Attitudes of migrant receiving and home district teachers and the academic successes of migrant children

The purpose of this research was to investigate the attitudes of teachers in receiving and home districts toward migrant students and measure the academic achievement of migrant students. The study also serves the purpose of accessing the preparation needs of teachers who work with migrant students. The instrument used to gather the attitudinal data from 215 receiving and home district teachers was the Migrant Education Survey . The surveys were mailed or delivered to the receiving and home district migrant teachers. Initially, 125 migrant students were selected as participants for the study. However, only 77 were used in the final analysis since data from both migrant home and receiving teachers were needed for each subject, as well as reading and math achievement scores. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses were then used in the present study. Descriptive statistics were obtained for each variable. Likewise, histograms, box-and-whisker plots and stem-and-leaf displays were obtained. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were used to determine the relationship among the variables. The .05 level of significance was used to make decisions for rejecting or failing to reject the null hypotheses. The review of the literature of attitudes towards migrant students identified the conceptual framework for this study. The conceptual framework was also based on Paulo Freire\u27s Theory of the Oppressed. The findings of this study indicates that there is a significant relationship between migrant education home district teachers\u27 attitudes toward migrant students and the reading state-mandated achievement assessment as well as a significant relationship between migrant education home district teachers\u27 attitudes toward migrant students and the math state-mandated achievement assessment. Additionally the data indicates that there is no relationship between migrant education receiving teachers\u27 attitudes toward migrant students and the reading state-mandated achievement assessment, and there is no relationship between migrant education receiving teachers\u27 attitudes toward migrant students and the math state-mandated achievement assessment