- Most people in prison are eligible for, but are not provided with the resources for, a postsecondary education.
- Postsecondary education in prison increases employment and earnings for formerly incarcerated people.
- Postsecondary education in prison provides workers with skills that employers seek.
- Greater access to postsecondary education in prison is expected to reduce state prison spending.
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Abstract:
This research is aimed towards the development of a European key competency profile for the adult learning professionals working in correctional criminal justice system, based on key competences for adult learning professionals, national researches in partner countries conducted on relevant stakeholders and European analysis of available materials on topic developed in other LLP initiatives.
Publication Year
2015
This report profiles adult learning professionals (e.g. teachers, educators, social workers, psychologists) who work with adults in correctional settings. This report describes competency identification, competency modeling, and competency assessment needed for these success in these roles. Competency identification included compiling Romanian national available information about the duties, tasks, responsibilities, roles and work environments related to the job and identifying the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes required by adult learning professionals in correctional criminal justice system. In the stage of competency modelling, the gathered data are used in the development of a consistent competence profile of adult learning professionals in correctional criminal justice system, while competency assessment refers to checking with stakeholders that the identified set of competences making up the profile is complete, consistent and real.
The outcomes of the study was to identify the competencies needed. On pages 9-18, the report lists the competencies identified. Following that, the report provides recommendations around the potential uses for these competencies.
What the experts say
This is a tremendously helpful resource for educators and administrators across the globe. Even though the study originates from the European Union, the competencies identified in the profile and recommendations made are universally applicable and help, finally, to quantify the specific traits that enable an educator to succeed in classrooms behind bars.
The profile presents an interesting take on how prison education professionals (including educators and others working in prison settings) can articulate the component pieces of their work, consider strengths and challenges and see how prison education both intersects with and is different to general adult education learning principles and practice around the world.
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Abstract:
This report describes the current status of educational technology in corrections, existing and emerging approaches to providing such services in facilities, and the successes and challenges of early implementers.
Publication Year
2015
This report is designed to inform federal, state, and local corrections and correctional education administrators as they explore ways to securely and cost-effectively provide advanced technologies in corrections facilities to help strengthen and expand educational and reentry services. It describes the current status of these technologies in corrections, existing and emerging approaches to providing such services in facilities, and the successes and challenges of early implementers. The report concludes with a set of recommendations that align with the U.S. Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan.
Benefits and Uses
The report has implications for adult educators providing instructional services to correctional facilities and who may wish to use advanced technologies to support those services.
The report can be used by federal, state, and local corrections and correctional education administrators to make the case for adopting advanced technologies to support correctional education programs.
The most useful features of the report are (1) the description of existing approaches for providing advanced technologies in corrections, (2) the state and local examples of early implementers, and (3) the recommendations for adopting educational technology in corrections.
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This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
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Abstract:
Examination of digital literacy acquisition learning experiences designed to prepare prisoners for re-entry (a case study)
Publication Year
2015
This case study examines the experiences of incarcerated adult males enrolled in a component of a re-entry program, Digital Literacy Acquisition, and is a segment of a larger focus on the reentry process for successful reintegration of prisoners into society and life. This study takes place in the Orleans Parrish Prison (OPP), located in New Orleans, Louisiana and provides insightful information on the role of digital learning relative to rehabilitative efforts of re-entry programs within a correctional facility.
The model examined in this case study is one that is self-paced, reinforced, tutor facilitated and offers online support for goal directed, learner specific content that is customizable and shareable across varying programs for use by different facilitators. The intent is for participants to learn the relevance of digital literacy to their lives, confront and overcome their fear of technology, and acquire a strong sense of self-confidence.
This study explores a range of relevant topics that are specific to the adult re-entry population such as: The learner experience; Relevance; Moving from fear to confidence; Developing self-efficacy and self-confidence; Empowerment; Changing self-identity and imagining possible futures, as well as, the benefits of mentoring and implications
Benefits and Uses
This case study is an insightful resource for Adult Education programs, educators and administrators, as well as for policymakers; community based partners and re-entry professionals. It provides classic examples of threats that can prohibit, or limit Digital Literacy training programs in a correctional facility, as well as offers practical workable solutions and justifications for ongoing program development.
