News

Brigham Young University Closes Their Doors to Incarcerated Students

Mar 18, 2013 No Comments

In a recent letter from Brigham Young University (BYU), university officials acknowledged that they have ceased all paper-based correspondence courses. This is a blow to incarcerated students country-wide considering that BYU, while never offering a degree program to incarcerated students, did offer a significant number of high-quality paper-based courses which those in prison could complete. These included high school, college, and personal development courses. I, for one, am sorry to see them go as I have even recommended BYU in my book, Education Behind Bars: A Win-Win Strategy for Maximum Security. This is a most unfortunate development.

The BYU letter reads, in part, as follows: “Thank you for your interest in our BYU Independent Study program. Due to changes and upgrades to our course delivery system, we are no longer offering university courses in a paper format. Students enrolling in our university courses must have access to a computer and the internet. . . If your institution supports having internet access . . . [y]ou may enroll with the enclosed enrollment form via mail, online, or over the phone. . . We do not offer any degrees or certificate programs through Independent Study to students who have not already completed 30 credits on BYU campus. We do offer courses that can be transferred to other Universities with approval from that University. . . We hope that your educational goals will be realized and commend you for your desire to grow academically. If you have further questions, please let me know as I am happy to answer them.”

The State of Prison Education in the States

Mar 15, 2013 No Comments

By George Hook

Currently, 26 State prison systems have prison education programs, much of it very limited, and 24 States have none at all, essentially an even split. The “haves” are Alabama, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. That’s 25. Not included is Georgia, number 26 in that list, because it provides education for women only, and that education is confined to religious preparation only. The “have-nots” are Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

What impact does the absence of prison educational programming have on recidivism rates? No one can know for sure because each prisoner may be impacted differently based upon individual characteristics and circumstances. Anecdotally, the results are probably better than inconsequential, and, presumably, never bad. But anecdote is merely a sampling of some prisoners’ individual assessments, and probably not mathematical or scientific enough to be credited by academia, or even legislatures, for that matter, as the appropriate basis for continuing support.

PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 103

Mar 13, 2013 No Comments

By George Hook

Where a prisoner “does time” may be critical to fulfilling educational aspirations, as distinguished from satisfying his or her educational needs. That is because aspiration is the province of the individual, whereas need is the province of the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”), based on statute and regulation. All BOP institutions are supposed to have the basics–General Educational Development (“GED”), English as a Second Language (“ESL”)–because these are mandated for all prisoners in need of them based on federal statute and BOP regulations which are promulgated pursuant to those statutory mandates, as well as the less well defined Adult Continuing Education (“ACE”), library services, and parenting programs based on BOP regulation; but not the Full Educational Program (“FEP”), consisting of educational and occupational programs, which, even where mandated, are variable as to content with each institution.

To which prison a prisoner goes is determined initially by the BOP; but the prisoner has some limited ability to influence that determination. To which prison a prisoner goes thereafter is determined by request of the prisoner. This provides more opportunity for the prisoner to influence the transfer destination, if not exactly dictate it.

PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 102

Mar 11, 2013 No Comments

By George Hook

As stated in PRISON EDUCATUION BASICS 101, Congress has legislated that the Bureau of Prisons provide for the instruction of all persons charged with or convicted of offenses against the United States, that pursuant to this mandate, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has provided that all its institutions must provide General Educational Development (“GED”), English as a Second Language (“ESL”), adult continuing education (“ACE”), library services, parenting, and recreational programs, and that additionally, all institutions except satellite prison camps, detention centers, and metropolitan correctional centers are to have a Full Educational Program (“FEP”).

Pursuant to that Congressional mandate, the BOP also provides occupational educational courses for all prisoners with vocational training needs at its correctional institutions, As with FEP, metropolitan correctional centers, detention centers, the federal transportation center, and administrative maximum facility are exclude from this requirement to have occupational education programs (“OEP”).

The OEP’s stated purpose is to teach specific, contemporary job skills that will permit gainful post-release employment. Skill accreditation and completion certification are an integral part of each institution’s OEP. Also, where feasible, each correctional institution’s OEP is to interface with UNICOR industries so that prisoners will have the potential for actual employment using the skill set that has been acquired.

CLEP Ends Paper-Based Testing Option: Incarcerated Students Left Out in the Cold

Mar 8, 2013 No Comments

A reader of my text, Education Behind Bars: A Win-Win Strategy for Maximum Security, recently notified me that the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) has ceased offering its paper-based examination option. This means that CLEP testing is now technologically unavailable to virtually all incarcerated students since most of these students lack access to internet-connected computers or

The Lifers Book Club: Of Mice and Men, Hopes and Regrets at the Limon Prison

Mar 6, 2013 No Comments

By Alan Prendergast

The prisoners report to the officer at the desk, then head into a room awash in sunlight in the visitation area of the Limon Correctional Facility. They murmur soft greetings to each other, squint into the brightness streaming through the windows, quickly choose their seats. For men without prospects, they seem oddly expectant.

And why not? On this day they have been granted a reprieve from an endless routine of tedium and tension. For the next two hours, at least, they are somewhere else. Not in their cells at a high-security prison – although the cells are never far away -but in books.

