Adult Offender Education Programs

• NCJ Number: 75650
• Author(s): J P Conrad
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 194 pages
• Contract Number(s): J-LEAA-013-78
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Abt Associates, Inc
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: National Institute of Justice Monograph.

Annotation

This report describes results of a review of the state of the art in correctional education programs for adult offenders and of options for improving administrative, programmatic, and policymaking activities in this area.

Abstract

Report data were gathered from interviews with corrections staff and authorities, onsite visits to 12 correctional institutions across the country, and a literature review. The report first identifies obstacles to correctional education (e.g., lack of funding, staff resistance, administrative shortsightedness or indifference) and then develops five fundamental axioms that assert the value of correctional education and the right of inmates to receive it. Following a discussion of the three components of a prison academic education program (adult basic education, secondary education leading to a high school diploma or its equivalent, and postsecondary education), new concepts and technologies which allow the speedier achievement of learning objectives are described. These include one-on-one literacy instruction, Project Read, Title I programs for elementary and secondary education, instructional television, and computer-assisted instruction. An examination of the delivery of education begins with an outline of the general structure of a prison education system and administrative options for the management and control of the system. Needs assessment, day-to-day education management, and the inducements that may incline prisoners to try education are discussed. Most prisoners, it is concluded, need encouragement to believe that academic success is possible, and they require strict rules and standards. The report provides some guidelines for evaluating education programs. The final section of the report explores ways education might serve as a normalization tool in innovative models of imprisonment. Appendixes contain a list of Federal funding sources for educating adult offenders, representative assessment instruments used in correctional education, curriculum materials in California Title I programs, a Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate education survey, study materials, and an annotated bibliography on academic education of adult offenders comprising over 150 entries.