Adult learners who are reintegrating back into society after years of separation offer examples of real and perceived technologically based challenges, barriers and weaknesses related to self-efficacy, workplace skills and soft skills, which are addressed by this study to elicit descriptive examples of a Digital Literacy Acquisition program model that works.
The most significant feature for the target audiences is that the model can be adapted and incorporated into a more extensive model that offers wrap around services to facilitate incorporation into a successful re-entry process that can aid in the reduction of recidivism on both national and global levels.
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Abstract:
This dissertation examines the experiences of 20 offenders involved in correctional education programs through the lens of post-incarceration employment.
Publication Year
2015
This multiple case study examines the experiences of 20 offenders involved in correctional education programs while incarcerated to explore their experience through the lens of post-incarceration employment. Narrative data were elicited pertaining to offenders’ perceptions of past education experience, correctional education experience, and their perceived impact of the experience on their future employment. Data were analyzed using inductive coding procedures to categorize the offenders’ perceptions of correctional education. According to study findings, offenders’ participation in and completion of correctional education programs while incarcerated provided the necessary support for them to successfully re-enter society; program participation aided offenders in bridging the gap between release and securing employment by providing the necessary skills to compete for employment.
What the experts say
An Offender’s Perspective of Correctional Education Programs in a Southeastern State provides a sound start for a literature review of correctional education. It also incorporates motivational components from the perspective of the correctional student. Though a dissertation might be a little long for many practitioners to review, it is an easy read and can shape thinking for a group that might be considering a venture into exploring how correctional students view educational opportunities.
It is recommended that users of the resource look more to the background portion of the study than the findings. An Offender’s Perspective of Correctional Education Programs in a Southeastern State offers a dated, but useful, literature review in regard to correctional education. It is, however, based on a surprisingly small sample (just 20 participants) and attempted to review correctional student perceptions of programs based on eight different codes of educational programming. This is such a diluting of the small study sample to cause one to question the extension of findings to greater populations.
The introduction and fourth chapters particularly speak to the issues, problems and potential for learning for incarcerated people and those reentering communities. The author had been a correctional officer and social worker and so brings a breadth of awareness to the issues that often exceeds that of educators who have had less depth of experience with the criminal justice system. It is an important document for those working to make the case for increased funding, access and resources for incarcerated individuals and those working to support them.
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This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
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Abstract:
This guide helps organizations better understand the central role that basic skills and related educational credentials play in successful reentry of formerly incarcerated individuals.
Publication Year
2018
This guide is primarily for organizations that help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully transition to work, family, and civic roles. It's purpose is to help them better understand: (a) the central role that basic skills and related educational credentials can play in successful prisoner re-entry and (b) how reentry agencies can collaborate with basic education providers to help returnees develop necessary basic skills. It is also written for basic education providers, policymakers, and funders interested in supporting collaborations among reentry and adult basic skills service providers. Examples are provided for how these agencies can contribute to the planning and delivery of services.
What the experts say
This resource is a concise and easy-to-follow guide for organizations that help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully transition back into society. Based on experiences working in re-entry education, the guide provides a compelling picture of the range of challenges and possible resources along with ways to provide relevant education to returnees. It outlines a process for programs and individuals to become part of re-entry.
The guide takes the guesswork out of how agencies can best provide access to important basic skills for those who have served time in prison. Agencies providing services to those individuals, as well as stakeholders and policy-makers, can benefit from it. A deficiency is that the resource lacks a research base in that is more like a newsletter overviewing the baseline services for a reentry agency rather than an actual service guide.
The guide is a valuable foundational resource for those interested in contributing to reentry education in their community. The most useful feature of the resource may be as a portal to accessing the wealth of information available in the references and archive sections of the resource.
