News

PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 103

Mar 13, 2013 No Comments

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.

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 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:

Re-Socialization Through Prison Education

Feb 14, 2013 No Comments

By William R. Piper

To begin, environmental survival concerns the ability of the prisoner to sustain his wellbeing given the rigors of prevailing prison conditions. Imprisonment entails a form of secondary socialization in which prisoners have to adapt to prison as a way of life. Old modes of living are shattered and they have to adjust themselves to the deprivations of prisons. They might do this in a number of ways. The range of such adjustment entail the pains of imprisonment in which prisoners must come to grips with a new reality, a new concrete situation in which the events in the prison setting fail to corroborate their prior social experiences.

Prison conditions constitute the concrete situation in which prisoners find themselves and which they must not only survive, but which they must transform and from which they struggle to free themselves. Although constituting the prisoners concrete situation, prison conditions should not be perceived as hopeless of unalterable, but merely as limiting and therefore challenging.

Eastern Kentucky University Corrections Programs

Nov 11, 2012 No Comments

Prison education, restorative justice, and community corrections programs all begin with education. Perhaps you are thinking of becoming an educator in criminal justice. As part of Eastern Kentucky University, you can apply for an online Master’s Degree in Adult, Juvenile, and Community Corrections with the College of Justice & Safety. Preparing for a career in

The "Coach Talk"

Dec 16, 2011 No Comments

Trust is a big issue. It takes time for me to earn it, and it never happens automatically. They see me as the “police”. They don’t trust anyone, including themselves, and they will tell me that.

Sometimes I acknowledge this to them, because they think I don’t understand them. I’ll say, “I know you probably see me as an old lady who doesn’t know anything, who’s just going to give you trouble. And given a little time, you’ll find out that’s not true.”

I try to encourage them to stick with it for at least one month. “Let’s go a month at a time.” Ninety percent of the time, if they stick with it, they calm down and life in the classroom is fine.

Prison History

Dec 12, 2011 No Comments

Prison is a concept that most people rarely give much thought. Throughout history, imprisonment or incarceration was not used as punishment. Instead, prison was simply a place to confine and hold criminals until corporal or capital punishment could be administered. The Bible mentions prisons in Jerusalem. Even the story of Joseph, who most people associate

Windham School District-A Leader in Correctional Education

Nov 5, 2011 No Comments

Texas is a big state. And within this big state with a big heart is the Windham School District, which provides academic and vocational education to eligible offenders incarcerated within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDJC.) The Windham School District strongly believes that prison education is the key to reducing recidivism, and by providing

FCI Petersburg’s Education Department Problems and Innovative Solutions

Sep 29, 2011 No Comments

Today I have something not all that pleasant to share with you. As I reported several weeks ago, the FCI-Petersburg Education Department has cut back on its open house hours. This means that the Education Department will now be closed all day on Sundays (which was already the case) and on Friday nights after 3:30 p.m. (which is new).

This additional closure, while not huge on its face, becomes imposing when you take into account the programming that would have occurred in the Education Department from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Friday nights. Specifically, two Adult Continuing Education classes which would have taught around 35 students and the Friday night GED Fast-Track program which would have taught another 25 students. The new Friday night closure of the Education Department now means that the two Adult Continuing Education classes will be cancelled and the GED Fast-Track program will be cut back to 5 days a week.

News

PRISON EDUCATION BASICS 103

FCI Petersburg Education Department Fosters a Culture of Failure

Prison Education and Recidivism Rates

Locating Qualified Inmate Instructors

Re-Socialization Through Prison Education

Eastern Kentucky University Corrections Programs

The "Coach Talk"

Prison History

Windham School District-A Leader in Correctional Education

FCI Petersburg’s Education Department Problems and Innovative Solutions

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