The collection includes newsletters and materials developed by or used by the Center's staff. Many of the publications are from the State of Michigan.
Organizational History:
Central Michigan University (CMU) headed the State of Michigan's migrant education programs, 1969-1973, with its Migrant Education Center. The Center was funded by the state and had CMU employees. Dr. Joseph Spielberg headed the Center, which was part of the School of Education. The Center's goals were to provide professional personnel and training for prospective teachers, para-professionals, and specialists who would teach migrants. The Center's staff were responsible for summer sessions, teacher training, and curriculum development. Staff developed and produced teaching materials, such as FLICS (Foreign Language Innovative Curricula Studies), and in-service workshops for teachers who worked with migrants. During the summers, for six to eight weeks, school districts with large percentages of migrant children would hold summer sessions for the children, including day care, pre-kindergarten, and K-12 grade school sessions. There were also some evening adult literacy programs. Many of these programs were held in Traverse City (cherries) and the Thumb area (sugar beets) school districts. During this time, children under age of twelve were not allowed to pick in the fields, except for berries.
Funding for the Center from the state stopped in 1973. The State of Michigan, Department of Education, Migrant Education Department then became responsible for Migrant Education. This department limits its activities to monitoring migrant education programs. It does not develop or produce curriculum materials or workshops. (This information is from Barbara Kirk who worked in the CMU. Department of Education, Teachers Education and Professional Development, and who had previously worked for the Center, 1979-1973.)
