NLA Discussion: Correctional education

[Paul Jurmo]

NLA subscribers,

Here's an article of possible interest to those who'd like to see greater 
investment in correctional education: "Behind Bars" was the lead article 
in the October 1986 (vol. 1, No. 9) issue of the Business Council for 
Effective Literacy Newsletter. 

Here are highlights:

. . . The growth in the prison population in the U.S. "has been 
staggering" (even back in '86). 
. . . Social attitudes about the purposes of incarceration vary from 
"rehabilitation" to "punishment." These attitudes shape investment in 
correctional education. 
. . . Correctional educators have developed effective models of  
education which help inmates develop the basic, social, and technical skills
they need for productive lives. 
. . . Steve Steurer of the Correctional Education Association is quoted: 
"What we need most is a global piece of legislation that would help set 
the tone for national reform and provide a clear policy to guide program 
planning and standards at all levels.  Money is urgently needed, too.  
Right now there is no legislation that provides funds strictly for 
correctional education.  The states have to use bits and pieces out of 
any legislation they can find that in one way or another impinges on 
basic skills. . . . There is no central agency responsible for gathering 
information about corrections education, so that it is extremely 
difficult to get a handle on the whole picture.  We've got to take a look 
at the programs that work and see how and what's being taught.  What 
gains are being made beyond the simple achievement measures?  What about 
the effect on self-worth?  does the development of literacy provide 
something meaningful for the inmate when he returns to society or is it a 
major building block on which other educational efforts need to be 
founded?  And how does literacy fit into the continuum of education for 
the job and social skills needed to survive on the outside?" 
. . . A federal official is quoted: "In our system, we do a fairly good 
job of assisting the individual to get ready for a positive life 
style on release.  We spend thousands a year on that.  But once the 
person leaves, everything can fall apart.  There's no unemployment 
insurance, isolation from the mainstream, no support system.  Agency 
services are fragment and uncoordinated." 
. . . Steve Steurer again: "It's not enough for decisions about the 
correctinal and rehabilitative process to be made by security and other 
treatment staff -- which is often the case.  Correctional educators need 
to be much more closely involved in the decision-making."

Although the above article is now 11 years old, my guess is that the
issues and questions it raises are still very relevant today.  In fact,
the questions it raises could -- if you delete the references
to "inmates" and prison contexts -- be applied to the larger adult
education field today. 

That is, we still need direction and support from the national level in
all areas of literacy education.  States often still need to piece together
scraps of resources from various sources to respond to adult education
needs. In many states there is still no central agency which collects
information about and coordinates efforts related to adult basic
education.  We're still struggling to determine what are appropriate
measures of learner achievement.  We need to tie literacy services in 
with other opportunities which learners need to meet work, family, and 
community goals.  And adult educators need to be involved in the 
decisions which shapte the work we do.  

In other words, in correctional education and other areas of adult basic
education, we've made progress on these and other issues, but we still
have much work to do and are in need of resources and leadership with
which to do it. 

I believe copies of this newsletter are available from the National 
Institute for Literacy. 


Paul Jurmo
Learning Partnerships
14 Griffin Street
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-4806
732/254-2237