonstrate the functionality of the new report on MSIX that States will use to ensure the quality of their data submissions for School Year (SY) 2022-23 for QAD, IEDP, PFS, EL, and Birth through 2.
MSIX Updates for School Year (SY) 2022-23 Presentation Slides
11:30 am – 12:45 pm ET
Lunch
12:45 pm – 2:15 pm ET
Engaging MEP Families
Dr. Benjamin Starr – MSIX Project Lead, OME Starsha Jamerson – Director, MS Migrant Education Service Center Carmen Sanchez – Parent Program Lead, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Carmen Medina – Chief of Student Services, Pennsylvania Department of Education Karisa Barlow – Region 2 Parent Coordinator, Chester County Intermediate Unit Laura Gardner – Parent Engagement Consultant, Immigrant Connections
In this session, States will hear strategies for engaging parents and families in the MEP. This includes the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the MEP. The goal is to provide States with strategies for improving parent engagement so that input from parents and families can lead to positive changes in the MEP. OME will also highlight examples where States acted on input from parents and families to improve their program.
2:15 pm – 2:45 pm ET
Open Forum
Facilitator: Sarah Martinez – MEP Team Lead, OME
The open forum is an opportunity for participants to raise questions that were not addressed during previous sessions. OME may also share responses to questions that were raised during the meeting that would be of interest to all Directors.
2:45 pm – 3:00 pm ET
Break
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET
Regional Discussions Part II
Jessenia Guerra – MEP Program Officer, OME (Southeast: AL, FL, GA, MS, and SC) Sarah Martinez – MEP Team Lead, OME (West & Pacific: AZ, CA, NV, UT, and HI) Michael Meltzer – MEP Program Officer, OME (Appalachian: KY, NC, OH, TN, and VA) Dr. Benjamin Starr – MSIX Project Lead, OME (Mid-Atlantic: DE, MD, NJ, and PA)
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET
Program Evidence, MSIX, and RESULTS Resource Desks
Erin Pollard – Education Research Analyst, Institute of Education Sciences (IES) MSIX Operations and Maintenance Team, Deloitte LLC MSIX Help Desk Team, Sanametrix RTI International Team
4:00 pm – 4:15 pm ET
Closing Remarks
Tara Ramsey – Director, OME
Meeting Objectives
The objectives of this meeting were:
- to facilitate opportunities for Directors to network and share best practices and resources;
- to provide Directors with information pertinent to the State administration and operation of the MEP; and
- to provide Directors and Office of Migrant Education (OME) personnel with opportunities to coordinate on issues important to the successful design and implementation of programs and services that benefit migratory children.