ABSTRACT
Efforts to provide educational services in a systematic manner for migrant students and families can be traced to the 1960s and are commonly associated with the federal government’s War on Poverty programs. J. Torrez focused on the need to strengthen bonds of reciprocal understanding between schools and the home culture of migrant families to motivate migrant students towards school success. The strengths of migrant families lie in their ability to strengthen their bonds of solidarity and their intrinsic motivation. The chapter examines the narratives of migrant farmworkers and their families in a small number of Southern California communities, and their relationship to the schooling of their children. Schools impacted by large numbers of migrant children need to maximize their opportunities to collaborate with migrant parents, beginning with a serious effort to identify them and their needs, and then be eligible for additional support by the Migrant Education Program.