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This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
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Abstract:
The ESOL Tutor Resource Pack includes resources for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) tutors to use with learners who are in prison or who have had recent experience with the criminal justice system.
Developed in the United Kingdom, this pack includes resources for ESOL tutors to use with learners who are in prison or who have had recent experience with the criminal justice system. It is based on the principles of the Learning and Work Institute’s Citizens’ Curriculum model, which promote flexible, local programs of study that are co-designed with learners and cover an interlinked set of skills and capabilities.
These resources cover three topics: civics, financial literacy and health literacy. Each topic consists of six ‘units’, each of which provides enough material for a three-hour ESOL class or session. The resources can be used to support the delivery of accredited learning leading to Skills for Life ESOL or Functional Skills English qualifications. They are mapped to the Adult ESOL Core Curriculum.
Each unit includes a set of tutor notes that provide a suggested approach, ideas for differentiation and learner involvement, and possible extension activities. They also include stimulus materials for tutors to use in these activities. The tutor notes are not meant to be prescriptive – they are only intended as guidance.
What the experts say
This is a fantastic resource for ESOL programs in correctional settings. There is great need in the field for tutor training materials and this resource is a valuable tool. American correctional facilities have significant populations of non-English speaking or English as a Second Langauge (ESL) students. Educational programs usually try to accommodate these learners by assigning bilingual inmate tutors, but there is usually little to no tutor training. This resource, though very basic, is a great introduction for tutors.
It is also a highly useful and relevant resource for general adult basic education instructors. It contains content appropriate to young adult and adult learners both in and beyond incarceration settings, contains generous resource links as well as material to be used in classroom settings. Participatory educators will be grateful to add this content to their repertoire; those newer to participatory processes are supported by clear explanations, examples of classroom activities, and processes and strategies that ensure the usefulness of this resources as well as its potential for adaptation and expansion.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Resource URL
Publication Year
2018
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Abstract:
This report describes how lifting the current ban on awarding Pell Grants to incarcerated people would benefit workers, employers, and states.
This report describes how lifting the current ban on awarding Pell Grants to incarcerated people would benefit workers, employers, and states. Specifically, it analyzes the potential employment and earnings impact of postsecondary education programs in prison; identifies the millions of job openings annually that require the skills a person in prison could acquire through postsecondary education; and estimates the money states would save through lower recidivism rates these postsecondary education programs would yield. The research produced the following findings:
Descriptive Research
What the experts say
Investing in Futures makes a sound and compelling case for the reinstatement of Pell Grant support for men and women behind the walls of our prisons. The authors artfully link post-secondary education to recidivism, and outline the economic impact of opening this funding opportunity to those who are incarcerated. While the estimate of the percentage of inmates who will take advantage of this funding opportunity may be high, the impact nonetheless would be significant. The report provides sound data and research-based findings on the impact of higher education, not only on the offender's economic opportunities, but more importantly in the public mind, on society's economic and fiscal outcomes. It takes the debate narrative from one of emotion to facts and data.
On the downside, the authors do not address the practical difficulties that men and women face in actually registering and completing postsecondary programming in our prison systems and a look inside our correctional education system could yield insight into the outcomes that might result from Pell Grant support. There is little information that adult education administrators, educators, or support staff can utilize to inform practice. While it is clearly indicated that Pell Grants and accessibility to higher education provide long term benefits for incarcerated individuals, there is no information related to Adult Learners and how to move a potential student from an AE class to Postsecondary Education.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Publication Year
2019
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Abstract:
As correctional and reentry education continues to evolve, the field stands at a pivotal moment shaped by technological innovation, policy reform, and a growing recognition of the power of education to transform lives. In this webinar, Jeffrey Abramowitz, returning citizen, educator, administrator, and subject matter expert—will explore emerging trends and challenges in correctional and reentry education. Drawing from lived experience, participants will examine new approaches to technology integration, workforce development, digital literacy, and postrelease support. Original webinar date: March 12, 2026 Webinar recording link: https://youtu.be/U5XHmrkX2oU