Today’s book is Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the story of Lennie and George, two guys knocked about by the Great Depression, scraping by on migrant work and dreaming about having their own farm. Less than 30,000 words but packed with disturbing scenes of abuse, social injustice and murder, the 1937 novel is a staple of middle- and high-school English classes — yet still considered sufficiently offensive and even dangerous in some quarters to make librarians’ lists of the most challenged books of all time.

FCI Petersburg Education Department Fosters a Culture of Failure

Mar 4, 2013 No Comments

By Christopher Zoukis

While I know you must be tired of hearing about the FCI Petersburg Education Department being closed — trust me, the inmates of FCI Petersburg are tired of it, too — but it is closed yet again. In fact, it has been closed for most of the day. While we should be used to this sort of disrespectful treatment, lack of notice, and loss of class time and legal research time, each additional instance when it is closed is like an additional slap in the face to those who yearn for the school doors to be unchained, and for knowledge to be accessible and allowed at FCI Petersburg. A closed library serves no one.

I’m sad to report that the FCI Petersburg Education Department is closed more and more these days. The culture of failure is thus reinforced. In fact, a portion of the leisure library was closed from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM for a shakedown. Then, the entire Education Department was closed from 12:40 PM until 2:00 PM (plus the normal 10:30 AM to 12:40 PM closure) for an additional shakedown. But I can assert that it is not being searched for contraband tonight because all of the lights are off and no one is home. It was also closed last Thursday night (again, no lights and no one to unlock the door). One is left to wonder if the administration of the FCI Petersburg Education Department even wants the inmate population to frequent their establishment of alleged learning. God knows that the incarcerated students of FCI Petersburg want to learn, but if no one is there to unlock the door, no learning can take place.

Prison Education: The Correspondence Method

Feb 27, 2013 No Comments

By Christopher Zoukis

In prisons across the country a GED is typically the highest level of academic achievement that is facilitated by the prison administration. The administration’s focus, in terms of education, is almost exclusively upon how fast they can funnel their prison’s population through their GED programs. It’s a never-ending cycle that ends with each prisoner earning a GED and starts over with the next prisoner who has yet to earn one. While a good first step, it dooms many to failure. It does so by starting the prisoner on an academic tract, but stopping them upon attainment of the GED.

The single-minded focus of GED attainment creates a void for prison systems nationwide. This void is education above-and-beyond the GED. Some prisons offer Adult Basic Education or Adult Continuing Education (of which I am an instructor) courses, but rarely do any offer educational programs at the career or university level. This level of study, the credentialing level, is desperately needed by each and every prisoner because studies at this level translate directly into lower recidivism rates and jobs upon release.

For the prisoner who desires to advance their education above the level of studies offered by their prison

Prison Education and Recidivism Rates

Feb 26, 2013 No Comments

Jake Cronin, a policy analyst with the Institute of Public Policy in the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri, studied Missouri Department of Corrections data and found that inmates who earned their GED in Missouri prisons were significantly more likely to find a job after prison and less likely to recidivate than inmates who did not. Cronin found the biggest jump in reduced recidivism rates, more than 33 percent, when he looked at inmates who earned a GED and acquired a full-time job after their release.

“Employment proves to be the strongest predictor of not returning to prison that we found,” Cronin said. “Those who have a full-time job are much less likely to return to prison than similar inmates who are unemployed. Recidivism rates were nearly cut in half for former inmates with a full-time job compared to similar inmates who are unemployed. Inmates who take advantage of the educational opportunities available to them in prison are more likely to find a job than those who do not.”

Locating Qualified Inmate Instructors

Feb 25, 2013 No Comments

By Christopher Zoukis

A friend approached me the other day and inquired as to whether I knew anyone at my prison who would be a good pre-GED instructor/tutor. As I thought about it, a few names came to mind, but they were all people from years past. They were the former MIT instructor who once toured China teaching engineering. Or the man who recently died — Rick Foster — who held a master’s in education. Or even another good friend of mine who used to teach graphic arts at a small liberal arts college. But as I ran through the list of people who would be good candidates to ask, I realized that they all had either been released from prison, died in prison, or had transferred to a lower security prison. Thus, I was stumped.This conundrum bothered me since I figured that I would be a good person to ask such a question. After all, I’m more of the publishing guru in these parts (this has a lot to do with my past teaching of the Writing and Publishing Adult Continuing Education class). As such, those interested in a higher calling while incarcerated — regardless of what it might be since high achievers tend to write about their exploits — tend to come to me for advice and direction. This instigated the topic for this post. How would a prison educator locate qualified inmate instructors to teach in their classroom? Here are some ideas:

News

Brigham Young University Closes Their Doors to Incarcerated Students

The State of Prison Education in the States

PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 103

PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 102

CLEP Ends Paper-Based Testing Option: Incarcerated Students Left Out in the Cold

The Lifers Book Club: Of Mice and Men, Hopes and Regrets at the Limon Prison

FCI Petersburg Education Department Fosters a Culture of Failure

Prison Education: The Correspondence Method

Prison Education and Recidivism Rates

Locating Qualified Inmate Instructors

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