NCJ Number
151264
Date Published
October 1994
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Based on the findings of an 18-month study conducted for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, this report recommends several specific changes in juvenile correctional education.
Abstract
Today's labor market demands a more comprehensive and advanced academic and vocational training curriculum than in the past. In addition, it is essential to address juvenile offenders' social and moral reasoning as well as academic skills. For juvenile correctional education to be effective, facility administrators must regard it as the most important component of the rehabilitation process. Academic programs must feature comprehension and complex problemsolving tasks and must integrate basic skills into challenging tasks that allow students to apply skills to real-life situations. Because up to 40 percent of incarcerated youth may have some form of learning disability, staff must have the capacity and resources to provide a full range of special education programs and services. Psychoeducational programming, employment training, transitional services between community schools and correctional facilities, and program evaluation and research are also needed.